Hello, I welcome in.
So I want to make sure everyone can hear me.
Okay? If you can hear me, please put a note in the chat that you're hearing me, fine.
Because talking to myself really isn't very effective and yay.
All right, will you get to see my space? This is my office with both the math and science.
See stuff as well as lots of creative things.
Like a big grin on my daughter bought for me.
It's my favorite colors, which is green.
So very excited to have you here in, for those of you who are watching the replay later, welcome in all.
So I'm going to be giving you work.
And for those of you who are able to be here live, please post questions in the chat.
I am 100% interactive person.
This is not me blabbing at you for an hour.
This is us having a two-way conversation and me Able to share that because if you have a question, someone else probably does too there.
Maybe the occasional cat who is sitting right here.
You want to say hi to my cat? Can we hear this is Romeo? He's 18 years old.
So every, every artist needs some kind of random creature running around.
Right to Welcome Inn.
Again, we are here today to talk about stop working for free.
No, your creative value and discover Prosperity because yes, you deserve it and it is absolutely possible to be creative and have that creativity valued and be prosperous 19 and so, hi, Bobby.
I too too, too.
Too old man, cat.
That's what I call him.
My old man cat.
Okay, we're going to kick this off and like I said questions, or I'm going to ask you to give me feedback throughout, please post it in the chat, I won't use a specific name but I.
will comment on it because that way I know sometimes people are less comfortable having their name attached to a specific comment or question.
Yes it'll be visible in the chat but it won't be repeated in the actual webinar so to confirm you should be seeing me and you should be seeing some slides won't one slide at a time.
if that's not the case, please let me know.
Otherwise we're going to go on to the next one which is I want to know more about you and what brought you specifically here today.
Guess we're going to cover everything on my list.
I'm going to remind you what that was.
We will cover it all.
However it's also important for me to make this as useful as possible for you to know which of these three statements resume.
The most, they could all resonate.
I'd like to know which one resonates the most Definitely a see.
You have a bad case, o imposter syndrome.
So I'm going to read these a your work is undervalued.
People actually expect you to work for free and I've been asked that more times than I care to count your working harder and longer but making the same or even less than others see you have.
a bad case of imposter syndrome and wonder if you can even charge for your work can we got to see an A so be actually comes from a and C so don't worry about that we.
will get to that.
We are going to cover the following and I like to restate at the beginning, so everyone's on the same page and you know what's going to happen? We're going to talk about how you can look.
at pricing in confidence rather than fear or avoidance.
Trust me.
I've heard it a lot.
I've worked with Kratos for over a decade.
How to consult confidently.
Answer request for free, for free work because I know you get asked that I get asked that everybody gets her ass.
That yappy was when you work for someone else.
Oh, yes, is not true.
How do you bounce, the Art & Science in pricing and there is an art of pricing which sometimes people think that sounds strange.
However, it's true and is part of what I do with my creative life.
How do you offer discounts and promotions without breaking the bank? There is a way.
Set boundaries and keep them.
I'm finally stop working harder for Less you know you love what you do you deserve to be valued? Okay.
So we've got A's and C's is where we're focused on B will come, as you can, as we will address be as we go through a and C.
Okay, you may have seen.
I posted this in the creatopia community this week.
Time is your most precious asset.
And we are starting here because everything else flows from that, everything you will see how everything flows.
We haven't invented a time machine.
I love science fiction.
I, so wish the time machines were real.
I've seen every movie about them.
Probably read most books about it.
It's not real.
So time I really want you to think about this and I'd love for you to also comment.
Time is my cat just like right outside the screen.
That's why my hands going over here.
We don't take it for granted.
I mean, certainly wouldn't we have a tight deadline? We go.
I've got to get this done.
I don't have enough time.
However, in our day-to-day life, it's very easy to take time for granted.
To not value it.
We might say, for example, We might say, well, it's free.
You know, you might there might be a service or an item like I can do all my only, all my own social media, it's free then.
Well, if it takes you, hey Monett, it takes you if it takes you 3 hours a day to do your social media, it's not free.
It's costing you 3 hours a day if you do it 5 days a week, 15 hours.
Wow.
So one of the comments as we only have a defended definite number of minutes in our life and we need to use them wisely.
Yes, and in situations where I see people not doing that is That we take over, that's free.
Even though it takes time another one, which I notice is, what are your goals for? How you spend your time? What I mean by that is I have a 12 year-old soon to be 13 and.
I used to work as an investment banker before I had kids and investment bankers, it's not just a stereotype.
I was working 80 or more hours in a week.
I realized I would never have time.
For a family.
Not the kind of family I wanted to have not the the kind of relationship I wanted with my child children.
I have one one daughter.
And I ended up leaving that profession.
I say that because it's easy when you work for yourself that work just kind of becomes this amorphous.
Blob grows and grows and grows.
I told you I loved science fiction and it grows in all of a sudden all over time, is eating up and we forgot.
We forgot why we wanted to work for ourselves in the first place.
We forgot about what are those real priorities and goals.
One of them, clearly would be to have a creative life to have a, have your creativity valued into do it to make a living or to do it to make some extra money.
What else I would love for you to write it down.
If you're comfortable type it in in the chats and you have a great comment there, I'm going to Teresa, I'm going to comment on that.
I've heard if you charge minimum wage for your time, nobody will ever pay for that time.
It's true.
It is so true.
So we're going to use this again later.
I really want you to right now write down what are my priorities with time daily weekly monthly.
Is it having time for myself? Is it having time for my family? My friends, what maybe an organization you want to help, whatever it is.
I don't care.
If it's, I want time to sit on my porch and stare at nothing, if that's what you want, then it's a priority.
By writing it down your gift, your you're giving it a concreteness that we will use later on in this wepener.
So you must write it down and then and I need you to put in the chat, I wrote it down, Nicole or done.
So I know because without this Baseline of your priorities in your goals.
Then, everything else stops working.
Here we go.
One time for me.
Yes, to time for reflection and self-knowledge in mindfulness like that and 3 time to have deep conversations.
Oh yes, that the this time and space.
Be in conversation like a real.
Yeah I'd I totally know what you mean and it's something.
I've been missing during the pandemic Simon.
Extrovert being able to do that in person.
Want to enjoy my retirement doing those things.
I truly enjoy card making scrapbooking photography and time with family, great.
I would even encourages it require, but I would encourage you after this webinar, take those and do something with them.
And what I mean by that is like one that has her whole art journaling, you know, turn into an art Journal bacon into a page do something with it to really internalized.
These are my values.
These are my goals and priorities.
I am worth being a goal and a priority.
It is so easy to fall out of that and focus creative time.
Lots of it in pure Solitude, the difference between an introvert and extrovert this weekend.
I'm going to play test board games for with people.
I haven't seen in a year-and-a-half so I'm kind of the opposite end of that Spectrum, which is fine.
Do you have these? These have value and that value in conjunction with the fact that time is limited.
in the the the sense of we can't get it back, we can't get more of it.
So planning to use it just like you plan to use banking.
Pure solitude, it's fine.
I know.
I know a lot of creatives are actually introverts.
That's fine.
I'm not, I don't know if you can hear my cat.
He's making lots of noises back there.
He's like I'm an introvert.
Okay.
So we've got that piece.
Now, we're going to move on to you.
As far as value.
Oh yeah, I know this one can be really tough and in that was one of the highlights of the Imposter syndrome.
I'm not good enough.
I'm, you know, where this isn't ready yet? there's a couple pieces here, we need to talk about and the first thing is It's valuable because it comes from you.
It's Unique, because it comes from you, if you think about, There's two very different things you can do with this one is you think about art like paintings? I'm actually a bit of a add egg.
off fan, who did a lot of like ballerinas and and vaccines things like that and so you can buy well I can't buy one, could buy an original they go for millions of dollars and it's.
Unique and I'm really in some ways Priceless because it was made by a certain person.
and if someone tries to copy it, it's not the same even though they might use the same techniques and everything else.
It is unique because it comes from that person that's not just true for day Gaga.
That is true for all of us.
Even messages.
So you don't know.
That's one that's here by partner and we can take the same piece of information and share it in completely different weights.
We can take the same starting point and it lives up looking completely different.
I did a ran, a flash fiction contest last year and everyone had the same basic parameters and if you've ever looked at something that has basic parameters and then you have to do it, Oh, so.
fascinating different because you as a person are fascinating and different and unique and compelling there for what you make, is all of those things.
Now, let's take this a step further.
Cuz you're saying yeah Nicole.
Okay okay yeah and all that blah blah blah.
I'm going to give you some things to think about to internalize this cuz your brain saying okay maybe and the other part of me you was going the first thing is if they couldn't do it.
themselves.
They what? I can't.
I there are types of art.
I wish I could make my my my mascots and villains.
You know, we've already seen one.
I'm looking for a card here.
My mascots and villains so right.
I wish I could have drawn Maxine.
I didn't.
I heard an illustrator Jennifer straps to call scraps Jennifer vanderbeek.
I hired her to do it because even though I had a vision, there is no way.
I could have drawn, cool Maxine here.
So I paid her to do it.
There's the other thing of.
So if, if someone starts to say, well, there's no value to that.
Well, then do it yourself.
Right.
So that's what they discovered.
If they have the skill, let's say they have skill.
Then it takes me back to that first one time.
And what you find is, even when people could do it, they don't have the time or the interest to do it.
She see all these are starting to show you that there's Valley's Mountain where tackle you specifically in a minute each of you specifically generally though.
Every person has a uniqueness, they bring to the world.
That's beautiful.
I believe that 100%.
And you have almost a duty, I think in a good way to bring it out and and share that to make other people's lives more interesting and bright.
In addition to that, if someone had the skill you had, they could do it themselves.
So they don't have it or be they don't have the time cuz time is a precious resource and asset.
Now let's talk about you before you do that though.
I love in the chats to make sure since being an extrovert.
Usually I'm talking to a live audience and and I'm watching all of the faces we have doing all that.
So I want to make sure that first of all, all that makes sense.
You're with me so far, before we talked about, you personally to ensure that you're with me agree or if you don't agree, tell me in the chat that you don't agree.
So I know getting a thumbs-up make sense, okay? Now, I'd like you to think about some form of creativity, you do.
And if you'd like to put it in the chat, you can like you're going to think about painting or writing or quilting or improv or whatever.
Teresa the boundaries, we're getting two boundaries.
Don't worry, we're getting to them.
These are the building blocks that there's a there's a method to the madness.
Its planned out, batteries are coming, but you need these pieces first to build the wall of your boundary.
So now what I want you to pick, even just one thing you do creatively, just one.
Okay.
Just one of them.
I don't care which one and and and it can be proud of me and I've shared before I like to do game design, that's creative.
It may not be what you think of an initially, it's creative.
So, pick one thing and if you're if you're willing to put it in the chat so I know where we're going cuz then I can again make my comments more specific.
And put it in the chat.
Mixed media abstract who Master boards.
Fun? Okay awesome.
I love it card making.
Yes, I love buying other people's handmade cards.
I don't have the patience to it but I love buying other people's.
I don't have the skill to do it.
So take that one thing and I want you to answer a few questions.
I'm going to go straight home right now.
You don't have to tell me if you don't want to at least.
Write them down.
Though is answer a few questions about this number one.
How many of those things? Whether it's cards are abstracts mixed-media things? Do you think you've already made? Include the ones you've tried that maybe didn't work out or was building up skill-set.
Have you made a hundred different cards? 500 on my God.
Okay this is perfect 500 so card making over 500.
You're like making this easy for me.
500 crate.
So think about how many of those you've done.
I don't want you to think about the different still under a dozen.
Don't worry.
That's still a dozen more than I've done it, over and above, yours, doesn't matter.
Cuz it's all in here, and I'm here.
And I'm here, I don't want you to think about the time you spent learning about this and it got could include taking a formal class.
It could be reading an article.
We could be watching a video, it could be just playing Minette, Al Waze is telling me to play, you know, it doesn't.
It's okay.
You're just playing.
So, just think about all the different classes and time you've spent playing in learning and exploring.
It could be, you've bought magazines or like her are wonderful.
Cryptopia magazine.
Lazy Lakes is coming soon.
And look at what other people have gone.
Think about how much time you spent doing that.
And again, you don't have to share it or not, but I want you to write that down.
and, then think about, She's got, you got the amount of time.
Many hours.
Exactly hours, upon hours, upon hours.
And all the time, all the things that you've made that experience and skill set.
and I'm going to switch tracks for just a second and O in the last thing would be, if it's What, what do you? Write down how you feel when you make it.
Are you because to me whenever I create something and I'm including a part of myself in it.
And that part of yourself.
Is again, going back to your unique and compelling.
It's that spark that you're putting in.
It's that little piece of you in it and if I may be a little whoa, for a minute, it's part of your energy.
You're putting into that thing that you're craving.
I think about that for a minute and you know, what do you, how do you feel about when you're creating a piece of art? What part of you is going into it? Now, sometimes frustrated, I.
can't get my ID onto the card, other times excited and that's part of the creative process.
Absolutely.
And that time will this is a really good point.
Thank you.
That time you're spending.
That is.
Both.
Times that it works out perfectly and there are times you work on something and okay, I'm talking about me now.
I'm not making any judgment on your work.
I'm talking about me, there's times I work at something I get today in Lego.
Oh my goodness.
What, what is what was I doing? What was I thinking? And and, but that's still time.
When you mess up when you try something creative, when it doesn't work out the way you planned that, as if not, more important than the times, it does.
Because you are learning a skill, you are building an ability.
Nobody wakes up in the morning when they're a baby and suddenly magically they can paint like a master.
Nobody does nobody wakes up and and can suddenly right, you know what, you know what amazing novel or quilt, a quilt that no one's ever seen before me.
And they just, you don't it takes time and not part of that process is Part of what you've invested into the skill and ability and crocheting projects.
Blank.
Blankets are prayer.
Shawls, yet.
You absolutely give energy into it.
I firmly believe that.
And that energy has value.
Why are we going all through all of this? Because when you sit down and you pull out something you've created and you and I'm going to use this card again cuz I absolutely love it.
Okay, so I've got this and yeah, I did the layout, I mean, I can do graphic design but this, this, this drawing here, It was not just, I think Jennifer charged me an hour of her.
time.
I don't remember exactly was it.
The reality is being able to do this, you might think it's just a black and white line drawing.
How hard is that? I'm sure, you know, you know what I'm saying, right, the reality is she did this based on years of experience, She put a piece of herself in it.
You see where I'm going with this.
If you had to have open heart surgery hopefully you don't but let's say you did my dad did number years ago? Are you going to want to go to the guy or gal? The person is.
a guy might ask who is like lol, you know? I mean it can't you just looked it up on the internet can Google how to do it versus the person that has years of experience and.
training.
When you make something, it isn't just in that moment, it is building from all the investment of your time.
And your money and resources have created something a skill set and ability you are using in that moment.
That's what makes it so Priceless.
That's what means.
Okay, baby.
It took someone an hour to do this, but the reality is It didn't take them just an hour to be able to do it.
and if someone wants to buy something you've made, It's not they're not just looking at that moment cuz we go back to.
If they could, they do it themselves but they didn't want to invest hours or years or hundreds of cards or whatever.
They didn't want to do that.
They want the end result.
So they have to pay for it.
One way or the other, they can pay in their own time or they can pay you in money.
And at this point, I would love it.
If you could say, okay, in the cold at making sense, or I'm still a little confused too, cool.
Can you help me out here? Because I can't, I can't see you.
And I can't see your your non verbal skills.
I'm the one who's supposed to have the skills.
so to reiterate, it's just thinking about all this All that time and energy.
When you start feeling as though you're an imposter, hey, thanks.
If you, if you're starting to feel as though you're an imposter go back to that list, I just made you write it down, I would love for you to even maybe keep that as a journal.
or a sheet or something that you can refer back to and oh I did this and I did that and it and is someone who maybe does like across different media is like the mixed media.
give all sorts of things that might be playing in there.
That all has True Value is why in business, if you want to take off the creative moment for hat for a moment and just think in a logical business sense, why do people that have years.
of experience in business? Get paid more for the same reason.
You should get paid for your art experience, your creative creativity experience, because you've invested your time and energy to become where you are today.
This is interesting when I purchase a craft item.
I love I try to consider what went into making it long time of creating to get to that project.
Many times, I think they're under selling themselves Yes.
And in Monette talks about this about the creative process that the creative process is a whole.
There are, there are moments where it almost feels as though you're doing nothing or in the in the first print in the unfolding a dish.
I talked about being a tulip, the so-called dormant phase.
There's actually a lot going on when a tulip bulb is considered dormant and what's happening is all below the surface, you can't see it to the outside Observer.
It looks Dormant.
However, the reality of things are happening to prepare that bulb for the next spring when it bursts out with this gorgeous flower.
That's all part of the process.
So we've built a couple blocks.
Now, this part I encourage you to journal about meditate about however you process things make it into an art Journal.
Write about it.
Talk to a friend about it since it seems like I have a lot of introverts maybe the journaling and our Turtle thing is a better path.
I don't know It's important for you to keep revisiting at anyone else.
You could do is ask someone who, who who Has purchased your art in the past or is expressed interest or really admires it and ask them to tell you, what do they see? What are what.
is there might be the values.
You don't even know.
You just take for granted.
So any questions or comments on this? Like one more, and I'm going to share that and then I'm going to move on to the next to knowing to see items on Etsy.
I know, oh my God, I'm going to read it.
But yes, it's annoying to see items on Etsy.
I know they take too long to make for so little money.
If we don't value our work, if we don't value our work, no one will Spot-on.
Oh my goodness, we have to Value it.
And yes, I I don't do this for I know it's a hobby but I'd love to do seed beating to the tiny little seeds beads, you know, when you just did and it says, it can.
be very time-consuming and I see people selling stuff.
Even if you're fast, there's only so fast, you can get and I see people selling stuff.
And I think I don't even know if you're paying yourself, $2 an hour.
And it makes me sad and angry or not.
If you're tempted cuz people get tempted to what, we'll talk about, that will get me to come to my other, cuz I was going to make because it's it's coming but anyway, value our work but.
not pricing.
Okay, so now we're going to move on to the next one cuz that is a perfect lead-in to the next.
The question is where to find the balance between valuing our own work.
But not selling things too high, how to find that line? Okay.
Yeah, we don't do it for money.
But once you sell it, we need to value your time materials.
It said absolutely.
So art vs science.
Oh, it didn't work.
I actually had this really cool pretty font with art, which is totally use your creative imagination to think that the word art is got to be like little swirly things all over it with awesome.
Anyway, you'll have to use your imagination.
I know you've got one art vs science of pricing which leads right into this.
The first thing I'm going to do, I had to move it cuz my cat keep going after it.
I'm going to show you a coin.
And I watch you before I flip it cuz I'm going to flip it.
I want you to pick heads or tails and put it in the chat heads or tails before I put it in the chat.
Heads or tails.
Okay, then I'm going to flip it.
Start to doing it at your desk.
Okay, it's heads.
That's not good news for one person.
Actually.
I was interesting.
We had through field pick heads, but it's heads.
What did I just do? Well? We're often tempted to just copy someone else's price.
But 50% of all businesses fail.
So if you just copying other business, you have a coin flips chance of being wrong.
That's why you don't want to just copy what other people do.
And as we just commented in any a very widespread on Etsy, but I see it in every kind of business.
Oh, my goodness.
Do I say never kind of business? You don't want to just copy with someone else does because his it is prosperous as they may appear and I could give you a little time examples.
They may still fail.
So we're going to set aside just copying blindly.
This is the art versus the science blindly with someone else is doing.
So luckily three out of four of you guessed, right? But what does that have been the reverse? What can you do? Well, there are a couple things and I'm also going to say we're not going.
to get into the nitty-gritty of setting a price today.
That's going to be a separate webinar which we are going to offer that will be a separate webinar.
I'm going to give you some high-level stuff today will offer that as a separate.
Webinar.
Today is more about understanding being willing to charge the right price and understanding the art more broadly grading those boundaries.
Then we can once you have that then we can get into.
Okay.
How do I set it? What's exactly it? There are a few things though.
One the first one being don't just copy other people.
You don't live in a vacuum though.
That's so the Sciences.
Don't just copy other people.
The art is you don't live in a vacuum.
So what are some things you can do? Because you don't live in a vacuum to set a price.
Number one is know your gag price.
This is definitely quote, the art side, not the science side.
When you look at something, I'm not saying this is the price.
You sell it, for.
Let me be clear.
But this is your gag price again, prices, something when you look at it and you think if someone offered me X, I would gag.
I would just, I would have to bite my tongue out to bite their head off.
Now, for some people, it's a really low number for me.
I know it's not I have no problem saying.
Your guts.
If you really listen, if you do the earlier exercises, if you really start to tune into your craving, something unique and compelling with time.
Which is the most precious resource.
You have your asset? Suddenly, that gag number gets easier to Tire in higher.
Because if you're spending time creating something and you don't get the value, it's worse.
Then you have less time for the things that are supposedly a priority for me.
And we'll talk about this again in your boundaries when someone tries to get me to work for less than what I know.
I'm worth.
I think, okay.
I could work on the cheap for some random stranger.
Or.
I could charge what I'm worth and have time for my kid.
Becomes pretty easy to say no as an example.
What do you also do need to do those? Look at how to acknowledge? What's happening in the market? Because if, if there are people selling it really cheap, and this will also get us into, actually,.
we may go to the kitchen.
We're going to go to the kitchen secret weapon now, cuz I think it'll really help you.
So I'm going to do this out of order.
Is your the secret weapon in your kitchen.
I'm really excited.
Can you tell? Because I love this, the secret weapon in your kitchen, which is really hard in science.
Now, it's not this but I have to show it off.
I have a Star Trek, Enterprise pizza cutter.
If that's not it, it's pretty cool, but it's not it.
Your secret weapon in your kitchen and Manny some other time water.
Water is your secret weapon? And I'm going to tell you why in pricing.
Unless you live in Flint Michigan.
And I'm from Michigan originally so I'm not dissing Michigan, unless you live in Flint Michigan and most of the US, you can actually pour water into just a mug right from the faucet and drink it.
It might not taste wonderful but you can and it fills your basic need.
So it's free to like a penny or something.
You know, very free.
Pretty much.
And water is considered a commodity, right? Then you can go to.
I do have some bottled water, and go to bottled water that you can buy in.
This is not branded.
So it's will Target brand.
And I buy this stuff.
My kid is in dance and karate and sometimes I need water on the go for her.
So, I pay, I think last time I bought water was maybe $250.
for a 12-pack of this.
But some $3, I mean, it was less than $3 for at least, a dozen still pretty inexpensive.
But now it's a high multiple when you think about it, even if I'd say a glass of water, buy me a case of Penny from The Faucet, when I pay my water bill versus $025.
25 times as high.
I really think about it, but I'll pay it.
Why? Well, couple reasons, one is admittedly it.
Taste better.
My water taste crappy and to meet suneet because I can't bring my faucet with me to wherever I'm going to be fair.
I also do have Like the car water bottles that have filters built right in.
I did buy some of those are my daughter and I use those cuz I believe in protecting the environment.
But for the sake of us were sticking here cuz water is a billion multi multibillion-dollar industry, but it doesn't end there.
So you could at least make the argument that this has convenience taste little bit better.
Let's keep going.
I'm sure you've seen like, Smart Water, right? Smart Water.
It's like I can Jennifer Aniston, or whenever and not smart water can cost you like a couple bucks a bottle.
And really, I don't think it tastes.
I have, I have tried various bottled waters, especially when I started doing this talk, cuz I, I give this talk a lot.
Okay, sweetie.
In front of me, it's water.
It's in a bottle and it's safe to drink.
But it gets even better.
So you're like, okay, why? Cuz people perceive Value.
Why do they perceive value? Marketing and branding cuz really oh there's an old Penn and Teller.
They said Michelle called just a PS and they did this thing where they actually took water from like a hose and reported in two different like fancy cups and then serve it in New York restaurant.
so you can get it on Hulu.
If you ever want to watch this old episode is called BS and they would stay at a fancy place and they were serving them like as if they were somalia's with wine and people were raving.
about the water and it was all from the same place which was you guys did a hose from Outback.
Marketing and branding.
It gets even better though.
You can go online and there's these brand called Bling, Bling H2O.
Bling H2O and their, their single bottles of water.
Can I have some svorski crystals on it but whatever $30.
For one bottle.
$30, that company has been in business for over a decade.
I hope you're starting to see where I'm going with this.
It's all water.
Why there's a commodity that I can go over to my faucet and pour into my coffee mug and get it for a penny.
If you're going to have a price, that's not the bargain-basement price which you don't want to do, you are not the dumpster diving Bergen basement, you know? No that's not what you want for your client.
That's not what you want to sell to.
You want someone who's going to value and respect the art that you have created.
That is come from with a piece of you.
You have to show them while you're not this.
And that's part of why.
Monat and I started creatopia because the idea being worse, we're highlighting and and and showing the people the creatives behind the process behind the art, the the love and the the skill behind the art because.
when people see that it goes from, can I get this seed? Bead necklace? You spend 30 hours on for $10 to oh my God, this is an amazing piece of art.
Look at all the work you did out $50, no problem.
And I'm not saying 53 price.
I'm giving an example.
You have to explain that to share that piece.
You share.
What went into it? Not in a snarky way.
But in a hay and guess what? You're right Market your right people.
They want to see that they want to go behind-the-scenes.
They want to feel as though they know a little bit about the artist because what they will do is will turn around and talk about it.
So for example, this necklace, I'm wearing, I didn't make it even though I make jewelry.
I bought it from someone and I actually saw her make it and I loved it.
I invited her as a jewelry person, and I bought it from her and I wasn't this wasn't even planned up.
Just think about it cuz I see it in the video.
And I'm talking about the fact that I saw it being made.
It makes me feel connected.
It makes me care about the fact, you put some of yourself into it and suddenly it goes from a piece of something.
I might like to a piece of you a person.
It's just sharing.
So that's your secret weapon.
Now, you have to understand what's going on in the market.
What are people charging? So you can position yourself, you know, the the even though this is more expensive than when I get out of my top Target still positions.
That is like convenience, you know, and and a good deal versus smart water or some of the other one.
I don't even know, all the waters that are out there now.
I mean, there's like more Waters I think than sodas.
All it takes is starting to allow Peaks behind the scenes of what you do because you know, it's art and what it's created starting to Cheryl, even little bit of that in some way.
Transforms.
It just earlier.
Someone had made the comment then they're going to buy things.
They think about all the time.
It sent that person as a creative.
You think about a lot of people who what we call collectors, don't they don't even realize what goes into it.
Tony thoughts on.
I know if that was a lot of order for my original plan, but it made sense to talk about it now, The idea of water, being a secret weapon and how that relates to your pricing,.
any thoughts, or feedback, or questions on that.
Market research on pricing, okay? I'm not sure if you're saying, yes you you are, there's no no problem at all with doing market research on pricing, going out and seeing what other people are charging to.
get a sense of how to position yourself.
What I would also encourage you to do, is it easy to only look at the stuff that's cheap? And this is where at he's not a good place to go.
I mean, I'm not saying don't buy off at Sea.
However, I get frustrated because it seems like so many people.
I'm at Sea, are just trying to underpriced each other rather than doing a better marketing and branding.
So yes, go out and look but make sure.
Make sure you're looking at other things and sometimes what you make may be kind of unique.
even if you know, free sample board games, there's the Oh, oh, come here me against handmade versus homework cart.
Oh, okay.
Great will.
First of all, you'd be shocked at how much homework hurts now cost.
I mean, you know, so I will say that homework hurts, but when you go in now, there's more like custom Cards, Limited print, higher and paper.
If you've never gone to like Paper Source, am I getting that right? Monett Paper Source, I believe is the name of the company.
Check them out if you can go in person even better.
So Paper Source is a great one and then it gets back to what is the why are they buying it? So let's say, you know, someone who's getting married and I'm just going to use.
That's a big life event.
Okay, if I want to buy a special card for someone who's getting married or like my best friend, we've been best friends since I was 12.
It's been a long time cuz she's turning 50 next year for her 50th birthday, I could see going.
I want a card and all cards.
I want something beautiful to let her know how much I value and treasure her.
So it's also about how does it relate to the person and why they're buying it? You know, I'm willing to spend a lot more on a birthday card, for my best friend's 50th cuz she's amazing,.
and I know there's like love and hate feeling about that birthday.
Does understanding that but yes I would say don't even focus on homework, that's not your audience.
That's like saying, you know, should I look at Walmart prices and I'm being extreme right now.
Your Market is handmade and there's lots of individual handmade places.
Craft fairs are a mixed bag.
It depends on why I say that is some craft fairs and I use that term loosely cuz I've been to a bunch Through The Years.
Some of juried Show.
An example would be I grew up in northern Michigan and there's a place there's a fair called Art on the Rocks.
It's on Presque Isle Park, it's huge.
Will it let you know before there was huge and I believe it was Jerry certainly it seemed like it and you had true professional artists and when I mean professional, I don't mean about weather out.
there full-time but that they knew how to charge for their work appropriately versus if you go to a local small craft fair, where it's 20 bucks for a table, those people may not.
It's not that they don't have good stuff.
Please know, I am not judging the quality of their work.
I'm saying they may not understand how to price it to an Essence.
They are paying themselves, $2 an hour.
I think what I will do actually is I'm going to start a thread in the community about market research and making a note right now, I'm going to start a thread about market research and so.
what I can do is start it and then you guys can jump in and say, okay I'm looking for this and everyone can kind of shareware.
Am I looking what do you think and that sort of thing? I do want to be go back to my And let me know if you think that's a good idea.
I'm happy to do that in the group.
The community talking about market research.
I do want to remind you about your quarter.
You can't just look at what other people do with that becomes is the tool to frame your price.
So when I say frame your price and we may go over a little bit I'm going to really try to get us on time but if we go over a little bit and you need to.
go, I understand I'd rather make sure we get through everything I planned on going through.
Yes, please, awesome.
I will do that.
Then market research.
I will add it to the group the community.
I mean that framing your price think about it artwork.
That's framed forces, not framed.
Yes, pricing does.
Include fact, factors, factors in cost of materials.
Absolutely, it should include your cost of materials your time and some other things, as I said, my plan had not been to get into that today.
I will do a separate webinar on that.
I give that talk a lot and it's actually my first book to how, to be a finance Rockstar.
So yeah.
There's at resources, won't but we will do webinar on that.
The framing piece, which is really important and people do this all the time.
In various things the framing peace means someone has to have contacts.
Yes time shipping handling, absolutely.
That's more pieces of it but framing is think about this.
When you walk into a bookstore I'm a big book reader.
So I'm going to use books as an example.
You walk in a bookstore, you have a sense of the range of a regular paperbacks going to cost.
You know what, they call a trade paperback, the best seller versus something that.
So for example, I have sitting here, the crystal Bible And it's all color, you know, it is still mass-produced.
It's $22.
Which obviously is or was I don't know when I bought this.
May have been a while ago but they have a framework of what I think is reasonable.
If this has been $200 out of been, like, okay, that's way outside the framework, I expected why she's always out of print whatever.
So when you do, when you frame a price, you're starting out with to these to the the potential buyer.
This is handmade.
Okay.
This is not as is monat likes to say.
This is not mass-produced Factory stuff crap, in my opinion, but that's different story.
This is handmade.
So, immediately, the frame has always cure you in a most and I'm not dissing on framed art, but I mean, generally, people say, if they have a great boil, painting or something, don't usually frame it.
I mean, that's usually what happens.
The same thing with how you present your price in your product, you frame it, so they can properly appreciate it.
It's handmade.
I'm I'm the one who made it.
Maybe there's only one of them.
My goodness, then again, it's Unique.
You start adding in this information.
You might even say how long it took to make that can go good or bad.
So I'm not necessarily do that.
But imagine how the person you're going to give this to a feeler, once you went to appreciate this.
So you start setting it up in a way that you're highlighting, why it's worth, what you're charging without saying that, right? It's about the, its framing it.
Hopefully that's clear.
Somebody move on.
We can certainly any of these.
We can also talk about in the community discounts promotions and sales.
Oh my okay.
I am sure you all have been to Michaels at one point or another.
and none of you go there without knowing you and I was out having one of their coupons on your phone or in hand because there's certain things at Michaels you never pay full price for right.
You don't I mean I hope you don't.
If you do, we need to talk cuz you should Why is that? Because what Michael's does when they set their price is, they said it high or Kohl's is another example.
I don't know where everyone lives.
If you have a Kohl's, but Kohl's another example, they're based in Wisconsin close to me, they set the price high.
They know the price is high because then they can offer you a discount.
So if you think your your I'm not a big fan of doing lots of sales or discounts because you what happens and Michaels has done, this is you teach people to look for sale.
You teach people not to buy until there's a coupon like I would never go into Michael's and buy Lots using sample.
They have some gray container stuff in there.
I never buy it unless it's on sale or I have a coupon or both.
So you could decide is that the way you want to do business? I don't think that's a great idea but you need to plan for it.
If you think it will be the way you want to do business, which leads to, I know this was a comment question in the community which leads to what do you do for something new? Like.
it's a new product, a new service, or a new thing.
You're just trying for the first time.
You can have watch promos.
Which is very different than long-term.
You can say normally I would sell XYZ for this much or it will be this price in the future, but to celebrate it coming out.
Now, here's a coupon or its mark down this much just for a limited time.
You have friend going back to that.
You were framed the price now, you said the value of it is here.
This Workshop would be a great example.
It will be something people can buy later for a set price.
And I wanted to make sure when those of you in the community who were able to access it initially for free that, there was a value attached to it because I usually fight you this as.
a paid speech, I get paid, I get paid to give this talk.
I get paid to help people do it.
People are going to pay to watch this later.
There is value there.
It's framing it.
So people understand.
So if you feel as though You have something you're not quite ready or it's new or whatever and you want to have a little bit lower in price.
Raymond say long-term.
You know, the regular price, the man MSRP manufactured with the regular price of retail.
Price is going to be $95.
For the first 10, I sell or 1st, whatever.
And it has to be clear, can't be what we call.
Fake scarcity has to be real.
I will sell it for $47 or 35 would ever your number is because you want to get it out there and have people trying And by setting a deadline and making it truly scares with the.
lower price.
You force your Elf Yourself to do it too.
Any questions about that before I move on? And we will get into when we do the the details pricing webinar, I'll get into.
How do you exactly how can you? Set up your price to allow for discounts and promotions cuz if you don't plan for it there's only one place it comes from and that's your bank account.
But there's nowhere else for it to come from if you don't charge for it, there's only one place left.
It comes from Okay, setting boundaries cuz I know we've been talking about this setting boundaries.
Well, we've started to talk with early on.
We talked about time is your most precious asset and I asked you to write down.
what you value and what you want to spend your time on And I really hope you follow up with that and turn it into something that you don't like a creative.
Whether you write about it, you charge, and let you paint it.
You'd collage it, you do whatever.
So it, I mean write a song about it.
I'm on, these are not sarcastic things.
Everyone's got their own way of being creative to really internalize.
These are my values.
So when someone comes and says to you, I'm going to give you some examples and how I handle them using these boundaries that we talked about the boundary of, you know, what if they ask you.
to do it for free.
Okay, first of all it's never free.
It will always cost you time.
So it is never free.
You actually never work for free, you might not get paid but it's costing you.
I want you to really think about that.
It is costing you.
A precious resource that you could be spending in another way.
Whether it's on yourself, it's on someone, you care about, it's making your business more successful.
It is not free.
You never work for free.
So you're actually paying when someone asks for something free.
What they're really saying is, I want you to pay for the privilege of giving me something.
Someone else or something? Free there.
What they're really saying.
Is I want you to pay for the privilege to give me that.
That's what they're doing.
I want you to think about that before.
Someone asked, when next time, someone says to you, can I have this for free.
I want you to repeat that back in your mind.
There are exceptions for a talk about those in a minute.
But I want you to repeat that back in there, your mind, they're asking me to pay for the privilege.
No.
No not say they ask for a discount if I get that alot well because of blah blah blah.
I've heard every reason Under the Sun, why it should be less You everyone has to find their own thing for me, it comes back to I I know I have work all like Tendencies I do,.
I totally do and I made myself a promise when I had my daughter that I would never mean you have to work, you have to support yourself and pay your bills.
And I'm not saying you don't, however, I would always make time for her.
And so, I have set what hours are work hours and I figured out, which we'll talk about the other webinar, how to charge.
So I can pay myself working those hours.
it's so when someone asks me for something less than that, or outside those hours before I answer, I think about her.
I think what why does this person deserve that time over? My own daughter.
Why does that per person deserve that time over you or your priorities or your goals? The answer is they don't So, you going back when I asked you to write that stuff down.
That's what you go back to.
What was I sincerely? When I said these were my priorities and goals was I sincere and setting up what I want to have.
The other thing is, every time you give a discount, that's not planned.
I'm I said you going to plan discounts or promotions.
That's not planned.
You need to knowingly, take it away from the money.
You want to earn that year? Cuz you're not going to overcharge someone else.
If you can't even charge the first person, the price you set you won't charge the next person more, which means you will make less Someone asked for Discount that you don't plan for, there's only one.
place for it to come from and that's your pocket.
Only place.
And if it takes more time, it comes from what the place that you had reserved for these other priorities.
Your personal priorities.
There's nowhere else for it to come from.
There's no magic here.
And really forcing yourself to think that through you will, you will almost immediately start to feel a difference.
because now all of a sudden you're looking at the real cost of what you're being asked to do, and there is a real cost.
Absolutely, there is a real cost.
Now, there are exceptions and I'm going to give them to you.
Number one, if you're being asked to do it as a donation, I only believe in giving back to the world and so what I've done is I've set up a schedule is part of my big.
How many hours in a year will I give to nonprofits and whatever? Whatever your organization cause whatever it is? And I have a set amount.
I budget it just like we budget our money.
So if you're saying okay I want to give ex percent of my income to whatever your nonprofit charity, whatever you want to instead of it being money, you can make it time.
That's fine but then when that's gone, it's gone.
So, it's plans giving of your time.
Which is fine.
So you can say to someone, okay, I can do that if it is their worth it.
So we can you were looking at the real cost and if you think that causes really worth it, so that's an example of giving cuz I do there are things.
I firmly believe in and I give them my time.
It is planned ahead and when that allocation is gone it's gone.
And the answer is no till next year because they say all I'm a non-profit.
Well, that's nice.
I can't tell my bank to make my mortgage lower and give me the nonprofit client rate for if you want to get your bank to do that, please let me know.
But otherwise.
Otherwise the they you should say to someone.
Okay well and I've said that to nonprofits cuz I've had some rather cheeky and pushy I say to them I said I pay my mortgage at the end of the month.
In or pay, pay my rent or pay this or that.
And they don't take I'd worked as a non-profit as payment I just don't.
Another one would be I'm giving you some of the common things and things I saw you saying and there we talked about if it's new do you want to maybe offer promo when it's new? We.
talked about donating and again I'm all for that if that's what you want to do I want you to be conscious of the choice that you're making.
Another one is exposure and this we got to be really careful.
Usually, my answer is people die from exposure cuz I live in Minnesota and they do.
So, on the flip side, there are times when you want to get exposure and it's worth it.
But then it has to again be that actually now a marketing expense.
And so you have time, you've allocated to me via nonprofit, you can allocate time to marketing and say, okay.
I'm willing to spend x amount of time in a month to promote myself.
That might be posting on social media.
It might be doing a talk for free.
It might be a piece of, you know, whatever that you've you've got given for free, but you do it thoughtfully.
And it's only when it's the audience, you're trying to reach so important.
So if you're going to get this exposure, a lot of times, I see people say, oh, oh well I'm going to be getting all these people will see me and I say okay I'm not not.
saying that, that's really bad.
How many of those people do you think will hire you or by your things? How aligned are they with the people? You're trying to reach with your product or service.
If you can't answer that, you shouldn't do it.
Because that's again, like, throwing money Away, Your Stone, your time away.
Any questions or thoughts? I know we're running a little over, but I don't want to fail to You know this we're just about done here cuz we already covered the secret weapon.
But if you guys have any thoughts or was there a boundary issue, I haven't talked about I think I had on all the main ones I saw in the community, imma take a sip of coffee.
I think there's a delay.
As you guys are have a chance to say, if there's any boundary issues, I didn't hit on that.
You would like me to Have not seen any.
So, hopefully, that means that we've recovered boundaries.
It really helps.
My last thought on this is, it really helps with thought about an advance by writing down your priorities and having those goals in the valuing of yourself.
When they ask for a discount, it's it's two-pronged.
It's I'm worth it because of all these things, you know, we talked about your, your experience in and those are those two building blocks that are so important.
There's the building block of what do I really value? So what I really value is what I should make sure I'm getting, you know what it, what am I goes.
I'm getting it and have it clearly written down.
So when you start wavering, when you get tempted cuz you will be tempted, her all tempted, when you get tempted, you can look at it Te'o.
Am I willing to give up XYZ? and then if there's a push back more on the he doesn't have that value, we talked about writing down all the things you've done all the experience, you've got.
that allows you to create this amazing thing.
But they don't have, if they could do it, they would do it themselves or they wouldn't have the time.
Cuz let me tell you something, people say what I could do that and they probably could but it would take them like 10 hours.
But then take me that long.
Using those and coming down to the boundaries.
And then with the, the the idea of what are, what does it cost me and planning? When do I want to give a discount if ever and planning? When do I want to donate something? Which.
is fine if you have a plan.
So we're going to go, we have seems like that's we talked about the secret weapon, that's water.
I've actually had clients buy a bottle of bling H2O and put it on their desks.
To remind them that just because it's a commodity, doesn't mean it needs to be cheap.
And we are wrapping up.
We any last questions or comments on your part? Thank you about that.
Lots of think about glad it's helpful.
Any last questions or comments? I always like to end with that.
In case, there's something I missed or skipped.
I will say, right now my commitment to you, all you have a week to watch this again for free, and then it becomes a paid thing.
And it will be part of our paid membership plan in the future, but you have a week completely free of charge.
I will start a thread in the community about market research so we can share that.
I got Hearts.
Thank you.
And the print the details on pricing details and setting pricing, yes, it's going to be a separate one because that's you know you just need to focus in that.
That's a nuts-and-bolts conversation.
It's a it's a very different conversation in this.
You need all this to be able to enforce you know to again those boundaries and say yes this is really valid and it also helps you understand as your setting price.
You can be thinking about framing it.
You know, I talked about the the framing of a price is so critical.
You know, when you walk into if you worked, if you were to I mean I don't make a habit of it but let's say you were to walk into some, I don't know.
Like Saks Fifth Avenue or something.
I've never been in this, but I, I would imagine if I walked in, I would expect to pay a lot of money.
Right.
I'm not going to walk into Saks Fifth Avenue.
Looking to get a deal.
If I walked into a Walmart, I would not be expecting to pay a lot of money.
That's what the frame is already in my head.
Before I walk into that store, I walk into a Barnes & Noble vs.
Half Price Books The framing is already there.
So, you know, we've got that and we'll do it in the next one.
It looks like we're good for today.
Thank you so much for joining me and for those who are watching the replay later, join us in the community truck questions and comments.
That's what it's there for and talk to each other.
I don't have all the answers.
I mean, I wish I did.
I don't have all of them my whole lot and I'm always happy to help but you guys have a lot to.
So be sure to share.
Thank you so much signing off for today and I got them.
Nicole Fendi co-founder and ringmaster of crate Opia and you're welcome.
I'm so happy.
You were here to join me today.
Join us over in the community for treasured curated creativity.