Pricing Is Positioning

This week I want to share with you some secrets.  Many of you don’t know this about me, but when I was younger, I was in a hair band!  YES…..A hair band! That wasn’t a typo. Back in the 1980s, I was, in fact, part of an aspiring rock band. We wanted to be the next big rockstars up there with bands like Mötley Crüe and Poison. It was during this time making music and trying to reach stardom that I learned a little about the business side of the industry, the common model of “pay to play” and why it isn’t sustainable for profit.  On this episode of The Pricing is Positioning Podcast, I talk to you about this and how I went from being an aspiring rocker in a hair band to a high-end business consultant.   Plus, by the end of the episode, you will hear the three tips I give to getting paid what you’re worth!  In this episode I talk about:  3 tips on how to get paid what you’re worth How I went from being in a hair band to a high-end consultant What pay to play is and why it’s not good for consultants Lessons I l

I’m excited to have my friend Jonathan Stark on the show this week. Jonathan is a former software developer who is now on a mission to rid the world of hourly billing. He’s the host of The Ditching Hourly Podcast and is the author of “Hourly Billing is Nuts”.  Jonathan falls right in line with what we talk about on the Pricing Is Positioning podcast. I’m happy to say we share a lot of the same ideas.  This week we talk about his journey from being a corporate software engineer to becoming an independent consultant who is pushing back against the hourly billing model. We also talk about project profitability and how you can take the steps to go from time-based billing to outcome-based billing in your own career. There’s this and much more in tune for you on this weeks episode of the Pricing is Positioning podcast!  In this episode, you will hear: Why hourly billing doesn’t work “time” VS “outcome” billing  How you can increase your income by ditching hourly How to determine profitability Jonathan’s story  C

It doesn’t matter if you’re just starting out or have been in the business for years. There’s one thing that can doom any business at any stage.  When I first began my journey in consulting and owning my own business, I had no idea where to start. So I started by taking notes and asking questions. One of the most common pieces of advice I’d receive in the beginning stage was always the same:  “You’re gonna need a small business loan.”  This didn’t make sense to me.  In this episode, I want to talk to you about why you don’t always need that small business loan and how debt can be the anchor that drags your business down. I also stress the importance of starting small and share with you how I approached employees and other factors I had to consider when I started my own consulting business.    In this episode, I’ll cover these topics  -The one thing that can doom your business -The initial steps I took to owning my own business -The advice I was given when I started out.  - Why you don’t need the small busines

This week I want to talk to you about pricing options. Having multiple pricing options are extremely important for your clients to have. They allow your clients to have multiple opportunities to engage with you. When you only give your clients a single price option, it's like giving them an ultimatum….take it or leave it! By giving them pricing options, it then becomes a question in your client's mind of…….. “not SHOULD we work with you, but HOW we are going to work with you.” But there is such a thing as having too many choices and too many options as your clients will shut down, be indecisive or worse, look to your competition. Something I’ve learned over the years as a consultant with pricing options is there’s a sweet spot of the right amount that you want to provide to your clients during the proposal process.   In this episode, I’m going to share with you how to determine what’s right for you and why having too many might be hindering your business growth instead of maximizing your value potential.  So

This week I’m excited to have Mike Kim on the show. If you don’t know Mike, you need to and I am so glad I get to introduce you to him.  He is a speaker and marketing personal branding expert. He chose to leave his corporate marketing director position behind to build his own business and brand and has worked with high-profile clients like John C. Maxwell and StoryBrand to name a few.  In this episode, we talked about his journey from working in the corporate world as a marketing director to running his own successful business. We also discussed branding yourself, pivoting, and sadistic selfies.  Finally, we talked about pricing, ad spend, and how to make sure you are priced right to justify your ad spend costs.  You are going to get a ton of value from this episode. In fact, be sure to listen through to the end because that is when Mike unloads some nuggets that he hasn't talked about ever before. Let’s jump into this week’s episode with my special guest, Mike Kim.  In this episode, you’ll hear: How Mike ma

This week I wanted to share with you how I recently failed a product launch and why I loved it.  I launched my group coaching course or tried to monetize my personal brand and failed miserably. I got one sign up. Now you may be thinking, “Wait a minute, Paul, you failed and you loved it? I don’t believe that.”  It’s true, I failed, but there were many lessons I learned because of it.  In this episode, I am going to share the lessons I learned from failure, what I did wrong, and how I am going to fix it for next time. My hope is that you will find some key takeaways so you can avoid them. Or perhaps, more importantly, come to realize that failing isn’t the worst thing that can happen, instead, it may actually be the best thing that can happen.  And so, yes, I failed and I loved every minute of it.  In this episode, I’ll cover these topics: Building my consulting business and my brand One of my most notable corporate failures and how email almost got me fired Webinar failures, recordings (or lack thereof), and

I have worked with some major clients such as Target, Neiman Marcus, Slack, Starbucks, Holiday Inn, and more. The list goes on over my 10 years of consulting. But how did I get these clients? And more importantly, how the heck can you get those types of clients? In this week’s episode, I am going to share my secrets! Yes, that’s right, today I am going to share my three secrets on how I landed my first Fortune 500 clients.  Before you start thinking that you couldn’t ever land high profile clients because they’ll never listen to you, let’s make this clear: they're not on some ivory tower, they are not unreachable. If you desire these types of clients, you can.  I will share what worked for me. And maybe, more importantly, it'll help you land Fortune 500 clients too. In this episode, I’ll cover these topics: What is a Fortune 500 company, anyway? Creating a super hyper-niche and bringing it to Fortune 500 companies The importance of starting small and what I mean by that Being ready when opportunity knocks Th

I’m excited to have my friend and mentor Cliff Ravenscraft on the show this week. He has transitioned from being the Podcast Answer Man to being the Mindset Answer Man. Cliff hosts the Free the Dream Conference and Next Level Mastermind. He is a business mentor, life coach, and motivational speaker. He also happens to be one of my mentors too. This week we are chatting about mindset issues, overcoming challenges and obstacles, and charging what you’re worth. If you have been struggling with mindset, roadblocks, and confidence in your pricing, this episode is for you! In this episode, you will hear: How he went from making a net profit of just $11,000 his first year to being confident in charging what he was really worth His mindset conference called Free the Dream conference and how it came to be How your nonverbal cues can be hurting you even when you’re communicating by email What happened after Cliff read The Big Leap and how it changed his business How he views his legacy and his business Connect with C

Everybody says you need to niche down; lean into your expertise or craft. And that's great advice. But the question many people come to me with is, “How do I price a specific niche?” I hear from people all the time who are struggling to come up with how to price products or services for their niche or different niches. Here is the biggest issue I see when it comes to niching down and pricing your products or services: If you're serving a specific market that doesn't see the value in what you're doing or exceeds the value of the amount that they're willing to pay, you're never going to be able to get that high rate you want, need, or deserve. In this week’s episode, I am going to share my thoughts and strategies for pricing niches, including how to do it successfully and some things to consider. In this episode, I’ll cover these topics: Positioning your product/service at a much higher value, aka the Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks example Make sure the niche or clientele you service fits with your pricing Creati

We all have this perception that a business has to always scale. And that it always must grow, grow, and GROW in order to be successful. I like to counter that thought and say, you can be highly efficient, you can have the business of your dreams and still be small.   In fact, build a business around what fits your lifestyle instead of fitting your lifestyle around your business. In today’s episode,  I will share why I think it's not always a good thing to scale or grow. Plus, I’ll share why I think it’s important to build a business that caters to you and your lifestyle (and not the other way around).   Obviously, if you have a desire to be a multimillion dollar company with shareholders, meetings, employees, and overhead, that's great if that fits you.  When it comes to business, I decided to go a different route. I decided to keep my business small and have done so for the last 10 years. Yes, I’ve experienced success even by staying, “small.”  So today, I am excited to share some of my thoughts on this sub

This week I am excited to have Dan Miller on the show. Dan is the author of 48 Days to the Work You Love. He is a best-selling author, career coach, and entrepreneur.  If it wasn’t for Dan and his teachings, I don’t know if I would have left my organization and started a business of my own. Dan was definitely instrumental to my journey and this episode is a tribute, of sorts, to many of the things I've implemented over the years because of him. In this episode, we discussed his books (he’s written at least five of them!), entrepreneurship, and making your business work when you go out on your own. Our conversation was packed with amazing information about being successful when transitioning from a corporate job to that of a freelancer.  We cover so much in this episode that you are sure to love it. In this episode, you’ll hear: About Dan’s books and philosophy on work What does it look like to transition to freelancing How to balance and value the freedom that comes with freelancing How to diversify your wor

This week on the podcast I decided to take a break from pricing strategy talk (don’t worry, I will cover more pricing tips in future episodes!). But I like to mix things up and this week I have a tech tip for you. If you have been following me and my work for some time, then you know I’ve had some webinars recently. Some of the tech I used to make the webinars happen is what inspired this week’s episode, which was to combine three powerful tech tools to create what I call magic. Maybe you plan to do some email marketing or host some webinars of your own. Of course, there are many tools to choose from to make these things happen. In this episode, I will give you a peek behind the curtain, a little bit of behind-the-scenes on how I made the tech magic happen using Carrd, which is a platform for creating one-page websites, Zoom, a meeting and webinar host, and ConvertKit, an email marketing platform.   In this episode, I’ll cover these topics:   Creating landing pages using Carrd Why I switched from ClickFunn

In this week’s episode of Pricing is Positioning, I am going to share ten pricing mistakes that are preventing you from getting better rates. While there may be a vast array of common mistakes being made, the ten I mention in today’s episode are ones I see often when working with my clients.   In this episode, I cover everything from charging by the hour (and why that IS a mistake), posting pricing on your website (yes, another mistake), and even why having an unhealthy view of money is getting in the way of your success. Some of the mistakes I discuss you will have heard before, but some of it may be new to you. Listen to today’s episode to hear my comprehensive top ten list of pricing mistakes that are holding you back. In this episode, I’ll cover these topics: Why charging by the hour is not okay Anchoring and why anchoring too high could be an issue Using bloated and long multi-page proposals Viewing the exchange of money as a personal relationship rather than a business exchange Connect with Paul: FREE

Today I'm excited to have my friend Shannon Mattern from the Pep Talks for Side Hustlers Podcast join me.  Shannon left her corporate job working full time after creating her own side hustle turned personal brand. She started blogging, podcasting, and doing website consulting work. Today we talk about how she went from side hustler to full-time entrepreneur. I think her story will resonate with you. Shannon was able to build her business on the side before jumping into it full time. We also discuss the importance of goals, strategic pricing, and even imposter syndrome. If you have been wondering how to start your own side hustle or how to turn it into a full-time gig, this episode is for you!  We talk about all of that and more in this episode of Pricing is Positioning. In this episode, you’ll hear: How Shannon transitioned from her full-time job to self-employed The importance of goals and her goal of reaching $10,000/month in revenue prior to switching to self-employment About strategically pricing your pr

Whether you're starting out or are a seasoned freelance consultant, being a business owner means you go through seasons of extreme busyness to those of extreme workload lows.  During those peaks and lows, you want to employ what I call “Yes/No Pricing”. In today’s episode, I'll explain how I use this type of pricing to help increase my value and my rates over time. Plus, I’ll share some tactics that you can employ for optimal business success. “Yes/No Pricing,” can help you climb up the stairway of value and leverage your brand in the process. In this episode, I’ll cover these topics: “Yes Pricing” What it is, when to use it, and how to use it Why “Yes Pricing” or penetration mode is not the best place to be in far as positioning for your brand When to employ a “No Pricing” strategy How to “Price them to no" can leverage up your brand Why it’s always better to move up the value ladder rather than stay stagnant, even when you are super busy and need to turn clients away, plus how to turn clients away using th

There’s no roundabout way of saying it, so I’ll just say it outright, you don't charge enough. I've worked with many entrepreneurs, business owners, coaches, consultants, and freelancers.  The one area they all have in common, as well as an area they struggle with, is the pricing of their products. Or more to the point, inaccurate or low pricing of their products. I do want to be clear, undercharging is not something to be ashamed of, it’s just a common theme amongst new (and maybe even veteran) business owners.  What is important to understand is you have such great value. You offer so much, you really ought to be charging a premium for your products or services. Of course, the catch-22 is you don't want to charge too much either. I know how it feels to send out that proposal or that email and wonder, “Did I leave money on the table?” In today’s episode, I will be sharing some mindset shifts and strategies that will help you realize your true value and charge what you are worth.  It all starts with you. The

This week I am excited to have Terry Weaver on the show. Terry is the author of the book, “Making Elephants Fly.” He is a speaker, coach, and entrepreneur.  He is also the host of the event, The Thing Live, taking place this May in Orlando, Florida, which I'll be speaking at. Terry is an all-around great guy. In this episode, we talked about his book, entrepreneurship, and how to price an event. Plus, we discussed how to take advantage of the knowledge economy and getting your dreams off the ground. Finally, we had an interesting conversation about outsourcing and delegating tasks, which can be a difficult thing for entrepreneurs to do. Our conversation took many twists and turns with insights from a truly knowledgeable entrepreneur. Without any further ado, here is my conversation with Terry Weaver. In this episode, you’ll hear: How Terry helps people who have big ideas Determining if you have something that provides value to the marketplace Entrepreneurship and struggling to “just make enough” How Terry ca

This week I wanted to discuss the four phases of client complacency. Yes, ouch. As painful as it sounds, we have to recognize that sometimes we do become complacent with our clients. A few weeks ago I talked about the opposite end of this, the stench of desperation. The stench of desperation is when you are acting desperate or needy for a client. Well, client complacency would be on the opposite end of that. You’ve now gotten the client, but are taking them for granted or simply not treating them well. I believe in order to avoid complacency, we need to recognize when it is happening (or about to) so that we can move towards proactivity.  Even if client complacency isn't happening within your organization, recognizing it is equally important because it can serve as an opportunity to gain new clients from your competitors. For example, if there's a firm that isn’t providing value to client or taking them for granted, it’s a perfect opportunity for you to say, “Hey, I can help you with the same service and also

Email marketing is king. If you haven’t implemented an email marketing strategy into your consulting business yet, this week’s episode will showcase just how effective it can be. In fact, you can be effective with as little as fifty or one hundred people on your email list.   Remember, it is not the quantity of people you know, but instead the quality of people that are actually going to engage with your services. Yes, this topic is a slight departure from the usual topics I cover in the podcast. But marketing is all about how you showcase and talk about your offerings and position yourself in the marketplace. Email marketing, in an online world, is an important facet of your business. Know this, I'm by no means an email marketing guru. However, I have learned a few tricks, tips, and even some cool stuff from friends who are, like Mike Kim (an expert in email and internet marketing). In fact, Mike shared with me some key strategies I've implemented into my own email marketing and have found success. This week

In this week’s episode I introduce you to Dan Cockerell, former Vice President of Disney’s Magic Kingdom.  Dan worked for The Walt Disney Company for over 25 years in various parks around the world. He has an immense amount of knowledge and experience around leadership and I am thrilled to share our conversation with you. After 25 years of working in corporate and having job security with one of the greatest companies in the world, The Walt Disney Company, Dan decided to leave and start his own personal brand. He became an entrepreneur. In today’s episode, Dan shares openly about his transition from corporate leader to entrepreneur.  He talks about the challenges, difficulties, and the wins and losses. Plus, he lets us in on some of the things he's up to in his personal brand today, like the production of The Perch Newsletter and more. In this episode, you’ll hear: About Dan’s 25-year career at Disney and the experience it provided him His decision to transition away from corporate life to become an entrepr