Comments on: Hourly Thinking is a Recipe for Disaster http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2008/09/25/hourly-thinking-is-a-recipe-for-disaster/ Small business marketing blog Thu, 21 Apr 2011 08:39:07 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: michael http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2008/09/25/hourly-thinking-is-a-recipe-for-disaster/#comment-401693 michael Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:14:09 +0000 http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/?p=1948#comment-401693 oops..that would be what clients will "bear"...no naked clients here :) oops..that would be what clients will “bear”…no naked clients here :)

]]> By: michael http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2008/09/25/hourly-thinking-is-a-recipe-for-disaster/#comment-401692 michael Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:05:11 +0000 http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/?p=1948#comment-401692 John, We produce radio commercials. We used to charge hourly and found ourself in the same situation. We have been converting clients over to flat fee. Now we have another situation that really seems rediculous. We have ended up with a zillion different flat prices (i.e. some negotiated down, some premium price, some who balk at older lower prices...there is no real standard in our industry - some buy our service/product for $250, some for $1000...some create package deals 5 for $1000 or 5 for $5000 - There are some guys out there low balling at $30, $50, or $100 each - but have been trying to covert all to premium flat prices without a lot of luck). I know this question seems juvenile...but how can you forecast, and watch margins, etc. when you don't have a clue of how much you might sell and at what price? Our CEO says that it's just what "each client will bare". Roller coaster P&L's are driving me crazy. Any thoughts? John,
We produce radio commercials.
We used to charge hourly and found ourself in the same situation. We have been converting clients over to flat fee. Now we have another situation that really seems rediculous. We have ended up with a zillion different flat prices (i.e. some negotiated down, some premium price, some who balk at older lower prices…there is no real standard in our industry – some buy our service/product for $250, some for $1000…some create package deals 5 for $1000 or 5 for $5000 – There are some guys out there low balling at $30, $50, or $100 each – but have been trying to covert all to premium flat prices without a lot of luck). I know this question seems juvenile…but how can you forecast, and watch margins, etc. when you don’t have a clue of how much you might sell and at what price? Our CEO says that it’s just what “each client will bare”. Roller coaster P&L’s are driving me crazy. Any thoughts?

]]> By: Rob Burns http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2008/09/25/hourly-thinking-is-a-recipe-for-disaster/#comment-401678 Rob Burns Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:01:22 +0000 http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/?p=1948#comment-401678 I attended the webinar with Alan Weiss and it really changed my thinking about how I value myself. And how to value what I can do correctly. I can recommend Million Dollar Consulting Highly. If you take just one distinction from it and apply it to your business, it will pay for itself many times over. I attended the webinar with Alan Weiss and it really changed my thinking about how I value myself. And how to value what I can do correctly.

I can recommend Million Dollar Consulting Highly.
If you take just one distinction from it and apply it to your business, it will pay for itself many times over.

]]> By: dean guadagni http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2008/09/25/hourly-thinking-is-a-recipe-for-disaster/#comment-401610 dean guadagni Thu, 09 Oct 2008 02:40:44 +0000 http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/?p=1948#comment-401610 John, We currently have a blog coaching product-services model with a niche that nobody is servicing. We have tested our target market and they are beginning to clamor for more information. We do not want to get into the hourly trap but we do not have a track record in blog coaching even though we are both bloggers with experience and success. Consequently we do not have the brand recognition yet nor do we have the results as we are just beginning. Although we are garnering trust and a following, we have yet to deliver this product-service so we have no testimonials. What do you think we should consider as a fee for our services if our industry is based on hourly rates? dean John,

We currently have a blog coaching product-services model with a niche that nobody is servicing. We have tested our target market and they are beginning to clamor for more information.

We do not want to get into the hourly trap but we do not have a track record in blog coaching even though we are both bloggers with experience and success.

Consequently we do not have the brand recognition yet nor do we have the results as we are just beginning. Although we are garnering trust and a following, we have yet to deliver this product-service so we have no testimonials.

What do you think we should consider as a fee for our services if our industry is based on hourly rates?

dean

]]> By: Greenville SEO http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2008/09/25/hourly-thinking-is-a-recipe-for-disaster/#comment-401564 Greenville SEO Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:56:41 +0000 http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/?p=1948#comment-401564 This is really good advice. A lot of people in the SEO industry do projects by the hour and its hard to steer people away from it when they've already heard it. This is really good advice. A lot of people in the SEO industry do projects by the hour and its hard to steer people away from it when they’ve already heard it.

]]> By: SEO Tips http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2008/09/25/hourly-thinking-is-a-recipe-for-disaster/#comment-401543 SEO Tips Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:15:05 +0000 http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/?p=1948#comment-401543 I agree that there is a limit on charging for time as there are only a certain number of hours in a month. I find that of the 173 hours a month (21.67 days x 8 hours) I can only bill for about 100 due to all the other things that our team get up to. We will discuss this as the concept makes sense we will just have to figure out how to implement it. Thanks John I agree that there is a limit on charging for time as there are only a certain number of hours in a month. I find that of the 173 hours a month (21.67 days x 8 hours) I can only bill for about 100 due to all the other things that our team get up to.

We will discuss this as the concept makes sense we will just have to figure out how to implement it. Thanks John

]]> By: Corporate Gifts http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2008/09/25/hourly-thinking-is-a-recipe-for-disaster/#comment-401542 Corporate Gifts Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:58:43 +0000 http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/?p=1948#comment-401542 John, great post. Charging hourly is so hard to get right as when people look at what we do they think that it takes 10 minutes when in actual fact it takes hours. Offering a solution makes sense, I assume its like packaging a service as a product as a product is tangible. Maintenance is a pain, expecially for a small change that takes 10 minutes to do, 20 minutes to contact the client to make sure that they are happy with it, 10 minutes to invoice but they only want to pay for the 10 minutes it took you to do it. Thanks again. John, great post. Charging hourly is so hard to get right as when people look at what we do they think that it takes 10 minutes when in actual fact it takes hours. Offering a solution makes sense, I assume its like packaging a service as a product as a product is tangible. Maintenance is a pain, expecially for a small change that takes 10 minutes to do, 20 minutes to contact the client to make sure that they are happy with it, 10 minutes to invoice but they only want to pay for the 10 minutes it took you to do it. Thanks again.

]]> By: Liz Walker http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2008/09/25/hourly-thinking-is-a-recipe-for-disaster/#comment-401538 Liz Walker Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:38:47 +0000 http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/?p=1948#comment-401538 This is one of the hardest concepts for our clients to grasp. Even through they are already successful, there is a feeling that they can’t turn away a potential customer who is not willing to pay what the product or service is worth. So we suggest another way to think about this: in fact, we say, you have to ask yourself: “Are you actually competent to satisfy the needs of a client who only has a limited budget?” For example, people shop at Wal-Mart for a wide range of products and very low prices. Wal-Mart has a highly-disciplines system that allows it to stock stores very cheaply, so it can offer low prices and still make a profit. If Lord and Taylor, or Holt Renfrew, or Saks decided to offer cut-price goods without that system, how satisfied would their customers be, and how long do you think they would stay in business? This is one of the hardest concepts for our clients to grasp. Even through they are already successful, there is a feeling that they can’t turn away a potential customer who is not willing to pay what the product or service is worth. So we suggest another way to think about this: in fact, we say, you have to ask yourself: “Are you actually competent to satisfy the needs of a client who only has a limited budget?” For example, people shop at Wal-Mart for a wide range of products and very low prices. Wal-Mart has a highly-disciplines system that allows it to stock stores very cheaply, so it can offer low prices and still make a profit. If Lord and Taylor, or Holt Renfrew, or Saks decided to offer cut-price goods without that system, how satisfied would their customers be, and how long do you think they would stay in business?

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