West Hollywood Women’s Leadership Conference
Two cool things happened while I was in LA this weekend.
The first is that the Easter Bunny drove by on a Harley on Easter Sunday morning - I love this city!
The second is that I attended the West Hollywood Women’s Leadership Conference on March 22nd - what a powerhouse event. Put on by the City of West Hollywood, it attracted over 100 women from the political, public service, non-profit, corporate and small business arena. Amazing women with amazing stories.
My favourite story of the weekend was the web designer who when she started out her business was charging very little for her services, and hence, making very little money. A year ago, she decided she had enough and did two things to significantly increase her profitability. First, she raised her hourly rate significantly and second, she started charging clients for all the changes and extras they wanted. She admitted she was worried that she would lose clients and go out of business. What actually happened is that she has never been busier and clients happily pay her prices. That’s the funny thing about being confident in your value to clients - you don’t have trouble charging what you are worth and you don’t have trouble asking for payment. Negotiating a decent salary or charging a fair market price for your product or service is not imposing on others or being pushy. It is good business. Make sure you put it into practice.
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Sounds like an awesome event, sometimes the smallest bit of advice makes the biggest difference. If you felt really inspired by that Conference I would love to share another event with you in case you or anyone in your circle is interested in catching a similar event.I actually work with Microsoft, and right now I’m really excited to spread the word about the “Vision to Venture†tour they’re having between April and May, which will consist of five live events. Susan Solovic, the best-selling author and CEO of SBTV.com, will be giving the keynote speech-“Girls Guide to Building a Million Dollar Businessâ€-geared toward women entrepreneurs and savvy business ladies. You can see more and register at http://smallbusiness.officelive.com/v2v/ so let me know what you think! And if you have any questions, I’d be more than happy to answer them ïŠ
Our common friend, Rochelle Grayson, was the one who first urged me to consider significantly upping my rates. She explained that if you bid too low then you look like an amateur and that often, higher priced consultants, are viewed as having more expertise, even if they don’t.
Meeting with a prospective client in Seattle, I followed her advice and they accepted without even blinking. Thank goodness I know wise sages like you and Rochelle!