Understanding the value you offer, Questioning yourself and The big picture.

“Wow – that’s high”. Silence.

There’s a knot in my throat. In fractions of seconds I began to analyze and over-analyze my business, my services and my prices. I start to explain myself and then, some small inner voice tells me to stop. I get of the phone and something smacks me in the face.

When you’re on the verge of going to the next level in your business… a gap forms in your brain. A gap that fills up with stuff like:

• Will I get any new clients?
• I must be crazy.
• Who do I think I am?

And then you have a moment when it all changes.

You start to see things like:

• The value you give people.
• Working with you is an investment.
• People will want to work with you.

When I got off that uncomfortable call, I could see all these things.

Now, that’s not to say the gap goes away. In fact, after nearly 5 years of working for myself that gap has pretty much always been there. I may always question and second guess myself. It’s kind of part of who I am. And I don’t necessarily think that’s bad thing.

Why questioning yourself is not always bad:

• It gives you time to digest and make changes at a deeper level – meaning they’ll more likely be changes that will stick.
• It keeps you from being an asshole. If we never questioned what we did, we’d just do stuff without thinking about other people. I cherish that I actually care and want to serve people.
• It keeps you from making big changes before you’re ready. Quick clarification: being ready and feeling ready are 2 very different things. You may not ever “feel” ready to change. When you first start a business, you can’t charge as much as the person charging the highest price and if you did, you wouldn’t be in business very long. Experience and truly understanding how you help people is what creates more value for the people you serve.

And if keep working your business, you’ll begin to see what you do in much larger context.

That larger context will eventually lead you back to your big why. Your big why is the most powerful marketing tool you have in your basket. It’s what draws the people you’re meant to serve to you. Like magic, people. Like magic.

I don’t just make websites and visual branding – I help business owners be recognized, stand out from their competition, increase their number of leads and attract higher-quality clients.

Not everyone will understand the value of what you do. You will question yourself. And that’s all quite alright – as long as you start to understand the value of what you do.

Side note: If you’re having trouble finding your larger context or your why – read over your testimonials. If you don’t have any – start asking for some. Give people parameters for their testimonials, like: “The best thing you got from working with me was…”.