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Raising Your Value

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by Cara Lumen

People will pay you what you think you’re worth.

Hummm…..

 As we get better at what we do, we organically offer more and more value to our clients and customers. How long has it been since you raised your prices?

Every bit of new learning you add to your repertoire is yet another level of value you offer. Every new insight that you can pass forward adds value.

 

One of the major ways to determine value is to list what your service or product does for the other person and put a value on it.

For instance, if I provide a client with five new ways to leverage an idea, what is the final value of that one idea? How much will the client earn from the implementation of those additional products or features? Put a value on that.

You may coach someone who is having a difficult relationship. A shift is made, the person returns to the relationship with new insights and the results change. Put a value on that.

Your home study course may offer a new awareness to the person reading it and stop them from making a poor career decision and guide them to a satisfying, profitable one. Put a value on that.

You get the picture.

Don’t go by what the market says is out there because the majority of people undervalue themselves. And don’t go by what you think your clients can afford. That’s the quickest way to undersell yourself. Focus on attracting the clients and customers you want—those who value your service and are willing and able to pay for it.

Did you know people are only as rich as the five closest people they hang out with? Start hanging out with go-getter clients, Attract the ones who grow you as you grow them. Ask your clients what they value in your interaction. Ask your clients what they would like more of or less of. And give it to them.

 If you’ve written a good sales page for your services you have listed the benefits. Put a monitory value on those benefits and see how your current pricing holds up in the comparison.

 Look beyond the surface for the value you give and the value you receive. I know that each of my coaching clients comes bearing gifts for me as we solve their problems and set their strategies.

 How long has it been since you raised your fees? I’m certain you are offering more value than you were even six months ago. You can usually charge 20% more than you think. Put that in your calculator and think about it. That’s because so many people undercharge that even the industry standard is under priced

 

One approach to raising your fees is to add more value. For instance, when I offer a teleclass, I would much rather add bonuses than offer a discount. Then I get the money I want and the participants get added value in the form of e-books and MP3’s or added service. You might charge more for your coaching but add a once a month 15 minute check in or some other bonus service. You get the idea.

Think about how much you know. Look over the acknowledgments people have given you for your work. Notice how you have improved your services or your products. Put a price tag on the benefits you offer.

Then use this knowledge of your added value to raise your prices. 

Mellowing Into Our Creative Genius

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Every time I start to think it may be too late to achieve something exciting, someone reminds me of Colonel Sanders who started Kentucky Fried Chicken in his 80’s

But a recent article by David W. Galenson & Joshua Kotin that originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times, pointed out the difference in creative styles between those who did awesome things in their 20’s and those who developed over time—the Conceptual Innovators vs. the Experimental Innovators.

Young people are often “Conceptual Innovators. They get an inspired idea and often work it into a unique masterpiece. They have a tendency to be the rule breakers. Picasso created cubism at 25. Orson Wells made Citizen Kane at 25. Mozart wrote full symphonies in his teens and 20s. Conceptual Innovators are often driven by the need to express a new idea or particular emotions. The flash of insight comes and they follow their ideas and create a new concept.

But there is another way creativity emerges. It is the trial-and-error experimentation and contemplation that ultimately leads to a unique expression of the collected wisdom and life experience. These people are called “Experimental Innovators” and they seek to describe what they see and hear and understand. They examine the over-view based on their life experience and their personal quest for knowledge, and organize it into a unique and individualized offering.

The list is long of people whose quest for expression involved a long journey. Paul Cezanne was an experimental innovator. After failing to get into the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts, he left Paris feeling totally discouraged because he felt he could not compete with other young artists of his time. After years spent in contemplation and exploration, he finally came to understand what he wanted to do. He wanted to bring solidity to Impressionism. He was 30 years old at the time. Then he spent the next 30 years, primarily in seclusion, developing his unique style that ultimately influenced every important artist of the next generation.

It’s important to have a goal. It’s important to make a commitment to the problem you want to solve. It’s important to keep on learning and to examine your life experience as you formulate your personal philosophy.

Mark Twain wrote Tom Sawyer at 41 and Huckleberry Finn at 50

Robert Frost dropped out of both Dartmouth and Harvard, retreated to a rural environment, and published his most famous poem, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” at 49.

Frank Loyd Wright completed Fallingwater at 72 and worked on the Guggenheim Museum until his death at 91

At 63 Frost observed that young people have flashes of insight, but “it is later in the dark of life that you see forms, constellations. And it is the constellations that are philosophy.”

It is our unique philosophy that we can put into information products that will possibly change the lives of others. I think it’s important that we pass forward the wisdom we have accumulated over the years. If we share our successes and our less-than-successes and others will learn from them. We’ve come too far and know too much to allow ourselves to move into a sedentary existence as we age. Pick up your pen, get on that computer, go to that art class, take the creative writing course, write that e-book, lead that workshop, follow your passion, follow that dream you’ve been carrying in your heart all your life. Now is the time. Now is the time for you to step up to the plate and go to bat for what you have leaned and what you believe. Get active. Get creative. Rejoin that you have finally mellowed into your own creative genius.

Are You Muscling The Outcome?

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How much of your day is spent pushing and pulling, planning and choosing as
you try to muscle a certain outcome into place? A lot more than is
necessary. And wouldn’t it be a relief if you could just let go and trust
in whatever shows up.

The Universe is fluid. It is ever changing. The all-encompassing energy is
like a shape-shifter, in one form one minute, in another form the next.
There is a rhythm, there is an ebb and flow, and there is a natural
evolution. But how do we get to “vote” on the outcome of our life? 

We make changes in our life through our consciousness.

Wise Friend is better at that than I am. She totally knows and experiences
the shifts in her life in relation to her thoughts, her consciousness. She
is content to let the Law of Attraction work and bring to her the perfect
clients and the perfect opportunities she needs. I, on the other hand,
continue to paddle even when I’m flowing in the right direction. 

“The way is not difficult; only there must be no wanting or not wanting.”—
Chao-Chou 

I’m not certain I can manage no wanting and not wanting. Yet I can see the
serenity it would bring me. What if I simply savored every moment rather
than planning the next? What if I looked at each moment as a gift, all
wrapped up in whatever I am to experience next? What if I spent more time
in meditation, more time in contemplation, more time being? 

A Chinese Proverb says, “When the root is deep, there is no reason to fear
the wind.” How deep is the root of my spirituality? How firmly do I believe
in my wholeness, the perfection of what shows up in my life, the blessings
of a challenging opportunity, and the lessons of a loss or seeming defeat?
Do I embrace the belief that my thoughts create my reality and that change
comes without when I change within?

It’s so simple really.   Thich Nhat Hanh tells us how”

Be yourself. Life is precious as it is. All the elements for your happiness
are already here. 
There is no need to run, strive, search, or struggle. Just Be.

2006 Cara Lumen www.caralumen.com

What Do You Do With Negative Feedback?

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It’s natural to want to be liked. Everyone wants to think they are a pleasing, pleasant person to be around. However, we can’t and won’t please everyone all the time and we shouldn’t try to. What then, do we do with negative feedback?

I recently had the opportunity to take a 360Reach assessment, which is designed to help me identify my branding position based on how others see me. There were questions to establish both my perceived strengths and weaknesses. So what did I do? Among all the really good things said, I focused on the very small percentage of the not-so-good. Of course, don’t we always? I allowed them for a moment to take away from the positive reinforcement I had experienced. Does this sound familiar?

The "negative" appears for a reason—to offer you an opportunity to make a choice for change. You can take it or not. When I looked up the word "negative," it shows up as "off-putting, unconstructive, unhelpful, depressing." Actually, feedback or responses that "rock your boat" are actually good things. Truly.

The positive way for me to use this seemingly critical input is to see how true it feels to me. Then I look at what difference making or not making a change to accommodate it would make in my values. After that I examine what ensuing result a change would create. Then I make a decision. To do or not to do. To change or not to change. To ignore or to examine.

Negative feedback can be a reflection of how you feel about yourself. Examine it to see if it uncovers areas where you are being critical or judgmental of yourself. Put it in perspective with the overall scheme of your life. See how it fits into your goals and intentions. Make an informed choice to change or not change. Be certain the choice carries you forward and is true to who you are and what you choose to express.

Look at negativity as seasoning in your own personal serving of cosmic soup. Too much will ruin the flavor. Just the right amount will help you adjust in a manner that adds to the flavor of the total dish.

We get what we focus on, so use what seems to be "negative" feedback as an opportunity for adjustment—or not. But do look it over. Weigh it against the highest good for all. Then make your choice.

Negative feedback is an opportunity for growth—a true gift! It’s yours for the taking.

© Cara Lumen 2006

What Creates Trust?

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I had subscribed to her e-magazine for several months. I found her blog and
subscribed to her RSS feed. Every other day or so I got a notice of
something she had written. Some I stopped to read, some I copied to save,
and some I skipped over knowing I wasn’t ready or wasn’t interested in the
information. 

One day I said to myself, “This has value to me. I want to become an
affiliate of her work and tell others about her.”  And I did. 

What brought to me that decision? What shift occurred to make me decide her
work had value to me? How had I arrived at that point? What, I wondered,
creates trust? 

Trust Is Built Over Time

My process in reaching this decision, had taken time. I was drawn to her
energy by all the magical ways we are drawn or led to each other. I
accepted her invitation to opt in to her newsletter. It apparently came at
times that worked for me, (as in not too often) and most of all, I liked
what I read. I learned something, it triggered new ideas, it made a
difference in my awareness and spawned new insights.

Trust Involves Similar Values

Trust often involves identifying with the person’s values and respecting or
being stimulated by what they say and do. Sometimes trust involves feeling
safe and comfortable with someone. We trust someone’s success, when we see
them accomplish what we’d like to do. We trust someone’s integrity when we
seem the choices they make in adverse situations.

How do I build trust in myself?

If I want to build trust with you, what do I do? I begin by expressing my
true self—not some version of what I think you might want to hear. I place
myself deeply in service. Then I give and give and give some more. I fill
my contributions to our relationship with value. I fully participate in our
exchange with joy and love and respect. 

Trust Is Vital To Success

Trust is something we must build in our business and our lives. Our clients
and customers must trust us to deliver what we promise. They must trust us
to keep our word and act with integrity. Trust is something we must have in
a nourishing relationship. We can’t push trust, we can only nurture it and
let it find its own footing. 
Exchange Is The Reward

The reward of trust in relationships is exchange. Whether it is a service
or a product or friendship, we must continually place ourselves in the
service of others. Over time, they will come to trust us, our product, our
services, and our friendship. 

Keep In Touch—Give Your Best

Trust comes from continued contact. Whether it is phone calls, letters,
e-mails, or e-magazines, communication is the key to building trust. Who do
you need to contact today? Where would you like to deepen your trust? In
your work environment, in your business, in your life, bring to it the best
you have within you and trust will follow. 

Trust Builds Confidence

When you have built a trusting relationship, people will have confidence in
you, they will believe in you and your ability. They will have faith that
you will provide value at every turn. They will ask for your service, your
product, or your advice. 

Trust Is The Basic Factor Needed For Cooperation

When we trust, when we open our eyes to another’s humanness, it makes room
for a natural flow of openness and affection. It clarifies our
understanding of each other. Trust allows us to be honest with each other,
to be affectionate, to take risks and love. 

Build Trust

Increase the value of your service. Give more that is expected in your
home, in your work, in your life. Work to build long lasting relationships
that are mutually nurturing, that provide for and sustain you. As Mother
Teresa said, “Go out into the world today and love the people you meet. Let
your presence light new light in the hearts of people.”

c2006 Cara Lumen