Ja-Naé Duane

What are you willing to pay for sound advice that you could not get anywhere else? How much is your freedom and flexibility worth to you? What about a personal relationship that changes how you view life and yourself? Can you put a price tag on any of these things?

Probably not.  But we try anyway.

This topic has been on my mind since I read Tamar Weinberg’s “The Audacity of Free: The Products and Services Edition.” Within that same week, I had several people ask me for free copies of “How to Start Your Business with $100” and wanted me to give a few hours of my time. Though I am willing to sit down with a friend or someone who has invested in me personally (as I have in them, as well), what is $19 to someone who buys a latté everyday? Why do we think it’s acceptable to expect things for free?

Answer: We’ve trained one another to think it’s right to do so.

Through various avenues, including social media, we have allowed for our sharing revolution to diminish our perception of value. We have become believers that we can get everything we want at no cost to us whatsoever, monetarily or otherwise. Because of this, there is less emphasis on quality and more on quantity. Whenever we try to estimate a numerical value, we are unconsciously influenced by related numbers just seen or thought about. This is called “anchoring.” So as we think about where we are spending our leverage (time, money, and resources), if everything that surrounds a price is free or discounted, we have the perceived notion that that one item should be free or discounted as well.

Example: Three websites are offering what looks like the same suite of services. Here are the differences:

Website 1: Will do a free analysis of your website, with the hopes that you will use them later on for other services.

Website 2: Will give you a free analysis of your website, as well as give you the areas that you need to fix.

Website 3: Will do an analysis of your website for $199, as well as hand you a list of things you need to fix and possible next steps in working with them.

In comparison, most people would go for website two because it seems like more of a value. Questions that run through people’s minds are:

“Why would I pay $199, if I can get the same work for free.”

“I don’t have the money to spend, so though $199 might be more quality workmanship, I can get just a slightly lower standard at a much better price.”

“Website 3 must be full of themselves. No one else charges to do that.”

As Dan Ariely, author of “Predictably Irrational” mentions in this video, we expect what we pay for. If we pay less then we expect less. Click on the video to watch it.

So, if we are helping people to set the expectation to receive poor quality products, services, advice, relationships, then why do we do it? And more importantly, how will we use our social influence to change it?

I would love to hear from you. Feel free to connect and share your thoughts.

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Looking to start a business or own a small business? Please consider reading my book, How to Start Your Business with $100. You should find what you’re looking for.