January 31, 2025

Big Dream Clients

Fellow list member Miriam Michaels wrote in to contribute to the recent conversation (shared with permission):

I see you’re enjoying the client feedback so I’ll share an anecdote with you that strengthens value pricing.

I have a client that has a very successful kitchen design business. They started as a company of two, fifteen years ago.

Now, they have 30 employees, and they never advertised anything. They built the business all by word of mouth.

You can imagine that they are capable, efficient, and have AMAZING customer service.

They are now opening another branch in a different city, and they decided they want to advertise there.

They need a rebrand, and advertisements to match their new brand. (Enter me, copywriter)

Note: This is not an hourly project, but I priced very low because of the opportunity to work with such a big company.

I have a smashing vision that will bring the powerful word of mouth to life. It requires reaching out to many customers, and it is out of their comfort zone.

THe project has been schlepping out for weeks, as he hasn’t been able to come up with enough customers for me to interview.

(This is a business that nets 20 million dollars a year - without a speck of advertising or social media.)

So last night, I walked him through the process, and explained why each piece is vital. He was totally on board - he just needs to speak it over with the team.

And this is what I got in my inbox:

I started talking this over with the team. We all feel the same way. If we set too high of a goal we will never meet it.

I actually cried.

And then I had an aha! moment about value pricing:

Customers that have big dreams for their business are willing to pay for a visionary, and follow all the instructions they receive.

If you have big ideas that will get your clients far - you need clients that WANT to go far. Not the ones that want to pay a predictable hourly wage for a typical predictable project.

Thanks J!

Thanks for sharing, Miriam!

Key point:

If you have big ideas that will get your clients far - you need clients that WANT to go far. Not the ones that want to pay a predictable hourly wage for a typical predictable project.

☝️Yup, exactly.

Yours,

—J