Having a value conversation with the customer is important regardless of the size of your business. However, as a solopreneur, it is essential for survival. You have to determine what type of customer is necessary to operate your business profitably. Then use the value conversation to identify and educate customers that you can serve and with whom you enjoy working. What Is the Customer's Perception of Value? What is the most important thing you can share about pricing? There is more … [Read more...]
Software Development Is A Profession with Tom McFarlin – 076
Tom McFarlin is the founder of Pressware, which develops web apps with WordPress. He is also an open source software developer and an editor for Touch Code, an online technology magazine. Tom has been appointed a Microsoft Most Valued Professional 4 years in a row. He has a computer science degree from Georgia Tech. Solving Customer Problems What is the most important thing you can share about pricing? Start by looking at what you need to live, thinking forward into retirement. … [Read more...]
Creating and Pricing A WordPress Plugin with Jason Coleman – 075
Jason Coleman is the founder of Stranger Studios and the creator of Paid Memberships Pro, a membership plugin for WordPress. He is the co-author of Building Web Apps with WordPress. Jason enjoys playing Minecraft and Super Mario Maker with his kids. Kary Oberunner's podcast with Kirk is here: How to tell your friends their Digital Fly© is down (Episode 51) Transitioning from Services to Products What is the most important thing you can share about pricing? There is not one … [Read more...]
A Second Chance at Value Pricing with Tim Dietrich – 073
Tim Dietrich is a mobile application consultant and the developer evangelist for Airtable. He was formerly a database consultant in the FileMaker space, creating several open source projects for the community. He majored in computer science at Towson University. Tim's first appearance on the Art of Value was episode #28, A Contrary View to Value Pricing. It Is Not Too Late What is the most important thing you can share about pricing? It is never too late to change your mind and … [Read more...]
Use Joy to Position Your Business with Richard Sheridan – 072
Richard Sheridan is the co-founder and CEO of Menlo Innovations. The title on his business card is "Chief Story Teller." He is also the author of Joy, Inc. In his career, he has grown from programmer to vice president to entrepreneur. He loves to ski, and recently he set a personal record, completing a 5K in under 30 minutes. Creating Value Through Software What is the most important thing you can share about pricing? Avoid the trap of believing that the lower the price, the more … [Read more...]
The Fundamentals of Project Management with Cesar Abeid – 068
Cesar Abeid is a Certified Project Mangement Professional and Vice President of Client Services at Remontech. He started his career as an electrical engineer. He is the author of Project Management for You and host of the Project Management for the Masses podcast. What Is Project Management? What is the most important thing you can share about pricing? Do not become a commodity. Be different, and then you have no competition. The question then becomes, "What are people willing … [Read more...]
A Live After Action Review with Susan Fennema – 057
Susan Fennema is the project manager at MightyData. We have worked together for over five years. This episode is a glimpse into the internal conversations we have to continuously improve service for our customers. Creating a Quick Win What is the value of offering a "quick win" to the customer? The biggest value is a quick turn-around. We can learn faster to solve the customer's needs faster. Going deep, but only for the first phase, prevents overwhelming … [Read more...]
The Value of the Customer’s Customer with Wes Higbee – 051
Wes Higbee was a guest on a previous episode of the Art of Value Show. His latest book is about value and software, Commitment to Value: How to Make Technical Projects Worthwhile. He is also the owner and chief consultant at Full City Technology. Wes focuses on helping teams learn to develop from a value perspective. The Path to Value What is the most important thing you can share about pricing? Be deliberate about the type of customer relationship you want to have. Do … [Read more...]
Why to Productize Your Consulting with Brian Casel – 040
Brian Casel specializes in launching and bootstrapping businesses. He is the author of Productize, a course to help freelancers turn their custom services into products. He also runs Restaurant Engine, a combination of SaaS and productized service for the restaurant industry. What Is Productized Consulting? What is the most important thing you can share about pricing? Pricing is more art than science. How does the customer view pricing in terms of the value received? Do … [Read more...]
Do Not Assume in a Value Conversation with Jonathan Stark – 038
Jonathan Stark is a mobile consultant who helps retail brands thrive in a post-PC era. He's written three books on web development including O'Reilly's Building iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. He made the national news with Jonathan's Card, an experiment using mobile payments at Starbucks. He ditched hourly billing and has 10 years experience with value pricing. Value Pricing vs. Hourly Billing What is the most important thing you can share about pricing? Do it! If … [Read more...]