Consulting Services (Blog)

[Savage]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

Consulting Services

[James81]

I look forward to seeing how this turns out. (that is, I hope you eventually blog about how it's going for you)

I also look forward to seeing the inevitable discussion about your pricing.

(BTW, did your ebay trial play into that at all?)

[Savage]

Originally Posted by James81

I look forward to seeing how this turns out. (that is, I hope you eventually blog about how it's going for you)

I also look forward to seeing the inevitable discussion about your pricing.

(BTW, did your ebay trial play into that at all?)

The eBay auction for a one-hour consultation last year never finished -- they pulled it with a few days left -- so I honestly couldn't give it much consideration. It may have been a stepping stone, but I think that dropping Facebook was a more significant stepping stone.

I suspect it may take time to build a good client base since I'll invariably be working with different clients in transitioning from free to fee. If the initial uptake is low, I don't expect to lower the rates; I'd simply shift more attention to other opportunities. Given what I earn from other sources these days, I can't really justify charging less if I'm going to treat this as a serious part of my business.

One reason I decided to do this is that many of my peers do consulting work (such as my friends in TLC), and it generates significant income for them that makes it easier to grow their businesses. I realized I was already doing similar work, but I simply wasn't treating it as part of my business. This got me thinking about whether I should stop doing it and devote the time to something else, keep doing it for free only, or take it more seriously and commit to doing more with it.

[Andrew Brunelle]

Interesting transition, Steve. I hope it goes well for you. That seems like a reasonable price, although some people may not think so. I'm sure you will get plenty of clients regardless.

[ssandra]

Congrats

It is funny that right when Erin is shifting more away from time for money you are shifting towards it I think (for both of you) a healthy balance will come this year!

The one thing that I really liked is you outlining what you are going to do in the call. I actually have that planned for my own coaching service (coming soon) as well. It gives structure and helps people plan for the call in advance. Efficiency

What I was surprised about though was the time frame. 60 minutes seem very short for what you want to do?

Do you have previous experience doing a coaching session with friends or something, so you know this is doable? Or will you adjust if it turns out too little time?

[Savage]

Originally Posted by ssandra

Congrats

It is funny that right when Erin is shifting more away from time for money you are shifting towards it I think (for both of you) a healthy balance will come this year!

The one thing that I really liked is you outlining what you are going to do in the call. I actually have that planned for my own coaching service (coming soon) as well. It gives structure and helps people plan for the call in advance. Efficiency

What I was surprised about though was the time frame. 60 minutes seem very short for what you want to do?

Do you have previous experience doing a coaching session with friends or something, so you know this is doable? Or will you adjust if it turns out too little time?

I think 60 minutes is reasonable if we stay focused on a key problem, challenge, or issue and work through it from start to finish. For more complex or interconnected challenges, however, people might want to book more sessions to work on different components one by one.

I have some good frameworks for solving problems quickly at a high level, and then it's a matter of working though the client's specific details. It doesn't necessarily take a lot of time to solve a tricky problem if you look at it from the right angle. Quite often people get stuck because they look at problems from an angle that disempowers them, and they mistake that perspective for the only truth. Another possibility is simply that they lack experience solving the particular type of problem they're facing, so they don't know what a solution is supposed to look like.

I wrote the consultations page to target the types of clients where I know from experience that we can get fast results, partly because I've lived through something similar (like a career transition or building a high-traffic website). If someone comes to me with a problem that I expect would take an inordinate amount of time to unravel (like a serious medical or legal issue), then I can refer them to someone else.

I'm sure I'll attract different clients for fee-based consulting vs. doing it for free, so no doubt I'll continue to refine and adapt the process for the specific clients I work with. I enjoy that part of the work.

Erin also has experience working with hundreds of paid clients, so I spoke to her at length about it. I'm not doing readings like she does, so my process is very different. We also talked about referring clients to each other when appropriate.

[Erin Pavlina]

I've been on the receiving end of a lot of sessions with Steve and he is really good at helping people quickly and efficiently. I think that's partly because he's been through so much himself and partly because he's counseled a lot of people in the past, just not for money. I for one am really glad he's offering consulting because he's really good at this and I've been hoping for years that he would offer his time and attention to others to help them grow their businesses too.

Ssandra, yeah it's interesting about our shifts. He's been enjoying a lot of passive income for years. And I was doing the service based thing. It will be interesting to see what happens to us both.

[Andreas]

So I take it this is isolated and is not the aforementioned "secret" project of 2011?
Right?

[Savage]

Just received the first booking. I love working at Internet speed.

[Savage]

Originally Posted by Andreas

So I take it this is isolated and is not the aforementioned "secret" project of 2011?
Right?

Correct.

[Andreas]

Originally Posted by Savage

Correct.

Talking about speed, you just broke your own record with that response to my message in under 20 seconds!

And glad to hear it. Seemed like the secret project was less predictable...

Hope this consulting offering goes well for you, Steve.

[cacheborn]

Interesting shift. Many personal coaches working in PD offer such sessions so I guess it's a natural step to take.
Wishing you the very best.

[Savage]

Originally Posted by cacheborn

Interesting shift. Many personal coaches working in PD offer such sessions so I guess it's a natural step to take.
Wishing you the very best.

That's partly how I became a match for this shift. Hanging out with friends who get paid $10K per day for similar consulting work helped me a lot in shifting my own vibe. To them it's perfectly normal and reasonable to be well compensated for their efforts, and it allows them to do an even better job by hiring staff to handle other details, so they can focus on their core strengths.

To reach this point, I used the same vibrational shifting process outlined in my last blog post (How to Achieve Stretch Goals). I could feel the difference when my vibe finally shifted. After that it only took 2 days to create the consulting page, order form, and blog post and to get everything launched and receive the first booking.

This is just the beginning though. I've been doing a lot of work on shifting my vibe with respect to building a staff. The days of running my business as mostly a one-person operation are coming to an end.

[Bliss Sage]

Am I the only one wondering why $997 and not something "round," like $1000, or $995?

[roxyruby]

this is great news! my wishes for this consulting going successfully for all involved

[roxyruby]

Originally Posted by Bliss Sage

Am I the only one wondering why $997 and not something "round," like $1000, or $995?

haha i have heard SO many times at workshops or books about selling.... "always end the price with a 7!"

I don't know why....but I've heard that so many times

Pyschology? Or Myth?

[Boldnut]

Quoting a quote which was posted on a particular marketing forum:

A lot of psychological study went into price theory and price perception, and the number 7 is thought of as "less threatening as any other number." Make all your prices end in 7s.

[ellie]

That's great....I think danielle laporte charges about that much too.

I think you will attract the right kind people at that price point.

[SatvikBeri]

Originally Posted by Bliss Sage

Am I the only one wondering why $997 and not something "round," like $1000, or $995?

It just happens to convert people more often. Just like how people are more likely to buy something that's $99 instead of $100, they're even more likely to buy at $97, but *not* at $95. It depends on the product of course, but this is a pretty general pattern.

[ellie]

Originally Posted by SatvikBeri

It just happens to convert people more often. Just like how people are more likely to buy something that's $99 instead of $100, they're even more likely to buy at $97, but *not* at $95. It depends on the product of course, but this is a pretty general pattern.

It's funny to me the $97 to me says it's more gimmicky and cheap. I guess I associate it with dodgy tv ads, from bargain basement places, where they use this technique.

When I read, Danielle Laporte's sales page area, I read the sum and thought $1000 that's a nice bold number. There's no mucking around.

[freddy]

I would like to have a consultation with Steve. I think he really gives great advice and understands the mind much better than most. However the points he has listed to be a good match for his style of coaching make me wonder, after I spend my money for the consultation, will Steve tell me sorry you have problem A or B can’t help you.
I mean until you know what you have to do to make the change you might be a (A) Passive or apathetic person. Sometimes you feel low energy from being stuck at your current state for awhile. Or (B) a person who might not be ready for the change. due to the fear of the unknown problems you might have to face. How will you know until you get there? Steve do you offer a money back guarantee on this service? lol

[carenkh]

Originally Posted by freddy

I would like to have a consultation with Steve. I think he really gives great advice and understands the mind much better than most. However the points he has listed to be a good match for his style of coaching make me wonder, after I spend my money for the consultation, will Steve tell me sorry you have problem A or B can’t help you.
I mean until you know what you have to do to make the change you might be a (A) Passive or apathetic person. Sometimes you feel low energy from being stuck at your current state for awhile. Or (B) a person who might not be ready for the change. due to the fear of the unknown problems you might have to face. How will you know until you get there? Steve do you offer a money back guarantee on this service? lol

The insight you gain by discovering you're either apathetic or not ready to change would be worth the cost of the consultation. If you don't already know that, seeing it would be worth millions. One more level of awareness to explore!

[cacheborn]

Originally Posted by Savage

That's partly how I became a match for this shift. Hanging out with friends who get paid $10K per day for similar consulting work helped me a lot in shifting my own vibe. To them it's perfectly normal and reasonable to be well compensated for their efforts, and it allows them to do an even better job by hiring staff to handle other details, so they can focus on their core strengths.

To reach this point, I used the same vibrational shifting process outlined in my last blog post (How to Achieve Stretch Goals). I could feel the difference when my vibe finally shifted. After that it only took 2 days to create the consulting page, order form, and blog post and to get everything launched and receive the first booking.

This is just the beginning though. I've been doing a lot of work on shifting my vibe with respect to building a staff. The days of running my business as mostly a one-person operation are coming to an end.

Wow. Interesting to see the stretch goal concept in action. Would be great to see the expansion process unfolding.

The article one of the most exhaustive, btw. I will have to read it few more times and assimilate. Understanding and adopting the right vibe is the tricky part for me. I need to work on that.

[Weena]

Originally Posted by ellie

It's funny to me the $97 to me says it's more gimmicky and cheap. I guess I associate it with dodgy tv ads, from bargain basement places, where they use this technique.

When I read, Danielle Laporte's sales page area, I read the sum and thought $1000 that's a nice bold number. There's no mucking around.

I always, always round up these kind of prices. When I read 997$ my brain automatically converted it to "one thousand".

Steve, enjoy the challenge! Are you glad to be able to coach people one on one? What are your expectations about this new kind of work?

[BillyTheAdult]

Originally Posted by Weena

I always, always round up these kind of prices. When I read 997$ my brain automatically converted it to "one thousand".

me too

[Janine]

Originally Posted by Savage

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

Consulting Services

Are you serious? $997 per hour!

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by Janine

Are you serious? $997 per hour!

I recall hearing about a business consultant awhile back who charged $10,000 per hour for his services.

Sounds pricey, but if the advice is going to make you millions of dollars, people (or businesses) will jump on it.



Oh and sidenote, there are plenty of best-selling authors that go on to do public speaking for much higher amounts. It's not really the same exact thing, but a speech is sort of like a consultation, only to a broader audience.

If I recall correctly, awhile back Steven Covey's going rate for a 1-hour keynote speech was $120,000.

[freddy]

Originally Posted by Janine

Are you serious? $997 per hour!

9's and 7's, such as 977 or 997 - Congratulations! You are shedding old parts of your life that no longer fit who you are. You are living a more authentic life that is in integrity with your highest view of yourself. This number sequence applauds your decisions to live honestly.

This from Doreen Virtue, Ph.D
Number sequence from angels

Strange but cool.

[Cochonette]

Consultants make a lot of money.

[James81]

Originally Posted by Curtis2011

I recall hearing about a business consultant awhile back who charged $10,000 per hour for his services.

Sounds pricey, but if the advice is going to make you millions of dollars, people (or businesses) will jump on it.



Oh and sidenote, there are plenty of best-selling authors that go on to do public speaking for much higher amounts. It's not really the same exact thing, but a speech is sort of like a consultation, only to a broader audience.

If I recall correctly, awhile back Steven Covey's going rate for a 1-hour keynote speech was $120,000.

It's humorous to me that you don't see any of those prices as outrageous, but you seem to have a real problem with writers charging lots of money for their services.