00:00:00

When should you stop letting people get things for free and actually ask for money? That's a huge question. Every creative struggles with what should be free, what should be paid, what should I charge and when should I charge. I'm gonna help you with that question that all of us keep asking and have a framework from now on that you can use so that you always know when to charge and when not to charge. On this episode of The God and Gig Show, give me just a moment to welcome those of you who are new to our program and then we'll get right into this really important conversation.         

00:00:45

Hello and welcome to our show. Thank you so much for making this podcast a part of your creative day. My name is Allen C. Paul. I'm the host and founder of God and Gigs and we are here to help you to transform your creative life to become a completely confident creative by helping you solve those temporary creative problems you've been facing with timeless spiritual principles.         

00:01:11

And one of those absolutely annoying problems that keep popping up in all of our lives is the question of free versus paid. When should I offer something for free? When should it be paid? When should I make sure to ask for money? And when is it just something that I should allow for exposure or to help build relationship or get people in the door?         

00:01:39

This question has been asked in our 360 Gold coaching program. It's been asked on social media. It's been asked all over the place. So I'm going to give you a framework just to kind of help you with this entire idea of what to charge and when to charge it. And the framework is really pretty simple.         

00:01:55

It's just really two things. The framework is based on this idea. Value is not what you think it is. Value is in the eye of the person who is consuming or taking or buying the thing that you are offering. So let's start from that framework that it doesn't matter what I think something is worth.         

00:02:19

If I think this particular video right now should have been charged $100,000 because the information I'm giving you is so valuable and I know that if you use this information, it's going to earn you way more than that. Well, that's my estimation, but that doesn't matter at all. What matters is what you believe about this information. What matters is what you believe about what you are being sold. So the value is not based on what I say it is.   

00:02:45

I know a lot of people say this charge what you're worth, charge what you're worth. But I love the way one of my people that I follow, I love this lady's content. Her name is Jerusale Hawk. I'm definitely going to leave a note or link to some of her stuff because I follow her. Great stuff there.         

00:03:01

And one thing that she makes very clear in her teachings is that your value is based on what other people think. Your worth is intrinsic. God made you amazing. God made you priceless. But your work and your efforts and the things you sell are not reflections of your worth.         

00:03:23

Your worth can't be the reason that you charge. Because if I am saying, well, I'm charging what I'm worth again, why would I even think that way? Why would I think that my worth is in any way connected to the price I charge? However, the value of what I'm offering is connected to the ability of me to tell you and articulate what you're actually getting from this. And am I connecting the dots between what I'm giving you and what you're getting?         

00:03:52

And are you in agreement with that estimation of the value? That's when a transaction takes place, when we both agree that this thing is valuable and you decide to either buy it or in this case when we talk about a free, we decide it's going to be free. So here's the first thing I want you to consider. If something either product or giveaway or your music or anything should be free, even in terms of performances. And some of you have done things where you do kind of thing where they say for exposure and I've always said this exposure in any other frame of the word means you either want to die or get arrested.         

00:04:29

Okay? So just think about that. The next thing time someone says do something for exposure. However, here is again the value proposition. If what you are giving for free is in a way giving you the opportunity to extract more value later.         

00:04:49

So in other words, the transaction is simply delayed. Don't think of giving away things for free as giving them away for free. It is simply a delay of the transaction in which the value will be eventually transferred back to you. Maybe not even by the party that got it for free, but you are aware of the value that the next person or the next transaction or whatever it is that will eventually be given to you. Now, I know this is a lot of kind of like mindset and thinking, but go stay with me now for a second.         

00:05:26

So if I say this product is teaching right now, this podcast is for free. I am making an estimation that the time I'm putting in will be valuable at the end of the day through something else that either you give me or a relationship I've built or somebody that's listening, that knows somebody else that eventually sponsors this, this, or whatever. This is all based on the fact that I know somebody will find the value in this at some point. This is never free. Nothing you necessarily do is ever or should be considered free.         

00:06:06

It is simply a delayed transaction. It's simply me saying I'm sowing a seed, I expect to harvest it's an investment, but it is not given away. It is simply a delayed transaction. So think about that. So if you have something that you can say, okay, I'm going to give away this song.         

00:06:25

I'm going to give away this art piece. I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this. Remember in your head that you are not doing it for free, that you are simply delaying the transfer of value back to you and it will come to another party. And maybe you don't have an exact idea of what that is, but you do know that it exists. And you are making a calculated decision to let that particular transaction take place later through another way of transferring that value to you.         

00:06:50

Now let's get to the second half of that. When should you charge? Well, you charge when that value proposition is now due, when there is no more delay between you giving the thing and you being compensated for the thing, whether it's a performance or whatever, there is no longer a need for the delay. Now, the transaction happens right when you give the service. So just remember that.         

00:07:16

Now when you perform, when you sing, when you play, there's no delay, particularly in this particular instance where, say, you take the gig and you say, okay, well, this is how much I charge and this is how much it costs. And I'm not expecting any delay in this. This is what I've charged and this is what you'll get the service right away. And I'm not trying to get exposure. I'm not trying to build rapport with you.         

00:07:39

The service is what the service is and the value proposition transaction happens when the service is rendered. That, again is a calculation you make right away off the bat. And then the person who is listening to your price or your pitch or whatever it is, or your art is then making a decision, do I want to make this transaction, this thing, happen right now? If what you have is so valuable to them that they don't want to wait or miss out, you get paid what you are worth. I hope this is making sense and I hope this little breakdown of why you should think in terms of nothing technically is free.         

00:08:22

If you are thinking in terms of value, not the value that you put on it, but the value that the party puts on it. And how can you then extract that value at the right time and at the right level? You're going to be way closer to really understanding how to build a career as a creative professional. You got to think this way so that you're not just saying, oh, everything, I'm giving away things for free. I'm not charging, I'm not charging enough.         

00:08:45

Well, maybe that's true, but maybe you also haven't thought about the value and what the people who are getting what you're giving value it as. And how can you increase their perception of that value by either creating more quality, creating more content, adding more of your personality to it, creating a better experience or environment around it, or sometimes it might just be raising your price and letting people know what the value should be to them. And that can even be a picture in their mind of, oh, well, maybe it's better than I think it is, but you got to do it from the standpoint of what you are actually offering, not what you feel you should be earning. Because feelings have nothing to do with it, my friend. It has everything to do with the value that you are offering to your customer, your audience, or your client.         

00:09:32

Well, my friend, I hope that helped. This is a deep question which I tried to get in just ten minutes, but if you have more suggestions or comments on this, I would love you to comment on this. If you have an app that will comment or allow comments like YouTube or Good Pods or if you're on Spotify. Actually, Spotify now allows for commentary. I put polls on some of my questions.         

00:09:54

You could do question and answer as well on Spotify. So it's really cool. If you didn't know this, you really got to check this out. Check out the app that you're using and see if there's a way that you can respond to this right now. You can also always go to our website, leave a comment@godandgigs.com.         

00:10:10

Okay, my friend, thank you so much for listening. I hope this has helped you and you will be even more confident as you continue on your creative journey. So until next time, continue to become the creative that God created you to be. God bless, and we'll see you next time.         

00:10:28

Thanks for joining us here at the God and Gigs show. Please leave us a review on itunes, like our Facebook page, or visit Godandgigs.com and tell us what you thought of this show. We'll be back soon. In the meantime, go create something.