by Tara Joyce | Mar 5, 2015 | Cultural Creativity, Pay What It's Worth Pricing
I’m so intrigued by what I’m witnessing. With time, I’m learning of more and more business experimenting with not setting prices. Their individual approaches to doing so are wholly unique, with nuances tailored to meet their specific business needs. What is shared by each however, is their need to identify and communicate what exactly they are asking for their customer to do, if their customer is not paying a set price.
How exactly does the exchange work?
What are my needs as the seller and what role does the customer play in meeting them?
What does the buyer need and what role do I play in meeting them?
What is truly being exchanged and valued between us?
While their answers may change with experience, in order to sell now, these businesses need to determine what they are asking for their buyer to do, and how to communicate it clearly. For as the buyer, before I commit to make a purchase, I need to understand what I am giving in order to receive what you are selling. I need to understand my end of our agreement.
Whether I set prices or not as a business owner, I need to have clarity around the question, “What am I asking for in my business exchanges?” It fortifies my integrity (and my customer’s) to establish norms, accountability and disclosure around my system for giving and receiving with them. The closer I get to knowing what I need AND what I’ve been asking for, AND how they may differ, the closer I am to creating my most value-adding and harmonious business exchanges.
In every relationship, business or not, in order for it to be healthy and mutually beneficial, I need to be responsible to my needs by identifying and communicating them. It is of deep service to my Self and to the person I am in relationship with to do the work to recognize my needs and to share them compassionately. For in growing my own awareness, I create space for the other person’s needs to be recognized too — by them and by me. Only when both of our needs are recognized and fulfilled is our relationship a healthy and sustainable one. And one where we can both trust and grow wealthy in our exchange of giving and receiving.
In your own business, do you know what you’re asking for? Are you receiving what you need? If you find there’s a space in-between, please take note of it. The more you learn about and explore this space of lack, the closer you’ll be to whole-ing it. It’s from this place of responsibility (to your own needs and your customers) that you can and will grow harmoniously together.
photo credit: Fibonacci Blue
by Tara Joyce | Jul 28, 2014 | My Journey | What's On My Mind, Pay What It's Worth Pricing, Self/Business Growth
I’ve heard it before. Maybe you have too.
I’ve heard that in order to truly thrive, as a business owner, and as as human, I need to learn to ask for what I need.
I need to ask for support.
I’ve heard it before, and I’ll hear it again.
And I’ll keep on hearing it because it’s true.
And because it’s a lesson I need to learn.
I need others in order to thrive. I can’t do it alone.
We can’t do it alone.
I need your help.
And you need mine.
However we choose to offer it to each other, our support connects us.
As a reader, my words support you; as a writer, you support me by experiencing my words.
I need your support to grow, just as you need mine.
I need to ask you for what I need, just as you need to ask me.
And whether it is provided it a whole other story, and entirely not the point.
The point is the recognition and the asking.
So here I go… deep breathe…
Would you like to support my crowdfunding campaign for “Pay What It’s Worth”? I self-published the book and I need your support in funding the creation of printed softcover and ebook formats.
You’ll be rewarded for your contribution with a copy of the book (and other lovely rewards), and help enable an evolution in the way we do business and make purchases. The campaign ends on August 8 at midnight.
For the next four days, to support of the final days of my campaign, I will be publishing an article each day in support of you, in hopes that you may support me too.
I love you. Thank you for supporting my writing by reading.
by Tara Joyce | Feb 21, 2014 | Pay What It's Worth Pricing, Personal Branding
Value-For-Value
Pay What You Want
Pay What You Value
Gift Economy
Pay What It’s Worth
Collections of words. Collections of words that intend something similar, and yet different.
They all describe a concept. That you trust your customers to determine the value they receive from your work, and to give accordingly.
You can describe this concept, and your belief in it in many ways.
Value-For-Value
Pay What You Want
Pay What You Value
Gift Economy
Pay What It’s Worth
The words you use are a choice in how you design your communications. It’s your brand. Your experience.
What do you want and need to be valued in the exchange? How do you communicate your intent and the result you desire?
Value-For-Value
Pay What You Want
Pay What You Value
Gift Economy
Pay What It’s Worth
In the end, these terms may differ in their meaning but they describe one truth in their action. That you are a business that is choosing to create it’s own economy.
You’re criticizing the current economic system by creating your own system for valuing products and services. And it’s changing things.
Just as your life choices are creating the world you live in, your business choices are creating the economy you work and exchange in.
In trusting me to value you fairly, we’re creating an economy together where we step out of lack, and into a fair exchange of value, respect and love.
Value-For-Value
Pay What You Want
Pay What You Value
Gift Economy
Pay What It’s Worth
To start creating your economy, it starts with the ask. The intention of your action.
What do you intend to build with the economy you are creating? And how can you best express it?
What lies within the art of your ask?
photo credit: Iwan Gabovitch
for an inspiring talk on “The Art of Asking”, please watch: Amanda Palmer’s TED talk
