Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing

Thanks for the referral to the Business Exchange Community ... I just signed up.

It looks excellent, although their search box is behaving a little strangely ... I guess it is still in beta though.

Where do you find all those extra hours in your day/week/life? Whhhew!

I love the article you wrote about money for Anita Campbell's site. I've ALWAYS had a hard time talking about money. My husband's family talks about money openly, but in our family talking about money was a greater taboo talking about sex. Obviously running your own business means you have to talk about money. What I've done to overcome my discomfort:

1. Set a no-negotiation policy. I may add or subtract services, but the price is the price. The one time I violated this rule it bit me in the butt later.

2. Know the market price. I look at my competitors and say, I know I'm AT LEAST as good as them - why would I charge less? If I don't charge market price, clients will think my service is inferior.

3. I charge up front. I HATE calling to collect money. When people are in need of your service, they pay. When they have all the delivered items, their urgency lowers considerably.

4. I have confidence that my services add value. I just hold the thought in my head that the dollars they spend with me will come back to them many times over.

Keep up the good blogging!

Adrianne Machina, DTM Coach
http://www.TornadoMktg.com

I have to agree with you. far too often small business owners lower their price as a way to attract customers or are unsure what the market will bear for their product or service. You really have to be confident in yourself and what you do to negotiate what you are truly worth.

I see it in the businesses that we market, they drop their prices to get the business, when in actual fact people actually just want great service, whats that. I will go and sign up for the business exchange community, thanks Kweezel