A straightforward approach to marketing that does not feel fake or sleazy

Because I am not smart enough to keep more than one story straight....

In the spring I am frequently impressed by perennial flowers. I didn’t plant anything and the flowers just show up by somekind of magic. But it isn’t magic it is a reliable system that just looks like magic if you don’t really examine it.

I had a young colleague ask me about putting pricing for their services on their website. (Their services are more involved than, say, providing an oil change).

There is a difference between pricing for purchases like items or more prosaic services like getting your lawn mowed, and higher level services where you don’t want clients to making really consequential decisions based strictly upon price.

I am a developer, urban designer, and development advisor with an ADHD brain and Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria ( RSD). Add a history of people pleasing to the mix and you might see why I struggled with pricing for years. Really struggled.

A couple years ago, my coach explained that iy you are providing services that can greatly help a client, many clients will see price is a secondary or tertiary concern if they are confident you may be able to solve their problem. One reason for this is they typically don’t seek you out until they become painfully aware of their important problem (and have tried several ways to fix it -or ways to avoid dealing with it).

When they are ready to take action and look for help, they need to _already_ be aware of you and your capabilities. They have registered the possibility that you could solve their problem. Even better, if they hear about you from someone they trust, they are aware of the benefit you can provide.

When a client is ready to explore how to solve the problem, their focus shifts to figuring out if you really can help them, and if they really can trust you enough to admit to a relative stranger that they can’t seem to solve the problem and need help.

This is why your marketing can’t be broad superficial hype. Few of us are smart enough to keep more than one story straight, let alone communicate the story in a compelling consistent way.

If you have capabilities to offer, contribute to your field and adjacent fields where your clients operate. Create habits that force you to organize your thoughts. Publish, blog, write a SubStack, do public speaking about stuff tthat is important to you personally/professionally. Hone your ability to explain useful insights and experience. In essence, get practice giving away your general insights for free.

(That’s different from solving peoples’ specific problem before they start paying you).

When you frame a proposal for a client, establish two distinct scopes with different prices. This helps the client prioritize which parts of the problem would give them the greatest benefit. Price those tow different scopes so that you would be completely comfortable with either one. Don’t put your thumb on the scale.

This is much better than quoting one price you might think is pretty much okay, without seriously exploring the real reasons a client needs to solve the problem, followed by the client quickly asking if you would do the work for less, putting a lot of weight on price.

In a simpler purchase, clear pricing shows that you respect a customer’s time and attention You are not requiring them to jump through bullshit hoops before they can finally give you their your money.

In a more complicated services relationship, the scope that will solve problems is kinda murky to both you. and your client. The client can benefit from connecting a lower price with some basic benefits and a higher price for more comprehensive benefits.

If you recognize that a colleague may be a much better fit for what the client needs, make the referral and explain why. Why would you turn away work?

For one reason, you want a reputation for being genuinely committed to helping people. Make the referral even at a time when you really need the work/money.

The second reason for doing what seems like a counter intuitive thing is because when you are marginally competent at doing work you don’t like and are ill-suited for, you will quickly get more of it and that is not good for anyone.