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I’m a nice and generous guy, but at some point, there has to be a limit. 2008 was the year I was almost bled dry by people who wanted stuff for free, wanted to pay very little, or who promised great payoff later (money, large contracts, stock, etc.). And 2009 will be the year where that all stops. I am not bitter about it. It just has to stop. I am sitting here suffering and struggling because I have been way to generous.
If I had my way, I would give away all my services for free. But I can’t. All my bills require me to pay money.
I really enjoy helping people. But I am tired of being broke because of people who are too cheap to pay or who do not value what I offer. I am tired of people who pay $395 for a template website, but then want you to custom design it and create a website that is worth $2,000 or $5,000. I am tired of the people who tell you they want one thing, and even though it was written down and agreed upon, they turn around, say they are not happy, and tell you that is not what they wanted and want a refund… even though you have it it writing. I am tired of people with unrealistic expectations, and expect something of great value for next to nothing. I am tired of people promising large contracts and never delivering, meanwhile wanting me to help them out for free. I am tired of hard luck cases who cry sob stories so that I help them for little to nothing. If I continue giving away my services, I will be a hard luck case myself.
Now I know it is not there fault that I said yes to their requests, so I do not blame them, although some of them frustrate me at times. I’ve just been too nice. Maybe that is where all the nice people went. They got bled dry by leeches and died and in there place was an empty bitter shell. And I do not want to become like that, which is why things are going to change now.
So what is 2009 going to be like? Well, first of all, no more freebies and discounts given to individuals. There must be an exchange of value for value. The only freebies and discounts I will give will be in the context of marketing and promotions designed to bring in more sales. And secondly, no wasting my time on jobs that are not profitable.
2009 is going to be a very different year. And a big part of that is saying no more.
Hi, Scott! We met at the tweetup on Sunday at Coffeegroundz. I was checking out your blog and saw your post. Since I’m dealing with similar issues in my content production company, I felt like it was all right to reply
Willie Crawford has a smashing good article on this: Beware The Internet Marketing Vampires – http://www.williecrawford.com/blog/archives/002071.html – but I think it goes beyond IM and into general biz as well.
When you’re good at something, everyone wants you, regardless of whether they can realistically afford your fees. I write direct response copy, and my salesletter creation starts at the four figures – something that new marketers on a bootstrap budget simply cannot afford, even though my letters pull decent conversion rates – enough for them to get their investment returned many times over.
One thing I wrote on my board for 2009 is that someone else’s inability to pay my rates is not my concern. Is it the end of the world that not everyone can afford a Rolls Royce Phantom? No – even though I know quite a few who want that car, myself included. RR shouldn’t lower the price of their car so that everyone can buy.
Exclusivity is a tool that we honestly haven’t been “trained” to enjoy or even to expect. I think we set out to serve so many people that we forget that we simply can’t do that. I specialize in niche marketing, because I find it easier to do so than serve every opportunity seeker coming down the pipe. I also teach a limited amount of methods that wrap around a common theme, so that my students aren’t bombarded by too many choices.
I get “junk quotes” quite often — people who are amazed that I won’t write a 500 word article for $1, or build them a sales oriented, lead generation site (website + copy + teaser product + backend design + etc) for $200. If someone overseas will do that for you, then please don’t spare another second speaking to me!
When that $100, $200, or even $500 website fails to do more than produce “name, rank and serial number” results for them, they’ll be back.
What I’ve done so far to see success is go to incredible lengths to seperate myself from the crowd. In the IM field, I teach niche marketing and adapting yourself to the gardeners, the lawn care junkies, the afficiandos in every niche that spend great money to learn more information.
I also went more “in house” as well in response to having to turn away clients. Keep turning those energy suckers away, Scott.
I’d also recommend building a list in 2009 and focusing your relationship on them. That’s what I’ve done with Twitter, build a fan base that supports the great things you do.
If I’m off base, or out of line, I sincerely apologize. This is a topic that I know is a little raw for all parties intended, but as a fellow business owner, I felt like you deserved to know somebody else is right there with you, trying to serve others but needing to take care of the “natural” necessities … and some unnatural ones (hey, I like shoes and computers, and neither of those categories have “cheap” next to their name!)
I wish you nothing but success in 2009! If you ever want to talk further about your business in 2009, I’m definitely here to help in any way I can (though, you’re a smart guy, you don’t need my help, just figured I’d offer).
I like the way you think – strategic partnerships that build your processes are the real way to go. There really ain’t nothing free in this world – those free samples you get in the mail … that marketer just got the tastiest type of lead in the world – your physical mailing address and possibly your phone number.
Work hard, play hard, love easily!
Isabella “Niche Lady” Murphy, The Staying Paid Diva
Thanks for the awesome link. I truly have been almost bled dry by the Value Vampires. That is exactly what happened in 2008.
I responded to much of what you said in another comment, but I will add that I can see that one of the biggest value vampires has been myself. I love helping people, and sometimes people take advantage of that. Like I mentioned before, I’d do if for free if I could, but I can’t… and I shouldn’t.
I’m not trying to praise myself here, but I do have a gift that I sometimes take for granted. I learn very quickly, and can teach what I know in terms people new to the topic can understand. And it is not limited to any specific field. I am not saying that I am the only one with this gift or that I am better than others, but I do take that gift for granted sometimes. I don’t need to be “taught” something, I simply learn it all by myself. Completely self-taught, I sometimes forget how much I know and take my knowledge for granted until others ask me how to do something.
By taking that knowledge for granted, I am, in effect, sucking the value out of it myself.
Considering that so many people wanted me to come on board or even run their start-ups and small businesses in 2008 should attest that there has to be some value there. And if they are not willing to pay, then perhaps I should find people who can, because what I know and what I do is valuable.
Thanks for the support. I’d love to talk to you more.
Niche marketing is a good way to promote products and earn money online because there are few competitors yet.”;”