#42: The Truth About “Knowing Your Worth”
Have you ever been told to “charge your worth”?
Well, I am here to tell you why charging what you’re worth is a load of B.S.
When deciding what to charge, there are some simple things you need to know to charge a price that feels good for your customer and for you.
In this episode, we’ll talk about:
Why market fit should be important to you.
The foundation you need to start with.
Your ideal customer and why you always need to keep them in mind.
Tune into this episode to hear my story and the truth about charging your worth.
Check out my new free new training on www.yournextmillion.me, where several of my seven figure clients and colleagues share what they're doing in the next year to scale their businesses to the multi-million dollar mark and beyond.
Listen to the Show:
Laura (00:00):
Have you ever been in a Facebook group where people are encouraging one another to "charge what they're worth" girl, you got to know your worth, you've got to charge your worth. That's something that we hear again and again and again. And I have to tell you every time I hear it, I cringe. And it's not because you are not worth everything that you dream about and more, but it's because it actually doesn't even include the most important person who's going to be buying from you, which is your customer. So on this podcast episode, I want to share with you why I think that charging what you're worth is terrible advice and exactly what you should be considering instead, when you really want to scale your dream business, stay tuned.
(00:47):
So here's the challenge: so many entrepreneurs, dream of leading a life of impact by creating a multi-million dollar brand, but only a tiny percentage of businesses actually scale to that point. On this podcast, we speak openly authentically about what it takes to scale your business. Following the journeys of innovators, disruptors, experts, and leaders, looking at the behind the scenes of their most challenging moments and greatest lessons learned. My name is Laura Meyer and I'm your host. I'm a serial entrepreneur, wife and mom to three. I love talking all things business, especially digging into the mindset and strategies of scaling joyfully to the multi-million dollar mark and beyond, let's go!
(01:30):
Hello, hello friends. So in this episode, I'm going to be telling you why charging what you're worth is a load of BS. And before I even talk about what you should be doing instead, why is charging what you're worth totally bad advice? Well, it's because we are all infinitely completely and absolutely priceless, right? We are all children of God. We are all people who deserve everything that we dream about and more. And at the same time, if we go around thinking, well, I am worth it and you better pay it. It really sets us up for exactly what we don't want. It sets us up for having a difficult conversation with a customer who is probably looking at you saying, listen, I'm, I'm sure you're worth what you charge, but I have no idea what it is that you're actually even offering. I want to tell a story before I get into exactly what I think you should be doing instead.
(02:35):
And the story is that recently my consulting company was growing exponentially. I was onboarding client after client and it was a really exciting time. And I was extremely concerned about my capacity. Having had our third child over the summer, who's at the time of recording about five months old and having two children that are in this sort of hybrid might be there on Wednesdays, but sometimes not. And the other days of the week, except for Fridays, they're there. I mean, you get the idea, right? I've got my hands full and I'm onboarding these dream clients and trying to think about, well, what can I take off of my plate?
(03:16):
So I start interviewing and recently had an interview where the woman came and she just started telling me about her and how, when she was doing this type of role, she just wasn't making enough money. And instead she really wanted this. And nowhere in there was it about me as the person who is actually going to provide her the job. It was really all about her. And I couldn't get off the phone fast enough. My project manager, Sarah who set up the interview felt so bad. She was like, oh my gosh, I'm trying to preserve your time. And I'm so sad. I set that up for you. And I said, don't feel bad at all. You know, those things happen and in no way. Are you going to prevent me from having to get on the phone with the wrong people until we finally find the right person for this role. But it left me wondering whether or not we are really surrounding women who are looking to grow their businesses, particularly females with terrible advice around knowing your worth. And when we go into a conversation, a sales conversation and employment conversation, wanting it to be all about us and our worth, it really puts the other person at a total disservice.
(04:26):
And as a result, disempowers yourself within the conversation. So what should you be thinking about instead, I would encourage you to think about, instead it, in terms of what us marketing geeks call product market fit. And this is a really important factor to consider when you're thinking about your products and services, it's also a really important factor to consider when you're thinking about your offering. So when we look at it from a standpoint of, we may have a great offer and it's just not packaged up well, or we might not be in front of the right audience, or we're not offering it to the right people, then it tends to be a marketing problem. And we can kind of think about it that way, where on one side, you have your gifts and your talents and your abilities and your expertise and your thought leadership.
(05:16):
And that in a sense is your product as expert businesses, as thought leaders, influencers, as many of you who are listening to this, that is your product. And that is one side of the equation. And then you add it up with market fit and that is your audience. Those are the people that are going to be listening to what you have to say and wondering whether or not they should be buying it from you. And when we can combine those two ideas together, it is called product market fit. So Eric Reese author of The Lean Startup explains that the best way to actually get to product market fit is by starting with a minimum viable product. What is it going to take minimally to get your offer in front of as many eyeballs as possible so that you can continue to adjust and tweak your offer and make it a little bit more exciting and change the wording of it and think about what would stop your scroll, what would keep you up at night and just continue to make your offer better and better and better by going out into the world with your minimum viable product.
(06:31):
And when we think that we need to have this perfected product, when we go out and it prevents us from being able to have any type of market readiness, then we totally miss this idea of that your minimum viable product is simply an experiment. It's like a science experiment that allows people to either opt in or opt out. And if you are somebody who is out in the marketplace and you're not having those conversations around your minimum viable product, it probably is a matter of product market fit. It is not a matter of your worth, your deservedness. It is not a matter of that. You're not talented or gifted or anything like that. It is simply that the equation of product market fit equals revenue hasn't been figured out yet. And if you're waiting to get to the point where you're trying to get it perfect before you get it out there, you're really missing the opportunity to connect with as many people as possible so that you can get as much feedback as possible.
(07:43):
So then you can get it back out in front of as many people as possible. And your job as an entrepreneur is to make sure that the product market fit happens. And then when you go to make your offer, your job as an entrepreneur is to make it a no brainer offer. And so that whatever the value is that somebody receives on the giving end of your products or services outweighs so much what it would cost them to do business with you, and it's your job to present it that way. And so it's really important. Like we think about all of these brands that we know and love, and they typically start out with a minimum viable product. If you listen to any of the stories on my podcast, the huge success stories. It was somebody who put something out there because they needed it, or their friends were asking for it.
(08:34):
And that was their version of minimum viable product. And then as they sort of figured out, hmm, maybe I could charge this for it. Maybe get charged that for it. Or maybe my initial set of friends really aren't my customer, but the product was great. And maybe if I put it in front of this customer, instead, somebody who is a little bit thirstier for what I have to offer, then they're willing to pay more for it. And, huh, look at that. That's so interesting. The approach is usually the opposite of what we typically do. What we tell ourselves is like, we know it's going to work and I'm so worth it. And then the first interaction that we have with our customers is so far down the road. And we're so invested that we're totally inflexible on what it is that we are going to be serving the world with, what we're going to be scaling up with.
(09:20):
And so it's such a great idea to as many shortcuts, as you can find between your idea and some customer interaction, the better, because it gives you valuable feedback that you can directly incorporate into who your customers are, their changing needs and designing something that will eventually blow the minds of the people that you serve. Because these are the people that are making the decisions, the marketing decisions as to what it is that if your offer is going to, these are the people that are going to be changing your products and services so that you can continually put it back out in front of the right people. And that's why product market fit has nothing to do with your worth, your deservedness, your outfit, you, how you're showing up. It has nothing to do with that. And it has everything to do with is the person that you're presenting it to thirsty enough and do they want it bad enough to pay the price that you're offering? And are you presenting it in a way that makes them say yes, where have you been all my life? And what you'll find is the clearer that you can be, the more specific that you can be about who you help and how, whether you are making some type of widget, whether or not you have goods and services to offer whether or not you're creating an app or a SAS or software, whoever has the potential to be your advocate and the earlier that they can influence your process the better.
(11:03):
And not only that, but when we stop making it about what we're worth, we begin to become more open to feedback. And part of this is just having the humility to accept that maybe what you went out initially with isn't, what is exactly your ideal customer wants. And sometimes the best thing we can do is not to let ourselves get distracted by this conversation in our head about self-worth. And just be curious about again, what is it that they want most and how could we solve it in a different way that not only serves a gap in the market, but puts you into a category of one that makes you fearless, because you've actually taken the time to figure out what it is that they want, what it is that they would pay more for and what it is that creates so much value for your ideal client. It stops becoming about you and it starts becoming significantly more about them. So the founder of Y Combinator, Paul Graham said, you want good marketing advice, make stuff that people want. And he's somebody who invests in huge companies. It's a well-known venture capital firm out in Silicon Valley. And so this is just, this is what happens when your customers come into perfect sync with each other, and when, what you have to offer the world and your ideal client come together for a beautiful symbiotic relationship that we call marketing.
(12:36):
Hey there! Before you head out, I wanted to let you know about a free new training I have, right on a brand new website called yournextmillion.me. It's yournextmillion.me, where several of my seven figure clients and colleagues share what they're doing in the next year to scale their businesses, to the multi-million dollar Mark and beyond. And I have to tell you, it is not what you think. So check it out at yournextmillion.me. And if you loved this show, will you subscribe to it and share it with a friend, or just say something nice about it to someone, you know, I'd really appreciate it so much. Thanks so much for being here and I'll see you next time!
The Scale with Joy podcast dives into the mindset and strategies of scaling your company to the million dollar mark and beyond. Each week, we follow the journeys of innovators, disruptors, experts and leaders - sharing behind the scenes stories of their most challenging moments and greatest lessons learned-all while building their multi-million dollar empires.