Here is what I hear a lot from the coaching industry: You deserve to make more money! You deserve to raise your prices! Rah rah rah!

The problem I have is not with making more money. I love money, I love making money and I love spending money. The problem I have is with the word ‘deserve’.

I believe this word is responsible for you making less money in your business. Why is that? Well, for one, what you feel you deserve is subjective. You can’t measure ‘deserve’. ‘Deserve’ is not a number. ‘Deserve’ is what you make of it. And because of that, it is a shaky and inconclusive thing to base your prices on because it changes depending on how good you feel about yourself.

Rather than pricing your services based on what you think you deserve, how about this — first, create an excellent product or service that is WORTH OWNING! So sorry for the caps and for the sharp criticism, but can I just say that the online marketplace is overflooded with junk and not enough outstanding products and services truly worth owning. Every entrepreneur and every corporation wants to make more money, but unfortunately, not everyone cares enough to do awesome work. Why the hell is that?

What I really want to say is, don’t go about justifying your prices based on what you think you deserve or how you feel about yourself. Rather, price your products and services based on its esteem — ITS esteem — not YOUR esteem (meaning, how you feel about yourself). As you raise the esteem of your product or service, so will your prices. So if you want to make more money in your business, start by asking yourself, How do I elevate the esteem of my creations? How do I make my products and services even more valuable than it is now?

Add 4 types of esteem to your products and services

The dictionary defines esteem as regarding something highly or favorably, with respect or admiration.

In my book, I further individuate esteem into 4 categories:

First, tere is technical esteem, which means elevating the regard for your product or service through refined technical perfection, superior customer service and craftsmanship. Examples are Swiss–made timepieces and flying international first class.

There is aesthetic esteem, which means elevating the regard for your product or service through art, experience, senses and design. Examples are Apple products and 5–star hotels .

Then, there is social esteem, which means having its regard elevated by popularity or social awareness and approval. Examples are Google or fair trade chocolate.

Finally, there is Creator’s esteem, which means elevating the regard for your product or service through your own belief and confidence in your creation. Creator’s esteem is not your own self–esteem. It has to do with how you feel about your creation, because how good you feel about it determines how much esteem you breathe into it.

In other words, the more regard you have for what you created, the more regard others will have for it, too. How you feel about your work is going to determine how you market it, price it, talk about it, promote it and value it. Creator’s esteem controls the quality, quantity and frequency of your marketing. It also controls your creation’s shelf life.

For instance, can you picture Madonna promoting the hell out of her new single if she thinks it’s a worthless piece of crap?

Yet many entrepreneurs put creations out there where they feel ho hum about their own stuff. Or, maybe they feel that it’s junk, worthless, pointless, doesn’t measure up, is less than, not good enough, is not ready or just sucks. How you feel about it is how your audience will respond to it.

Even if the product or service was spectacular, it couldn’t survive if its creator had very little Creator’s esteem to give it. You are the only person who can give your creations life and Creator’s esteem.

You can’t buy esteem

A high price alone is not a measurement of esteem. You don’t earn esteem simply by charging a lot of money. (Sorry, ego!) The ability to charge a lot of money is the result of building esteem, and building esteem takes strategy and work.

Esteem is not always about the price — something inexpensive can have a very high level of esteem. Think about, for instance, the artisans in Europe who create exquisite works of art by hand. You may be able to buy something incredibly precious for not much money, but that doesn’t take away creator’s esteem. You value it because s/he values it.

Basically, it all starts with and comes down to you. Tune into the energy of your products and services — what esteem can it use right now? Does it need more technical refinement, superior customer service, or sophisticated design?

How highly do you regard your own creations? Do you value your work? If you cannot see your own worth, you will not be able to transfer esteem to your creations.

Transcend the word ‘deserve’

Stop making your prices about what you feel you deserve. Focus on doing excellent work. Make your creations truly worth experiencing and owning. Give your products and services high esteem.

Hi, I’m Ana Coeur

I teach entrepreneurs how to create their business straight from their soul. I offer a complete Intuitive Business Suite to help you create, design, write and sell all from your intuition. Here’s the services you can take advantage of to empower your business: Intuitive Web & Brand Design, Intuitive Copywriting and Intuitive Selling. If there’s anything I can help you with, I would love to hear about it! You may email me at anaintuitivepicture.com

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