Meet the "A-Ha" (and Electrify Your Business!)

Copyright 2006 Lani and Allen Voivod

Thanks to folks like Edison, Jung, Einstein, and Winfrey,
we've all heard of the "Aha! Moment." It's that beautiful
flash of insight - an epiphany! - that comes to us when
we're busy doing something else. Or perhaps more often,
happily unbusy, doing absolutely nothing of quantitative
value.

That flash of insight is, literally, a divine gift -
especially when it comes to your business. It can create
products, improve services, open up doors, unleash
opportunities, or simply give you a solution to a problem
that's been nagging you mercilessly.

It's a gift, but it's not the goal. An "Aha!" is only the
beginning.

An "A-Ha!" is your goal.

Tom-AHA-toes, Tom-A-HA-toes. What's the diff?

How many true "Aha! Moments" do you suppose you've had in
your life time? Three? Seventeen?
Six-million-four-hundred-thousand-nine-hundred-seventy-two?

Now how many of those "Aha! Moments" have you had the time,
tools, or energy to pursue?

Sure, maybe they got as far as your notebook, or you gushed
them out in full detail to your spouse, best friend, or
business partner (in our case, it's all the same person!),
but have you ever been able to cultivate even just one of
your brilliant bolts to its full and thunderous destiny -
one that would deliver a boom to your bank account?

Not easy, my friend. Not easy as all.

So while the "Aha! Moment" can be a thrilling, delightful
experience, it can also squash your will to launch or grow
your own business. Because too may "Aha! Moments" without
the means or guidance to pursue them leads to painful -
even hopeless - conclusions.

"Why bother? I can't do anything about it right now
anyway." "Great - another million dollar idea I'll never
set into action." "I hate my brain. I hate my business. I
hate what I've done with my life!"

Wait! Before You Pull a Pandora and Leave Hope Locked Up in
a Box Forever. Meet the "A-Ha."

More than just an alternative spelling (or a ploy by the
Hyphen Industry to infiltrate your favorite sayings), the
A-Ha is an exquisite hybrid of high-quality wisdom,
knowledge, jubilation, and experience. It:

1. Invokes the "Aha!" in all its untainted glory.

2. Invites you to see the two words that comprise the
"Aha!"    The gentle, singular, user-friendly article "A."
 That simplest expression of gratified laughter, "Ha."

3. Bridges the connection (with the hyphen) to reveal the
ultimate dynamic equation:

INSIGHT + LAUGHTER = A-HA!

Of course, laughter IS happiness in action, so "Insight +
Action = A-Ha!" works, too.

So What Does the "A-Ha" Mean for YOUR Business? For most
entrepreneurs, ideas and insights are never in short
supply. But imagine if you picked your favorites - be
selective! - and attached strategic, bliss-infused ACTIONS
to them on a consistent basis.

Starting to see the light?

Bold Insight plus Joy-filled Action.

That's the golden ticket. Stick that formula into your
small biz arsenal, and before you know it, you'll be
laughing all the way to the bank.

A-Ha!


----------------------------------------------------
Lani & Allen Voivod, aka "The Content Lovers," help budding
entrepreneurs and small biz dynamos "A-Ha Themselves!" in
fun, innovative, and profitable ways. For FREE articles,
tips, and strategies designed to catapult your content and
electrify your business, sign up for their ezine, "The
Inciter," at http://www.EpiphaniesInc.com !

How To Set Your "Right" Price

How do you set the right price for your products and services?
The "right" price is the price you are happy with and the price
which clients are willing to pay.

My suggestion is to put your pricing through the "Right Price
Test."  This test involves asking 2 questions:

1.  Are you happy with your price?
2.  Are clients willing to pay your price?

You need a "yes" to both these questions for it to be the
"right" price.

Are You Happy With Your Price?

Just suppose you were able to get as many clients as you wanted
at $x, ask yourself:

-  Would you be happy?
-  Is $x a fair exchange for the value clients will receive?
-  Will you resent or appreciate your clients at this price?
-  Will you be inspired to go the "extra mile" in service at
this price?
-  Would you attract your ideal client at that price?

Suppose you charge $50 an hour and the standard is $200 an hour.
 Imagine that you ended up being booked solid working 8 hours a
day at $50 an hour.  Would you, at the end of several full weeks
in a row, be happy that you were only charging $50 an hour?  Is
$50 an hour a fair exchange of value?  Will you be resenting or
appreciating these $50 an hour clients? Would you be feeling
like going the "extra" mile in service?  Do you think you would
be attracting your "ideal" client at this price?

To work out your own "right" price, that you are happy with,
assume that there is an abundance of clients for you.  Now pick
a price for one of your products or services and ask yourself the
same set of questions.  Keep changing the price until you get a
"yes" to all the questions.  You will need to do some work to
determine the value you deliver before you will be able to
answer the "fair exchange of value" question.

Now you're probably saying this is great in theory but even if
there was an abundance of clients, would clients pay my price?
That question is the second question in the "Right Price" test.

Are Clients Willing To Pay Your Price?

Part of working out if you are happy with your price was to work
out all the value you achieve for your clients. The value and
the results need to far outweigh the price you are asking people
to pay. This is a fair exchange of value.

If I asked you to give me $1 and in exchange I would give you
something worth $1000 would you give me $1?  You would, provided
you wanted $1000 and you believed me.

So the answer to the question "Are clients willing to pay your
price?" is "yes" provided:

-  they are qualified (have a need/want, money, etc.)
-  you know that the value clients receive outweighs the price
and you can articulate this
-  potential clients can clearly understand that the value far
outweighs the price
-  potential clients believe you can deliver the value.

I encourage you to put all your pricing through the "Right Price
Test."  The rewards will then follow for both yourself and your
clients.

(c) Tessa Stowe, Sales Conversation, 2006.
Tessa Stowe teaches coaches, service professionals and
recovering salespeople 10 simple steps to turn conversations into
clients without being sales-y or pushy. Her FREE monthly Sales
Conversation newsletter is full of tips on how to sell your
services by just being yourself. Sign up now at http://www.salesconversation.com