And now we come to the last in the series of posts with writer, editor and proofreader Jacqueline Snider, as she talks about lessons she has drawn from the 10th Annual YES Artists’ Conference: Business Skills for Creative Souls.
This final lesson came from the words of fashion designer and YES Conference panellist, Kevin Allwood, Founder of Allwood Fashion Corporation, who gave a vivid example of why it is so very important to value your product or service.
The example came in the form of a dress that he had made, one that he wasn’t planning to sell, and instead had it on display at his show room. His customers would see it and they would keep make offers on it, but he kept saying it wasn’t for sale.
So the word got around, and as customers would visit his show room, they would offer a bit more money for it.
Eventually, the dress that – had he put a price tag on it to begin with – gained far much more in value as more people recognised it’s worth and his skill.
He said that he ended up realising that here was a market for these luxurious lines, and so he started one. But in amongst all of that, was a very important business lesson, one that is just so important, yet always put so very drily in every business book;
Don’t undervalue your product.
Dan: I heard this once phrased as ‘You can’t be afraid to charge. Nobody else is’.
Jacqueline: Exactly. Whether you need money to pay the bills and for food and stuff like that, or whether you’re in business with experience and you do valuable work, you have to make sure that you don’t settle for cut price rates.
And that’s not only because another job might come along that pays you what you’re worth and you don’t have time to do it.
I think a lot of people don’t always realise the value of their work.
D: Do you think that’s because people feel constant pressure from competition, thinking they have to low-ball to get contracts?
J: I think so. But I think that it isn’t true that you need to push prices down. I’ve started to see that a lot of people who want to negotiate prices down aren’t doing it because they have limited budgets. I think a lot of them do it because they are just cheap.
You’ll get that same old scenario where a prospective client will say something like ‘this other editor is only charging X, so how come you’re charging Y?’
And then you say, because of this, and this, and this, and this.
And then you just want to phone up the person offering the bargain basement prices and say ask them just what they think they are doing.
You know, when you’re volunteering with a non-profit or whatever, that’s different. You can drop your hourly rates, or give discounts, or do things for free. But you do that because it’s close to your heart, you do it because you believe in it.
But for a real job, no, I wouldn’t do that any more. And I think really, probably in the past, sometimes I haven’t been charging enough.
Thanks to Jacqueline Snider for taking the time to talk with us. If you’re in media, a freelancer, have information regarding an upcoming event for media professionals, or have a related issue that’s close to your heart, then we’d love to hear from you.
