I was on a Studio Work Day check-in call last month. That’s something we do in my Creative Sandbox Community that’s sort of an all-day “let’s get stuff done together” accountability group.
Everyone logs in to a video conference room at set times throughout the day to very briefly say what they’re going to work on, then we get to work. Then we come back at designated intervals, usually a couple of hours apart, to report back on our progress.
It is awesome.
I can’t tell you how many times members have said, “I never would have gotten this done if it weren’t for Studio Work Day.” And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said that!
Anyway, last month I was on the first check-in call of the day, and it was just me and one other person, and when I asked how she was doing she said she was pretty deflated. She’s an artist, and someone had expressed interest in buying one of her paintings, but when he found out the price, he balked. So she offered him a discount.
And she never heard back.
And now she was feeling pretty bad.
Now, the first thing I should say here is that Studio Work Day calls are not coaching calls. They are very brief check-in calls, where Creative Sandbox members briefly share what we are going to work on in the next chunk of time, so we can spend the maximum amount of that time actually doing the work.
There are two group calls each month that are coaching calls — Q&A calls, Office Hours, whatever you want to call them (we call them Rally Calls) — where Creative Sandbox members meet up in real time with me and each other in a video conference room to ask me any question they want.
And if you’re not able to join in live, you can post your question in a special thread in our Facebook group, and I’ll address it on the call, so you’ll be able to listen to my answer on the recording.
Given that I charge $300/hour for one-on-one mentoring, this kind of access to me is a phenomenal value. And Creative Sandbox members get it twice a month as part of their membership.
But again, not on Studio Work Day calls. Those are for brief check-ins about what we’re going to work on, not for coaching or mentoring.
But… sometimes I can’t help myself.
It was just me and this one member, and I couldn’t not say something. Because I saw her doing what so many other people do — especially creatives — and what I have done so many times in my own life, and it has never served me well: undercharging in an attempt to make my offering more desirable.
So I went on a bit of a rant.
Here’s what happens when you undercharge:
• You resent them.
Resentment is actually anger at yourself, misdirected at someone else through the lens of victimhood. (Click to tweet.)
• They undervalue what they receive.
• They undervalue all other similar work.
So yeah, you end up undercutting everyone else who does the kind of work you do. You damage not only yourself, you damage the entire market.
Let’s look at this in the extreme. I know a number of people who are so uncomfortable with the idea of charging money for their work — for the value they’ve created, whether it be artwork, or consulting, or anything else — that they refuse. They give it away for free.
Now, this is their choice, but is this really doing a service to the people they’re giving their work away to? Maybe. Maybe not.
People tend not to value what they do not invest in.
How many free eBooks do you have languishing on your hard drive? How many free webinars have you signed up for but never attended?
Attracting Freebie-Seekers
I’ll tell you, when I used to offer free trial memberships to my Creative Sandbox Community at the end of my free webinars, I’d get a whole lot of signups, but virtually all of them would cancel at the end of the trial period.
I was attracting freebie seekers, not people who were truly interested in becoming members and adding value to the community.
This is not to say that free trials and free webinars are never a good idea. For some markets and audiences they work fabulously. But just because they work for someone else does not mean they will work in your particular situation.
People tend not to value what they do not invest in.
It doesn’t have to be money, but if they’re not invested, they’re not going to value it. And my freebie-seeking trial members were not invested. They were just looking for a freebie, so they didn’t value it enough to stick around.
People tend not to value what they do not invest in.
The Invitation Disaster
Back when my main gig was being a ketubah artist, making Jewish marriage contracts, I designed a whole suite of invitations to match my ketubah prints, and I paid for a booth at several wedding fairs, thinking this would be the magic bullet that would revive my flagging business.
And because I was so desperate for money, I offered bargain basement pricing, thinking that would make me an attractive option.
I had gorgeous, premium invitations at bargain basement prices — what’s not to love?
Except that I couldn’t compete with the super-cheap online DIY invitations on price, and my pricing was too to make sense for the premium product I was offering. It set up a cognitive dissonance for shoppers.
And the few clients I did get, I resented like crazy, because after all was said and done I was paid slave wages!
But whose fault was that?
Not the clients’ fault. They spotted a good deal and snagged it. I was the one who set those prices!
People tend not to value what they do not invest in.
The Art Gallery
I was at an art gallery over the weekend, and I paid very close attention to the prices on the artwork.
Price tells a story. What story do you want to tell with your pricing? Without anything else to anchor value, people will look at the price and that will anchor the value in their minds.
If something costs $0, in general people assume it is worth nothing.
If something costs $25, in general people assume it is worth $25.
If something costs $25,000, in general people assume it is worth $25,000.
People tend not to value what they do not invest in.
Yes, this is a vast generalization, but I noticed my responses to the prices of the art in the gallery, and I noticed that the art that was priced very cheaply felt… cheap to me. Whereas the art that was priced higher felt… more valuable.
Open Studio
I have an open studio coming up May 13-14, as part of Silicon Valley Open Studios. I’ll be showing over 100 of my original artworks, from 2″x2″ to 20″x20″, on paper, stretched canvas, canvas board, and wooden panel, in all different media, and all of them will be for sale.
Let me tell you, that visit to the art gallery, and the conversation I had with the Creative Sandbox member, has made me reconsider last year’s pricing.
Last year I thought, “I have all these paintings, why don’t I offer crazy-low pricing to blow it all out and make room for new stuff?”
So I offered my small 4″x4″, 5″x5″, and 6″x6″ paintings at special “Open Studio” prices that were less than half the regular price.
I sold two.
Compare that with ten years ago, when I had a piece I was tired of having around the studio. I’d lowered the price over the years in the hopes of getting rid of it, but nobody ever bit. So that year I tried something different, and instead of lowering the price, I raised it.
It sold.
Guess what my pricing strategy is going to be for open studios this year?
Price tells a story. What story do you want to tell with your pricing?
People tend not to value what they do not invest in.
Announcements!
By the way, all of this talk of pricing is the perfect segue to two announcements:
1) Pricing will be going up on my Creative Sandbox Community.
Given that one-on-one mentoring with me is $300/hour, and you can get two hours of real-time access to me in Rally Calls every month — and sometimes either very few people show up, or the people who show up don’t have any questions and just want to be a fly on the wall, if you join for the Rally Calls alone $39/month is a phenomenal deal.
Plus you get an amazing community. Which is really why I started the Creative Sandbox. I wanted to create the community that I needed as a creative.
I wanted to feel less alone. I wanted to be surrounded by a tribe of diverse creatives, walking the same kind of path that I’m walking — the Creative Sandbox Way. People who get me.
I wanted a place where I could go with my frustrations and challenges, as well as with my victories and successes. Where I could share what I’m working on, and share when I’m banging my head against the wall, because I know they get it.
That’s the Creative Sandbox.
Now I share a lot of stuff here on the podcast, I’m pretty pretty open and transparent. But there’s a lot of stuff that I don’t share here that I do share in the Creative Sandbox Community. Because that’s my inner circle.
They’re my peeps. They get the inside scoop that nobody else does.
It’s like a lab, and a salon, and a girls’ night in, all wrapped into one.
And it’s a whole range of types of creators. We’ve got scientists in there, who don’t primarily identify as creatives at all. And we’ve got self-identified artists and writers and musicians. And everything in between.
The one thing that joins us together is that creative expression is important to us. We want to be creating in some way in our lives. We want to be living full-color lives.
And we’re women.
If that’s you, and you want to join us, I’ve just opened the doors again, and for a limited time, the price is $39/month, or save two months and join for $390/year.
Just go to CreativeSandboxCommunity.com
All right, that’s announcement #1.
2) Pricing CPR Sessions
If all this talk about pricing has made you realize you could use some help with your pricing, I’m opening up four spots for Pricing CPR Sessions.
These are quick laser-coaching sessions to assess one specific pricing issue, and help you find the sweet spot.
We’ll assess your audience, your offer, and your price.
30 minutes. $150. BOOM!
Just shoot me an email to hello (at) melissadinwiddie.com, or via the contact page at livecreativenow.com with “Pricing CPR” in the subject line and I’ll hook you up.
SPECIAL OFFER to save 20%: Buy a new copy of my book, The Creative Sandbox Way from that link, and forward your receipt to hello (at) melissadinwiddie.com with “Pricing CPR” in the subject line, and I’ll send you a discount link!
Something Cool
This week’s Something Cool is tea tree oil as a miracle treatment for that annoying orange-pink mold that grows on your grout and caulk in your shower.
We had awful black mold stains on our shower grout, which was there when I bought the place back in 2006, and finally had the shower regrouted a couple of years ago.
I’ve been vigilant about squeegeeing, and even toweling down the tiles and the corners (I’m way more vigilant than my husband, but after he leaves for work I towel down the drips that he didn’t catch).
And yet that awful orange-pink mold still appears! It drives me crazy!
I learned from the grout guy never to use bleach, because it softens your grout. Very bad! That makes it easier for more mold to grow, and eventually your grout will crumble and fall apart!
But after some searching around on Google I discovered people talking about tea tree oil, and I had some in a cabinet, and I decided to give it a try.
Now I don’t know if it’s bad for grout — I couldn’t find anyone talking about that online, so buyer beware!
What I can say is that when I dipped a cotton swab into the tea tree oil and rubbed at the orange-pink mold, it disappeared! Like magic! I was thrilled.
So that is today’s Something Cool.
Enjoy!
Hear ye, hear ye! This is to serve as official notice that all links to anything for sale, be it books or courses, are likely to be affiliate links. What this means is that if you click through said links and make a purchase, although it won’t affect the price that you pay, a few coins will jangle into my coffers, enabling me to buy a packet of hard gluten-free biscuits to feed myself and my husband for another day, or perhaps a pen with which to create some artwork. Or perhaps they will contribute toward paying a fraction of my web hosting bill, so that this blog and podcast can continue to exist. Thank you kindly for your attention.
Thanks for Listening!
Thanks so much for joining me this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!
If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post.
Also, please leave an honest review for Live Creative Now on Tunes!
If you’d also like your voice to be heard on the show, leave your question as a voice message right here.
And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates.
Subscribe in iTunes | Subscribe via Stitcher
Now go get creating!
PS — Pssst! Know someone who might benefit from seeing this today? Pass it on!
