Fearless Fee Setting



I've been told by three different people over the past week that they couldn't afford my services. One person told me my hourly coaching rate was, "a little much", and two others said my speaking workshop was too expensive.

My response to all three: Ok!

Will the two ladies who emailed me join my group? I doubt it.

Am I bothered by it? Nope.

Am I going to change anything? Absolutely not. My rates are my rates and they're non-negotiable.



In the past, fear would've made me react differently. I would've immediately tried to figure something out so I could get the client. I would've told the ladies they could attend the first meeting for free.

But here's what I had to realize: Everyone won't be able to afford me. As a matter of fact, I want to weed out the people who can't, freeing me up to focus on those who can.

I know what it's like to want to work with someone and not have the money to hire them. This is not the same as having the money, but choosing to spend it otherwise. You know - like going shoe shopping and then saying you can't afford personal/professional development.

People pay for the things they want to pay for. If someone truly wants to buy your product or service, they'll figure out a way to do it. But what they won't do is complain that you're too expensive.

Photo credit: Coastline Windows

TEACHER FRAUD

The idea for this post came to me a couple of days ago, but I have to thank Tawana Necole (@CorporateChic on twitter) for sharing this quote:

"One of the prerequisites for being a teacher is having to live the experiences you teach..." ~Maya Angelou

I don't know your interpretation of it, but for me it means if you haven't done it - you aren't qualified to teach it. Not everyone feels the same way and it's evident by the number of people I see misrepresenting and overstating their expertise.

Why do I have my nose in other people's business? Simply because I'm in the business of helping other people, personally and professionally.

When it's time for you to decide who you'll choose to help you along your journey, I want you to be the most educated and informed consumer you can be. Doesn't matter if you choose to do business with me or not. 

Would you go to a doctor who has "doctor friends", but doesn't have a license to practice medicine?

Would you hire an attorney who sits at home watching Judge Judy and has never passed the bar exam?

Would you let the lego champion of the world build your dream home?

  

When it comes to major life-decisions like these, you wouldn't give these self-proclaimed experts the time of day. Now think for a minute about other decisions you make. How quick are you to sign on with someone without checking to make sure they're on the up-and-up?

As much as I love the internet and the convenience and opportunities it affords me, it's also a breeding ground for unethical predators. With just a few keystrokes and a domain name, someone can hang their virtual shingle and conjure up whatever it is they want to be.

Do your homework. Ask questions. Validate credibility and make an informed decision.

If the bestseller book coach has never written a bestselling book, how can he/she teach you to do it?

If the media maven only has a YouTube channel, can she really help with your publicity campaign and land you on the local news?

If the brand strategist is re-emerging with a new identity a couple of times a year, should you really trust them with defining your personal brand?

As Nikki and I were putting together the content for our class she said, "Donna, you can talk about making money with your blog." Sorry, but no I can't. Well I could, but it would be a total lie. Yeah, I could've easily done a few internet searches on the topic and threw together a few bullet points of bullsh** and you probably wouldn't have been none the wiser. Unless you - the educated and  informed consumer - would've done your homework and asked questions.

There's no dollar amount worth risking my reputation. I want people to work with me based on my merits. That's the same reason why people want to work with you.

Skip the lies and fluff. Stick to what you know - whatever it is - do it to the best of your abilities and don't compromise on integrity. This is how you become the cream of the crop.

Photo credit: sskbmorgan

Today's Video: Forbes Contributing Writer How-To

People have landed here on my blog by searching some variation of 'How to Become a Contributing Writer to Forbes/ForbesWoman'. Watch the video to see how it happened for me:

If you can't see the video CLICK HERE.

Video is for highlighting, not for details. After shooting this, I went back to confirm the dates to give you a timeline as to how long it actually took. By no means am I implying this was an overnight process.

2008 - Started blogging and submitting articles to an online article directory

12/7/2009 - Mailed Personal Branding Article

1/13/2010 - Contacted by Forbes to contribute to 12 Things Every Business Professional Should Know

3/8/2010 -   Received invitation from Forbes to become a regular contributing writer

Do you have specific questions? Leave a comment and let me know...I'll do my best to help you.

Want a Job in 2011?: A Forbes Post

In a recent Forbes post, I spoke candidly about job fairs. You can follow every piece of expert advice to stand out, but does it really matter if you can't step foot inside the venue?

Want a Job in 2011? Avoid Job Fairs

Marezer.com Hijacked My Computer

With a headline like this, it may not live up to its promise as being the world's only reliable newspaper, but if you're one of the humans like me who has suffered from a computer virus, you know what a devastating toll it can have on you.

My desktop pc was infected Monday night with the marezer.com antivirus scan malware. Surfing the web was impossible. I couldn't get to any sites - not here, not Facebook, not twitter, not nothing!

I kept getting annoying pop-ups telling me my computer was infected and even when I tried to 'X' out of the box (I knew better than to click on YES or NO to allow the fake virus scan to run), my browser would be immediately directed here:

This appears to be antivirus protection software, but believe me it's not.

Using my laptop, I googled: 'how to remove marezer.com' and kept coming up with different sites that offered sketchy instructions followed by software that was available to purchase. Not an option for me at the moment. As I started reading through some of it, I noticed the sites consistently referenced that removing malezer.com manually wasn't easy and often didn't work.

I refined my search to: 'how to manually remove malware' and that's when I hit the jackpot! I found a ten minute YouTube video that literally saved my life.

CLICK HERE to see it.

The website the young man in the video uses is: http://www.malwarebytes.org/
He walks you through step-by-step. My technical skills are sub-beginner, but if I managed to do it anyone can.

I had over 170 threats and all were removed in less than 30 minutes. I even downloaded malwarebytes a second time just to be on the safe side and it detected one additional threat.

It works. Try it for yourself.

Photo credit: TedRheingold

2011 FOCUS

Before I weigh in on 2011, I'd like to reflect on 2010 for a moment. Ok, hold on. Before I do that, let me start off by telling you when I talk about myself - me - here on my blog, I'm doing so with the intention of allowing you the opportunity to get to know me, how I think, what I struggle with, how I overcome those struggles (or not), with the hopes that my experiences will somehow help you. Everything I write about won't appeal and relate to everyone. Read and digest what you need for you as an individual.

2010 GOALS

Last year I went about goal setting in the usual way. Writing down specific things I wanted to accomplish both personally and professionally. I hit the mark on some things and fell short on others. For example:

1. I resolved to consistently blog and become a guest blogger. Done.
2. I wanted to earn a salary of $50,000 in my business. Not even close.
3. Go on a date with Terrell Owens. (I'm keeping hope alive!)

While I'm extremely diligent with helping my coaching clients set detailed, realistic, and attainable goals, I find myself getting off track. This is something I'm making a priority to get better at in the upcoming year.

NARROW, SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE

One way I'm going to do this is by changing the way I approach goal setting. Following the advice of one of my virtual mentors, I'm only focusing on three words and centering my goals around those words. I have no idea if this is going to work, but the only way I'll find out is by giving it a try.

Narrowing my focus will ensure I don't venture off into la-la land with my creativity. These three specific words will encompass four quadrants of my life - self, business, family, and spirituality. The goals I set for each must be attainable and measurable (as defined by the SMART method: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely). I lost traction in 2010 with the measurable part. You may say the same for the realistic part as well since I didn't earn $50,000. I disagree. That was a very realistic goal and some would even argue I set the bar too low, but the fact that I didn't hit my target was due to my lack of measuring and then adapting accordingly.

CONTENT, VISIBILITY, GROWTH

Those are my three words for 2011.

Content: I have an ongoing commitment to deliver valuable free content here on my blog, as well as other communities I contribute to. It's imperative that I write more for Forbes. I'll launch my newsletter later this month. I'll revisit hosting my own radio show. I'll shoot more videos and share them here. I'm devoting 2011 to getting my book written (thank you to my sister, Deborah, Mary Linnen, and Amy Jo for encouraging me).

Visibility:  I can't fathom becoming a tv personality if people can't sample what I have to offer. I can't make money if no one knows I exist. The more visible I am, the more likely I'll get hired to speak, which will lead to other opportunities. I don't desire to have an extensive coaching practice. That's never been a goal of mine. I'd rather focus on a smaller, select group of clients and give more value than any other coach on earth.

Growth:  I grappled with money being my third word. Keeping in my mind these words spill over into many areas of my life, growth was more appropriate. Making money is important, but it's far more important for me to continue to evolve completely. Many things happened in 2010 that got me to the place where I believe I deserve and am worthy of financial growth in my business. I can't continue giving my services away for free and calling myself a business owner. Reading the book Secrets of Six-Figure Women helped a whole helluva lot.

YOUR APPROACH

I don't expect you to follow in my exact footsteps. I do expect you to get up and leave your own imprints. What's the one thing you'd want if you weren't afraid of failing? How will you get it? When will you start?

Photo credit: michele cat