Should coaches, consultants or small business owners offer their first piece of value for free?

Commanding appropriate fees speaks to the value placed on your work. But in order for others to value your work, the process starts with you. It begins by establishing credibility and trust prior to ever placing anything on the market.

By building credibility first you are then able to sell value.

Frequently, it is the lack of self-confidence that is called into question.

• Review past accomplishments and list them. If you are active on social media, review the nice comments received. What is the common thread for all of these?
• Focus on the commonality to build talking points for your clientele. Marketing pieces may be created around these as well. This becomes your grassroots branding program at its best.

Setting a fee for services also requires research. You will need to decide if you wish to be at the top of the scale, midway, or at the bottom.

There is an emotional tie in all of this.

Imagine yourself at a department store first drooling over the expensive designer section and then timidly walking over to the reduced pricing section.

Where you would like your services to appear – designer or reduced?

The way in which to build credibility, that produces referrals and testimonials, is to charge a fee that is fair to all (including yourself) and deliver on and possibly beyond the expectations of your clientele.

As long as you produce highly credible information, outstanding customer care, and exceed expectations, you will produce a clientele that sees value in your work.

The best news is you will have developed a returning and referring clientele that pays, stays and refers.