I don’t thing this has anything to do with your prices, of course – I think you’re totally right about all of that. And I know that it’s my own issues that cause this interpretation, but you are, after all, talking to lots of people with such feelings. I just wonder if there’s a way to talk about Right People here that doesn’t imply that those who simultaneously have little money, difficulty thinking about spending money, and personal fears that make spending money on oneself very scary, seem like Wrong People instead of Right People who have some stucknesses to work out.

These posts are most helpful to me, too, in pondering my own financial stuff and worthiness stuff.
.-= Anna-Liza´s last post … Mr. Pollyanna Is Playing with Fire. Again. Come Watch! =-.

There are many things I like about downloadable classes, but one is that it takes things out of that mental math of “it costs X an hour and she works 40 hours a week, geez, who does she think she is, Rockefeller?” Because as we know, if we tried to do what we do 40 hours a week, we’d have a nervous breakdown.

For now, my high consulting rates mostly serve to keep my bandwidth free to do product creation and develop both free & paid content, which works for me. One of these days I’ll actually put more into making that side of my business work, because I do get energized (within limits) by talking with other folks about their businesses.
.-= Sonia Simone´s last post … Are You Sure Your Content MarketingStrategy Is a Good Fit? =-.

Thanks for helping me feel good about what I do, instead of joining the race-to-the-bottom pricing game! Yuck. I’d be no help to anyone if I did that.
.-= Shannon Bowman´s last post … Hey Baby, What’s Your Sign? =-.

Because price is such a sticking point for so many of us, how can you get unstuck without dealing with it first?

Thank you for your clear-headed, sublimely-articulated take on the subject.

Bookmarked-for-life.
.-= Colleen Wainwright´s last post … Gaping maws =-.

I’ve noticed something I especially struggle with is that other women kind of expect that because I’m a woman, I’ll cut them a break when it comes to money. That some women have this expectation that they can whine and cry poor and that I somehow owe them something because of that.

I have to say I really find this kind of annoying. There have been times in my life when I struggled financially, but I never expected anyone to say that their time was not valuable enough for me to pay them.

I do have an expectation that my time and knowledge are valuable assets that I have worked very hard for. I think that you have every right to that expectation, too.

Thank you so much for sharing your expertise and knowledge here. You constantly help me confront my own “stuff,” and I am able to do that because you have created such safe ways to do that.

How does privilege come into it? Many people could use the services people like you offer, don’t even have a local equivalent, but due to global financial standards (which place massive privilege on a small subset of people) can’t even begin to dream about this. And yet the people with privilege don’t even realise they have it; it’s shaped in their upbringing, their society, their intuition. What seems resonant may just be the reinforcement of the status quo, the idea of a Right Person that fits certain privileged definitions.

Here’s an example: TED. It claims to be a conference for some of the brightest minds around the world. Yet its price – around $6k? – and the fact that you need to get tickets way in advance online effectively prices itself out of the people who absolutely need the exposure and network of TED the most: people in developing or underdeveloped countries looking to make international links to improve their communities. So what you get is a bunch of privileged talking heads going on about “changing the world” while not realising that a large chunk of the world they’re trying to change can’t even afford to be there. The only ones who can have the privilege of money and time, yet the ones who would most benefit are the ones without privilege.

This is something I’ve been mulling about since last year, so I was glad you brought up this post. On the one hand, I’m all for people charging what they’re worth, even if it means losing some customers. I’m trying to figure this out now with my creative work. On the other hand, when the issue of access is one that is complex and arbitrary, how do we not confuse privilege for resonance? Just because you can afford it doesn’t make you the Right Person by any means.
.-= Tiara´s last post … Exchange for Change – Birthday Book Bazaar =-.