Messy imperfect pitches for freelance work

In the spirit of messy imperfect action, I’m showing up here with a thought that popped into my head during my bike ride after the coaching call today.

In my career change over the last 2 years I have frequently tried to take a messy and imperfect approach to trying new things and in particular to describing my new freelance work on Linkedin – I try to change my profile bio fairly regularly as a way to figure out what I want it to say.

I’m working with smallish businesses (tech startups and engineering consultancies) providing coaching to leaders on how to get the best out of their people, and some consultancy around people-centric workplace culture. And I’m starting developing team coaching. I now have messy and imperfect overview documents that describe 3 services I offer, and I gradually improve on these (and make new ones). I try to see each thing I do as an experiment I can learn from as I figure out what I really want to be doing (and what there is a market for).

But there is an area which my brain is telling me messy imperfect is a problem. When I’m offering some work I haven’t done before, so I don’t have a track record and I’m not sure how it is going to work, this is really hard to price. Both in terms of my time and in terms of the value the client will receive. Part of me wants to offer new work for free or heavily discounted, as I know I will learn a huge amount from doing it. But I also know that people often don’t value things so much when they are free or cheaper, so I might undermine my own credibility by doing this. So I’m torn between offering a messy and imperfect new/experimental service or charging a professional fee, at which point it doesn’t feel OK to be messy and imperfect.

So I guess my underlying thought is, “It is not OK to offer messy and imperfect work for a full professional fee”.

I have experimented with both approaches already. And I do think offering free/discounted work makes people nervous about what they are getting. But I also feel really uncomfortable charging a full fee when I have no evidence for how it will turn out.

In writing this, I’m realising it is more important to charge professional fees for clients to value what they are getting. And perhaps I can be open with them about the uncertainty of outcome. So my question now is, “How can I stay playful in this context?”

Thanks

 

 

Answer:

“What other people think is none of your business” applies in your business. As you put your work out into the world, pick a price that you feel aligned with and then work on your belief in that price and the value you bring. You have no idea what people will get out of your coaching, that is on them. You just get to show up and be your favorite version of yourself which includes some messy imperfectness (by the way, this is always an optional thought you are thinking about yourself. Use it when it serves, drop it when it doesn’t). People could buy a video or hire a robot but that is going to be boring. Humans are much better coaches.

As you start doing this, look at it as an experiment. Keep that playfulness. Your price is never set in stone. See how many people are buying. Get feedback. Look at your numbers and make your business decisions from there rather than the part of your brain that wants to stay in drama and indecision about this. What’s most important is you believing in your offer and getting out there and helping all the people! If Taylor Swift made her world tour free, do you think people would question its value? If she charged $5000/ticket would she still sell out? It’s not your price it’s your confidence my friend. Try filling in this model:

C: my price

T: what do you want to think about your price?

F: how would you feel if you believed this?

A: how would show up if you felt this way about your offer?

R: what is your result?