Hello there
In a world of AI and automation I think it's time to remind you that your brain is the secret sauce.
Quite regularly I find myself saying to a client... hold up, why are you doing that for free?
And they say oh my clients measure ouputs, deliverables and time saved...they don't care much for the strategy behind what I do.
So they...
Throw in a free strategy to sign up a client for monthly recurring revenue because they believe the doing is what the client values above all else. But without the map, the direction, your experience, you'd be throwing shit into the ether and not getting a result.
The value of your work is not in your ability to push post at the right time, it's in everything that happens before that and after.
The client doesn't want 6 random AF social media posts per month of their cat, they want to drive more traffic to their website from social media.
They don't want a word salad of a website. They want to increase conversions.
Or they spend a fuck tonne of time scoping up work for free before the client has even agreed to work with them and not include those costs in the project anywhere, leaving them out of pocket everytime they work with anyone new.... and setting the scene that thinking is always free.
OR they decide that the client wont value any pre-work so they kinda half ass the scopes + price. Rachel, you said don't work for free, so I'm trying not to - the client hasn't signed up so I don't want to spend too much time on it.
Ok smarty pants, that isn't what I meant... because when those inevitable additional requests come in that the client didn't communicate in the beginning what happens?
Mmhmm, you will grit your teeth and do the work for free because you don't have an agreed scope to lean on and it's too hard basket to push back without one.
Purposefully deciding to under egg the pudding and not include everything the client needs to deliver what they want/need is not good business. Especially when I know you want to do great work and get the best possible results and be known for being the best.
And that means owning the value of your brain.
But this chat is a big one.... how do you get a client to value the thinking? How do you scope up projects accurately? how do you re-position yourself from the cheap and cheerful do-er of all things to an expert strategic thinker (who may still also do the doing)?
Actually the answers to those questions are pretty straightforward. If we were robots who didn't ever get the wobbles we could implement them in a drag and drop fashion and be done with it by the end of the day.
But we're not. That's not how it works.
Because your brain is your secret sauce.
Love your work,
Rachel
Wanna sort this out for your business? Grab a Get Shit Done session for September.