EP129: The Value Show
Abe Lincoln said: “A lawyer’s time and advice are his stock in trade. ”
How much is your time and knowledge worth and how do you make content or products and services that are valuable to others?
In today’s episode 129: What is the definition of value? What is value based or perceived value? How do you figure out how much your time is worth? In short, how do you make a good living creating impactful and valuable content and have raging fans and/or happy clients? Sounds good, right?
I also give practical tips for how I am figuring out the financial side of value (how much is my time worth) vs the value I bring to others (how to impact others and make people happy).
What is Value?
It has a lot of different meanings and one thing that is for certain is nothing has a fixed value.
Have you ever heard the phrase “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure”
Things may have fixed price tags, but value is in the eyes of the beholder (aka market) and is ever-changing.
Value is defined in terms of economics or ethics:
In economic terms: Value is the amount of money that can be received for something. What is the maximum amount of money you are willing and able to pay for a good or service?
In ethical terms or core values: How useful or important something is to you.
Look around your house: Your things have value, but more than likely your personal possessions have psychological or sentimental value more than monetary value. Photographs and family heirlooms have sentimental value and high degrees of importance.
Ethics or core values and beliefs are important to how you live and have tremendous value to most people.
Think of brands and businesses you love and most likely it is because they align with your core beliefs such as honesty, fairness, fun, kindness, trustworthiness, and want to associate with people or businesses we deem valuable.
What is perceived value or Value-Based Marketing? How do we create things that are valuable to others?
Value is a buzzword online and everybody is always talking about creating value and podcasters and content creators are supposed to over-deliver on value to their audience. You do not determine what is valuable- your customers, clients or audience do.
As Gary Vaynerchuk often says, the market-not you decides how valuable your content is in the form of likes, shares, comments, etc.
Question: Have you ever made a video or a podcast episode that you were so proud of and that was awesome, but the response was silent?
Or the opposite when you hit publish on something you considered sub-par work and everyone seemed to love it?
4 Types of Value:
Functional Value: This is the solution you offer. Does it work and will it solve the problem they are having. If I create a tutorial and someone searching on Google watched it and it fixed their issue, then they will deem my tutorial as valuable because it did what it said it would.
Monetary Value: Is the functional value worth paying for? If I create a course or product that teaches you a skill you need to learn to get a promotion or to improve your business in a fraction of the time it would take you to learn on your own, that would likely have perceived value to you, right. You may want to learn how to do something, but when the want becomes a need, the value or the amount you are willing to pay increases.
Social Value: Does your content or product or service allow the consumer to connect with others. Maybe you have a paid membership site or Patreon community that brings people with similar interests together and while there may not be any functional value per se, the communal and social value is high and very important to some. This is your tribe or community and podcasting and Facebook groups are great ways to generate social value. Depending on your target audience and nature of your business, this could be one of the most valuable pieces to your brand.
Psychological Value: Sentimental value falls under this category. Does your content or product and service make people feel better or happy? I do a lot of Facebook Lives of the sunsets from the beach and people tell me they love them because it makes them relax and listen to the sounds of the water and birds.
The key to everything is to always be trying to create things with the end-user in mind first.
Does your stuff work? Is it solving a problem that is worth paying for? If I join your private Facebook group, will I meet some cool people? Will I be entertained or inspired or happy after viewing your content or buying your product?
How much is your time and knowledge is worth?
Hint: There is no magical formula and it will change from situation to situation, but there are things you can do to get started on the right foot.
Step 1: Figure out expenses. Know your business numbers
How much do you need every month to live and run your business.
Use a freelance calculator to calculate the rate you need to pay expenses and make desired salary.
This is a good starting point at determining how much your time is worth by knowing that you need to create a product or service that people are willing to pay in order for you to cover your expenses and generate a profit for you.
My rate came to $67/hour
Step 2: Practice Your Craft The better and more skilled you get at whatever it is you offer, the more valuable your time and knowledge is worth. I have put in many years learning and practicing tech and creative skills, I make daily videos and content to distinguish myself from than those unwilling to put in the hard work and just like honest Abe, my stock in trade is rising in proportion to how many people are seeking my time and knowledge.
Step 3: Tell Your Story
Who you are, what you do and how your content or product and services can do for those who consume it.
What’s in it for them? How can you solve their problems or help them make more money or lose weight or be happy?
My goal is to introduce myself and make a connection and show people who visit my site how I can help solve their problems by offering solutions through consulting, my concierge business or my educational content. Hey, this guy can help me and I really like his style and content.
Money is no object when you have something people need to help them achieve their own goals or fix their problems, so if you figure out what people need from you, you have figured out how to make a living helping people.
In Conclusion:
As soon as you stop making it about you and start making it about how what you do can change or transform the situation of others, then you will gain the confidence to raise your rates and make a good living with happy clients.
#youarevaluable
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