I’ve been with AMA for 1.5 years now, but sadly, its taken some time for the teachings of these gurus to sink in. I went into the NYC Summit this past week expecting to get that extra “push”/motivation to further implement things I’ve been taught (and have slowly been putting to practice), and I got it. If you haven’t been to “live” AMA session, you are missing out!
There were a lot of great takeaways, and powerful “praise reports” of how all this really works. I wanted to share this phrase, which I realized today, to help anyone else going through the mindset transition of charging for the simplest of services.
I got a VM yesterday from an ID whose clients purchased a house I designed years ago. They want to redo some interiors, and add a deck (I had designed for a previous client but wasn’t built). In the VM, she asked if I’d share the CAD files of my plans…..
“Old” JJ would have said “sure, here they are”, because that’s how the profession “indoctrinated” me. This is a baby step, but I realized there’s value in what I’d provide. I could probably charged much more, but I called back and after fishing out what she was looking for, I said I’d be happy to “share” my plans, but there’d be a nominal $250 fee to export the files to the format she needed and transmit them. (I know, it could be so much more, but the point is I put some value to what I previously gave away for free). She said that was reasonable, and she’d confirm with her clients. Of course, they came back that that was fine. (too low a fee). But, “New” JJ, in talking to this Interior Designer, got the impression that she was outsourcing her drafting, so tomorrow I’ll make a strategic phone call to discuss the value I can bring as the original architect of the house, provide “UNLIMITED” 3D renderings (a nod @PeterTwohy), and help her succeed as Project Manager / ID.
6 months ago, I’d have given it all away. But now I know, at least for myself, EVERYTHING I do has value.
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