Why People "Try" To Underpay You

Nice

Lol have I been missing it or has that gong always been there with the green plant backdrop?

Derek, you are extremely funny... I can't believe you were making those faces... Your data is just purely awesome. Pure value. I really appreciate it.

Argh!!! Thank you for covering the web design industry (I know this is true in any service industry)! It seems like every industry is facing the DIY "services."

How about Annie Leibovitz as photo example?! :-)

I LOVE THIS!!!! You da bomb, Derek!
I do have a portfolio and people just ask, how much to create that for me? OMG you are RIGHT ON with the Ground Zero case studies!!! This is revolutionary for web designers!! Though some use case studies, they still have a portfolio too. Most people want to see your "portfolio." However, since I run my business, and no one else does, I'm switching to Ground Zero Case Studies! PLUS why not a testimonial from that particular client?

Ahhh, my favorite... "Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door." Not. Wouldn't it be so much easier if we could just chuck up a bunch of examples of our work and that people would just "get it?" In any case, thanks for the advice, Derek! Case studies sound like a great way to get potential clients "up to speed" and put us in a better position to ask for what we're worth... as well as screen out people who aren't interested in paying a fair price.

Fab video today Derek. You've motivated me to do my own case study write up.

Your personality has really shone through in this video! I just wanted to order you a great cup of coffee and pull up a chair for this video. Of all the videos I watched, this one really made me feel like we were in a coffee shop and talking biz person to person. I have a few clients I really should do a case study on and show the commitment and the transformation. Looking forward to tomorrow's video!

A recurring theme:
Your customer isn’t stupid. You haven’t explained it well enough.
They aren’t bad people. You’re bad at communicating the value.
Showcase the process, not the product.

Bahaha!!! Love the back and forth. $5...hundred dollars.

You need to explain your process, show them how you do it.

I do struggle at showing people what I do and how I do it.

Oooo I LOVE this idea...walking people through people the process and behind the scenes. Awesome!! I’m going to create a collection of ground zero case studies. I have helped a lot of people and it’s time to showcase my best work and the process behind it. :)

A timely video. I began a web design biz in December. I plan on fixing a local restaurants website and show all the mistakes we fixed in an article.

Such an accurate video! I had a friend who asked for a copywriting project and offered me $50 for one article. When I told him I couldn't do it for less than $500 he freaked out... I had to explain the value of what I was offering, how many hours it would take, and how I could help him market his content to get more reach... Then I was $500 richer ;)

Now this one got me thinking! as a Magician, people do think I solve things with magic, and don't see the work behind it (and in part thats good) but now I want to take your advice

I want a video editor! 😂😂 your "5 HUNdred dollars" zoom is hilarious.

"You're not bad at what you do you're bad at explaining the VALUE of what you do"

Action item: make a video about my life as an educator, some of the ups downs and process of learning & creating great lessons for my students. Builds value?

My brain is working at super speed now. This was great content. Engaging and quite possibly the most lucrative tip I have heard so far in my entrepreneurial studies.
Now, I gotta admit that with out a worksheet to make this even more tangible (hint hint) I could be struggling to really make it work well for me BUT what I am gathering so far is that I need to get my clients to step into my shoes for a moment and realize just how much they would need to learn to accomplish their health and lifestyle goals without coming to me directly to work a plan with them. Very few people realize what thousands of dollars in education and decades of self study have taught me and how they could be reaching in the dark for years till they find a solution that really works for them. My job is to tell them HOW I do what I do for them and I think I would try to start this by writing a script and blog for my holistic health coaching site.

I think writing case studies will work better in the long run especially at helping future clients understand how things work. Love this video

I love the idea of a case study.  This works perfectly for a health coach.  My potential customers won't see the bookshelves of books I've read on health and inflammation reduction over the five to ten years.  They won't see all the research I do and all of the courses I've took.  

There's an old friend that came up to me a couple of weeks ago.  She's seen a video I shared of a lot of my personal story.  She told me about all the changes she's made after watching just that one video.  I've been wanting to do an interview with her, I just didn't know what to do with it.  I think I'll use it as a case study.

When I tell people what I make and what I am paid for them, they don't believe me. On the other hand, the only people that actually ask me, in person, about my business/products, are NOT MY CUSTOMERS! I do not have one person within 200 miles that is my customer. Thank the Maker for the Internet! Showing my work to my local crowd just makes them scratch their heads and ask why (at best).
I have several five star reviews of my products with glowing comments about the process, the product, communication, material and shipping. Is this what your mean?

Thank you very important information 👍👍

Excellent advice. Thank you so much for this!

Oh so so true. I imagine lots of people watching this have studied, read, trained, studied on holiday, pulled an all nighter to learn more more more on their profession, given away their products and services to increase their skills/get their name out there but making your ideal client understand that... that is the GOLD. Ground zero case study is a fantastic idea Derek and this was an epic video. Thank you

Speaking as a photographer, your advice rings true. The whole "your work will speak for itself" is genuinely wide spread and is pretty damn moronic. I do something a bit different to your advice though, as with my website I am just looking to peak people's interest, not exactly "sell" or "justify" my pricing, as I believe that has to be part of an overall strategy on how you sell and market your work. But I do it differently to most photographers - I just have 1 image on my homepage. Then copy on how and why I work, and why it's important to the client - I share a story.

Nothing out of the ordinary but it's something I really believe in and I put it across well - that's why all of my clients tell me how much they love my philosophy. Which is important because it's not there to manipulate or justify or play tricks, it's there because this is what I'm passionate about, and if we're going to work together you're going to need to "get" that.

If I were just putting up "pretty pictures" then people wouldn't have much else to go by. $5,000 just for pretty pictures? Sounds expensive to me.

This is great. I'm working on a portfolio site for myself, web developement and graphic design, and already planned to do these types of write ups for projects instead of just showing pictures. I mostly just wanted to give context and explain what was done. Plus, like you mentioned, it could give a reader confidence in my skill.

I say this because I didn't equate it to giving my work value, it just seemed like something I should do. I will totally keep that in mind and let it influence how I write my articles. Thanks for making this video. It's helped give more reasoning behind my own plans.

Good one. I’m working as a real estate agent in Malaysia and everyone thought our job is that easy to earn money. Little do they know that we have to run here and there behind the scene to ensure the transaction is going smoothly. I shall try it out documenting the whole process and show it to our client that we are worth the money paid. Thanks ...

Great job - awesome info...

I love the inversion of responsibility that comes when you stop blaming your costumer for their lack of knowledge of how your service/product works and how it is better or different from the competition. When you stop blaming them and get all that responsability for yourself you empower yourself and your business to really sell a lot to the best costumers, the ones that will really appreciate your work and after hiring you one time hiring you again and again when they get that awesome final product or that state-of-the-art service. This is probably what those people that "don't have to communicate their value" did at the beginning of their careers to achieve what they've achieved. It is also an awesome way to know yourself and the value you want to bring better.

This is something I am learning more and more lately. When I communicate my process better I find clients understand and are ok with my prices more.

This is something I am learning more and more lately. When I communicate my process better I find clients understand and are ok with my prices more.

Nice video, Derek! I like the way you talk, just like a friend.
If I understood correctly, none of the work should be out there without the specific context that went into building it, right? Won't it create a lot of overhead up to the point in which your prospects won't be willing to read it?
If you are a photographer, you will most likely have a lot of pictures in your portfolio, so including such a thing for every picture would be quite cumbersome.

Awesome. As a videographer I've been talking about making a video to show how long the process really is. This is the reinforcement I needed to make it happen. Thanks!

Love it, Derek! Keep em' coming.

Yes!! - very nice! - I am going to edit my website right away! :D - Thanks!

I'm definitely going through this right now. Just launched a new version of my website with more examples of the work I can do, but none of it goes in depth explaining the process.

I need to fix that.

For photography I only partly agree, it's greatly depends on the type of client, But having good work and beautiful images is the most important thing in a portfolio, that what make you special and stand out from the overwhelming amount of bad photographers, and most people have very short attention span so grabbing their attention quickly is very important. only after the positive impression, you should show them what the process is.

Derek, this was Superb!! Excellent content and tidbits. I have exactly what you described for my portfolio on my website. Coming down today and rebuilding starting with one Ground Zero Case Study. Thanks a million!!

The timing for this is perfect. We are redoing our website and we have a great case study we can do this with. It is also going to play a key role to support our new sales staff. We currently use case study demonstration videos, where we insert their info into the demo video, showing them exactly how our product can and will deliver the results they are seeking. Thanks DH.

hi derek! im new at the freelance world. how can i do a ground zero case study for my web design website?

I'll demonstrate my ability to do what I do, step by step. I do crafting. So, I will start with something like sneakers, and how I bling them up. Or a wish box I did. The LENGTHY PROCESS. You said a mouthful. I am guilty of making what I do seem so easy. So, I have to let it be known, how much is involved. Yeah, that's gonna get me some good dough. THANKS.

Great video! I took notes on this video for what I need to do and I’m gonna take each step to create my ground zero case study ✨

Dear Derek, doing here as instructed (with great pleasure!): Thank you for the great video and the info you shared. I have a blog in mmo niche but my first profession is classical singing. Since I feel I'm mostly underpaid for my concerts, I will use your advice for the next concert series I'm planning to do in 2019. I will create content on my FB page showing my audience just how much work goes into preparing a recital and hope they'll appreciate it more (read: pay for it more ;) ). Thanks again, Alenka

Great idea Derek. People don't often understand the process and can put themselves in the scenario if it is itemized out. The other thing they need to know is why you have the level of experience you have which will come out in this idea. Love your sense of humour. You always make me laugh. : )

I've seen a webdesigner do case studies, but she does them as blog posts on an ongoing basis. I like the idea of the case study as the portfolio. Will implement it. Showing the process can also help with onboarding as clients see what is involved at various stages, which can include them too. Thanks for a great idea delivered with humour.

Thank you Derek, Your videos are really helpful.

I loved the video. Great advice.

This guy is awesome!!!!!!!!!!

Ground zero case study - expert advice Derek!

Great video Derek! I plan on using the ground case study on my next client.

that's gold

You should be in a business movie. Your personality is awesome! Reminds me of Jonah Hill in WarDogs and Wolf of WallStreet (without the immoral tendencies, just the business tenacity)

We've really lost you