How do you put a dollar value on your creative work? Are you charging too much? Too little? In your creative small business, pricing issues will come up again and again. I struggled with them for years, until I managed to get them straight in my own mind.

Many salespeople and business owners mistakenly think that negotiating is something you do near, or at the end of, the sales process, particularly when discussing price or term of the agreement.

Product or service pricing on the Net is not as critical as many of you have heard, yet these pricing techniques are important marketing components and should not be underestimated.

In this highly competitive market, it’s easy to worry that once you state the price for your service, your prospective client will vanish. Even the most brazen of us may gulp when we finally have to say a number.

I’m willing to wager real money that you are asked, “How much do you charge?” early in a selling conversation. The problem is, if you answer it, you are sunk and if you avoid it, then any trust you’ve established flies out the window.

Years ago, I was in the US Air Force, stationed at Clark Air Base, Republic of Philippines. I loved the place and regretted when our unit was moved. The biggest lesson I learned during my tour of duty there was to bargain. This was a concept that was, and still is, foreign to most Americans.

In the competitive marketplace of the new millennium, the demand for specialized products or services will increase. If your site sells everything or to everyone, chances are that your audience will not perceive any greater value in shopping from you than anyone else. Keep in mind that price is *never* an issue — what’s important is the value behind the price.

In addition to connecting price to value, to help you justify your pricing there are a few more guidelines to follow when it comes to positioning pricing: don’t just send it, consider how you position it.

Q. The big question asked me in teleclasses or client sessions is “How should I price my eBook?

Verizon is making an aggressive play for broadband customers. The telecom company is cutting its monthly fee by $10 to $34.95.

Alliances fail at an alarming rate. Consider these statistics from Accenture, a worldwide management and technology services organization:

Graphic design is an intimidating subject for many Internet entrepreneurs. However, most of us must learn some basic design techniques to avoid the high costs of hiring a professional graphics designer.

I just got off the phone with a company that provides me a service for which I pay $600 each month.

A couple of days ago I received a letter from them saying that due to economic factors, cost increases, blah, blah, blah they were going to raise my rate by a “modest amount”.

Q. The question asked most often in teleclasses or client sessions is “How should I price my eBook?

In an increasingly price-sensitive world many business professionals feel that the only way they’re going to win in a competitive RFP situation is if they slash their prices.

Do you ever wonder how you are going to make your product or service sell when you don’t offer the lowest price? Because people always go for the lowest price offered, right?

Not exactly. Do most people buy their cars from the junkyard? Or their TVs from pawn shops? Of course not. There is one thing that customers value more than getting a good deal. They will pay exorbitant amounts of money to eliminate risk.

Printers are one of the biggest rip-offs in computing today. Companies like Hewlett Packard (HP) and Cannon throw together a bucket of cheap plastic parts and charge you $150.00 for it. Then, they price gouge you for the ink cartridges.

It goes without saying that the bottom line of any successful business is profit. Don’t make a profit and you won’t be in business for very long.

Making a profit is pretty simple really.

Have you ever been in the situation where you are trying to sell a product at one price, and everyone else is giving the same product away?

People don’t always buy based on the lowest price, but they do like to feel they’re getting a good deal. If your aim is to give your customers value for their money… then your asking PRICE should represent the VALUE customers place on your product or service. If the price asked for doesn’t feel right, in relation to the value delivered, customers are not going to buy.

The department store chain, Nordstrom, is a master at giving its customers special treatment. I live in Phoenix, Arizona, where until recently, there had been no Nordstrom. The closest stores were located in San Diego, some 300 miles away or one hour by air. So how did Nordstrom get people from Phoenix to shop at one of their stores in San Diego in big numbers? The answer is they spoiled the people who did and they spread the word.