Thoughts: Perceived safety, Positioning, and Pricing

Thoughts: Perceived safety, Positioning, and Pricing

The only thing you get from doing business from a position of comfort is the illusion of safety. Or, at best, temporary safety. When the low hanging fruit is gone, you gotta climb increasingly taller trees.

You must continuously challenge yourself, otherwise comfort will choke you out. Nothing bad happens when I push myself toward a goal. Nothing good happens when I don’t.

Are you a freelance designer? Use this in your project agreement: Work begins when the first invoice is paid. No files are transferred until the final invoice is paid.

Getting way too many requests for low paying work? Use this email reply: Availability starts at 10k-20k.

The trick to others valuing your work is to first value it yourself. Or, more plainly, if you don’t value your work no one else will either. Why fight to be the lowest bid? Instead, state what it costs to enter into a project with your firm to attract the right people.

The magic of a high value price is that it attracts the right people. It also politely informs others to look elsewhere for lowball rates.

Have your ever had to pitch to win a project? Did you lose the pitch? The reason why you lost is because you weren’t well positioned. Well positioned firms never pitch for work. Stars don’t audition. Stars get asked to work on projects at the rates they name.

What are you waiting for? Once you become a legal adult, permission is that thing your brain uses to justify your inaction and or your procrastination. Permission is the most sinister form of procrastination.

Claim star status and prove it every day. Start now. You may get attacked but that’s part of the cost. Remember: Critics don’t create.

You will have to turn down some projects. Doing so makes room for better ones.