When I first got started on my path to highly paid expert status, all I knew was that I wanted to be a motivational speaker (Now I know that there’s a whole lot more to it than that). I did what any sane serious minded person in my shoes then would have done: I started asking the people I looked up to in the business for advice.
Now while they most have meant well, the fact still remains that pretty much all the advice I got in my early days was nothing but very bad advice given in good faith and with the best of intentions.
In this article I’m going to share one with you.
I personally think it’s the worst, if not one of the worst pieces of advice you could receive as you start on your journey to highly paid expert status.
Bad Advice No.1:
Start for free and after a while when people start noticing your worth they’ll start paying you.
The first time I heard this one, I believed it completely.
Until I realized that the fact that whilst I didn’t have a job at the time, the person giving me this advice had a very good job and so could afford to wait till god alone knows when to be paid.
What if you had a pregnant wife, 3 kids to feed and the rent was due in three months,and this was the only opportunity you had, would you follow that advice? I don’t think so.
Now don’t get me wrong: I’m all for moving the free line and giving people an opportunity to experience the value of what you bring to the table, but that’s about as far as it goes.
The sooner I can get people paying me good money for what I know the better. The key to doing this has everything to do with the way you position yourself, your expertise and the value you bring to the table. In order to quickly position yourself as someone deserving to be paid good money a.k.a. high fees, here are some really quick tips:
First Specialize. Refuse to be a wandering generality who really is only known as a jack of all trades and a master of none. Instead become what I can a meaningful specific, .someone with expertise that solves a very specific problem for a very clearly defined market.
Crystallize your process for solving a problem into a distinctive solution system and name that system. Think about Stephen Covey’s 7 habits of highly effective people and you’ll get what I mean.
A distinctive solution system is simply your step by step process for solving a specific problem or getting your ideal client from point A to point B. Create specific strategic offers for your market based on your distinctive solution system.The truth is if you don’t make offers to your market, nobody will know you’ve got something they might want to exchange cash for.
Now something else that’s very important is the fact that you’ve gotten to know what offers to make at different points in your business growth. Some offers are a waste of time simply because you’re implementing them at the wrong time.
For instance, trying to write and sell a thousand copies of your book when you don’t have the right platform for it is suicide for your business.
You’d be much better off cash and income wise if instead you took that content and offered it as a VIP intensive training. In my Six figure income PLAN program I teach my clients something I call a strategic business bundle.
In a nut shell, the main idea is to focus on one strategic business bundle per time. A unique combination of your expertise, your market, your distinctive solution system and strategic product or service offering based on your distinctive solution system. Learn to sell, this is very important.
Now for those of us who don’t want to come across as pushy sales people, i’ve got good news for you; experts educate to sell. If you must give away free information use it as a platform sell yourself, and as a result sell your products and services.
Back when I was starting out and I discovered the above tips I’ve just shared with you, I booked myself for free to any group or organization that would have me.Most of the time it was banks back in Calabar. They would give me 10 minutes, sometimes 30 minutes to talk, I didn’t care.
All I wanted was the opportunity to get in front of an audience to sell my PowerIdeas subscriptions. (PowerIdeas is my monthly personal and business development audio CD training program)
Doing this took me from 0 – 3.75million naira (about $25000) in about 3 months with no serious overhead costs. Not bad for a rookie without a name in Calabar, a city most people would say has no money. Personally I don’t know where they got that ridiculous idea from.
Well, that’s it for now, got to go eat.
Let me know your thoughts.
