Do You Value Yourself?
August 13, 2008 by Michelle Waters
I bet if I asked you that question directly, you’d say, “Yes! Of course, I do.”
But do you really?
Take a close look at your business, crunch the numbers, and then see, do you really value yourself? If you figure out exactly how much money you’re making per hour, would you be like the woman in my colleague Kelly McCausey’s “I Need More Money Now!” post, who is really only making $2-3 per hour — and is happy about it?
Kelly is talking about get rich quick schemes. But I know of several women business owners who are making pennies for the products that they create at home. And I know other women who are in the same boat — and who gripe about having to pay “too much” for products created by women who DO value themselves and their time.
Read through Kelly’s post and you’ll hear the desperation in this woman’s post. And you’ll see the answer in Kelly’s reply.
In short, you need to value yourself, to be willing to accept — no expect — to be paid well for the time, love and sacrifice that you put in to your work.
So what can we do?
The first thing, is to realize that you are valueable. God created you and he doesn’t create junk. You deserve to be paid for the time, effort and expertise you put into the products that you sell.
Second, you need to raise your prices. You need to be paid for your time, for your expenses, for your materials. And you need to be paid well.
Third, the work at home mom and women-owned business communities need to get their heads out of the sand and start looking up to those women who DO respect themselves and figuring out how create our own success.
If you have any questions about how to increase your prices, or how much you should charge, head over to my business coaching page. I’d be happy to spend an hour helping you realize how valuable you are.
Hey Michelle!
I totally agree here. I think the hardest part is getting through to the people who don’t want to pay the high prices because they are from the stay at home community, and don’t want to spend the money. It’s like you have to explain yourself as to why your charging what you do sometimes. You’re so right about women needing to get their heads out of the sand!
Hi Jenn!
Thank you for your comments.I’m glad you mentioned having to explain how much you charge. I did a podcast episode in June about pricing your products that explains how to go about figuring out how much to charge — and also how to explain to others why you charge as much as you do.
Often, just a simple, logical explanation will satisfy someone who is calling your pricing into question.
Work-at-home moms and dads shouldn’t lock themselves into that persona. They’re PROFESSIONALS - the location of their office (or couch, table, etc) is completely irrelevant. They’re professionals, they’re freelancers, they’re business people.
When we learn how to present ourselves as professionals, then we’ll be treated professionally - including getting higher pay.