Fun Friday!

Facebook is FUN! I’m not on it as much as I would like to but the connections you can make are amazing.

Today’s post is about one such connection. Jennica friended me on Facebook and had left a note that she included this blog in a section of her blog called “Mom Sites I Love”.  That really made my day! I checked out her blog and website and thought how cool! Jennica’s website PeekabooKidsGear.com is an online kids gear consignment store! I love that (easy and affordable)!

My girls’ are past the age that buying from a consignment store makes sense. But when Natalia was younger….I bought all her preschool clothes from a consignment store. She went to this very cool preschool where they let kids be kids and she came home dirty and her clothes were usually stained and wouldn’t last very long. So I bought her clothes from a consignment store so I wouldn’t stress about her ruining all her stuff! Plus as a single mom it was easy on the budget and was able to score some very cute things!

So when you have a minute check out Jennica’s site and her blog:  “The Boss of Me”.

Value Is Where It’s At!

Lately I’ve noticed that marketers (especially those who are charging higher prices) have moved away from talking features and benefits and started emphasizing value lately.

One of the definitions of value as defined in The American Heritage Dictionary is ” A fair equivalent or return for something”

I’ve been taking it in and thinking about that. What is value? I thought of “good value” usually meaning a product or service that is good and the cost is cheap. Then there is the high service – high price model and there is good value with that as well. I think about that when I am about to invest in coaching, education or a piece of equipment for my business. Sometimes it doesn’t pay to go cheap.

I had to go to my dentist today for my semi-annual teeth cleaning. My dentist is female and her office is nicely appointed, soft colors and soft lighting. A yummy smelling candle was lit sitting on the reception counter and good music playing in the background (good music being not the local easy listening music station!). When it was time for me to go into the back, I was seated and the usual check in questions were asked. I was then lead into the hallway where I received my paraffin hand treatment (yes at my dentist before your procedure commences your hands are treated to a hand paraffin treatment). Walking back to the dentist chair with my hands snuggled cozily into the hand mitts I sat down and was asked if I would like to watch a movie.  I politely declined this time. I felt like just zoning out. My dentist came in and before we got started on my cleaning, she asked how I was doing, how my business is doing and then we chatted about our kids and how busy it is now that school started.

I have to say…I love going to my dentist. Do I enjoy the discomfort that usually comes with going to the dentist – no. But the thought of the paraffin treatment takes the sting out of going. Not to mention how nice it is to go to a care provider and be able to relate with them on a personal level. To see them as a person  – not just a white coat.

Here comes the value part. My dentist is not the cheapest dentist in town. She is hands down more expensive. BUT the value I get (great dental care, paraffin hand treatment and being able to relate to the person taking care of me) from being her patient makes me perfectly happy to pay more to be there.

What value are you offering your clients that will make them happy to pay you more?

Little Miss Knows What She’s Worth…

I love synchronicity…it’s what makes life fun! As I delve deeply, spend over $1k  to attend a seminar about marketing and getting what I’m worth…thinking deeply about my services and what I charge – my little offspring has no such troubles.

After I wrote my post about truly knowing my worth my little one tells me in no uncertain terms that she needs – no deserves a raise in her allowance. Her point? You can’t buy jack on $10 a month. My point? She’s 7. End of story. But that wasn’t good enough. The conversation was painful – very painful – she wasn’t going to let me off the hook easily.

We’re in the middle of Costco and I had to call Brian for backup. I ran out of good reasons why she wasn’t going to get $20 a month – other than she’s 7 and I’m the mom and that’s what I say.

Her point is well taken – you can’t buy jack on $10 a month. Barbie dolls and all the accessories worth having are more than $10. We told her that she couldn’t borrow against future allowances (the parental lesson being – live within your means little miss). Once she found out she wasn’t going to get anywhere with that she started angling for a raise.

Personally, I’d be happy to give her a $5 raise if she agrees to vacuum the living room and mop the kitchen floor (my two least favorite house cleaning chores) but Brian is not so sure. Then again he doesn’t vacuum the living room and mop the kitchen floor.

She is demanding a family meeting to discuss this. I’m sure once she clues Sam in on what she is campaigning ( a raise in their allowance) Sam will happily back her up.

End result…not sure. But after thinking this through it would be cheaper to pay the girls to vacuum and mop the floors than it would be to pay myself!

What Am I Worth?

Last week I was in AZ for a marketing seminar. A client of mine asked me to go with her so I can gain a clearer picture about the path she is taking and based on what we learned at the seminar start laying out her next steps.

Ninety percent of the seminar taught processes that I could utilize in my client’s business and it was a great learning experience. Usually my clients go to these seminars boil 4 days of learning to a paragraph and then off we go. By attending this seminar I got the big picture and was able to see where I could support my client beyond what was first imagined.

There was however a golden nugget that really turned my world upside down. It was the section about charging what you are worth. We did this exercise where we extrapolate out all the benefits that our clients gain by working with us. We take the immediate results our clients get from working with us and then take that through their personal, financial, family and health areas of their life.  It was an eye opener for me. I “knew” that what I do has a direct impact on my clients business, but when I took that and applied the results to their personal life, financial life etc. (more time for family, less stress, more income, etc) for the first time I truly grasped and appreciated what I bring to the table.

I highly recommend any service provider sit down and do this exercise. I’m 99% sure that once you look at the impact you have and what you bring to the table you will have a deeper appreciation for yourself!

In the end I found out that I’m worth a lot….more than I give myself credit for!

Fun Friday!

Keeping it short and sweet since I’m in AZ for a marketing seminar this week! Will let you know all about it when I come back on Monday!

This is my kind of article!   Hardwork’s  Overrated, Maybe Detrimental