Prosperity Has A Price – What Are You Willing To Pay?

What Purchase Of Wisdom Or Knowledge Gave You The Most For Your Money In 2009?

I’ve been working, as some of you know, on one of my life’s ongoing projects: the end-of-an-old-year, beginning-of-a-new-year questionnaire. This has been a popular instrument for self-awareness for over thirty years, and friends, colleagues, and clients have reported back some profound results in terms of gaining insight on what they have been doing in the year gone by, and what they would like to do in the new one beginning.

The above headline constitutes one of the most interesting of my 110 Questions For 2010, in that it speaks to the business I and I’m sure some of you conduct. Teaching, coaching, training, inspiring, motivating. To try and put a price on any of these services or related products such as courses, CDs, DVDs, webinars, podcasts, seminars, is not always easy. If they work, they can be priceless. If they don’t give you information you can use to improve and change your life for the better, they are worthless. Like you, I’m sure, I’ve paid for more than my share of the worthless ones. On the other hand, the priceless ones were a huge bargain and more than made up for any disappointing experiences.

I’ve been blessed in getting some powerful positive feedback, some of it from notable figures in the motivational, inspirational world. As I prepare for the first time to offer a regular coaching program, and price it at what I think is a very low, reasonable price, $97 for a one hour session with follow-up built-in (I know, most people offering such coaching prefer to be coy and tease you with what it will cost, but I am into full disclosure at all times in my life and business from now on), I ponder the fact that in the past I charged as much as $1000 for the same service. And being less experienced then, it probably was not as valuable as what I offer now. And I honestly believe that this 2010 questionnaire itself, which will go out to every coaching client, and they will answer the 110 questions and get them back to me before we even have our session, is worth more than $97 just in the awareness it will create as someone answers the questions.

But I have some friends who have advised me to offer a much more expensive service, a high ticket item if you will, perhaps charging $1000 or $1500 for a package of prosperity coaching/consulting services. And I may do that, though I would want to take my time in putting something together I truly believe is worth that price.

A Confession

And here I have a confession to make, and the memory of it is what led to this particular post. In the past, when I was paid $1000 or more for a single coaching/consulting session, it was always by default. You see, I’m basically lazy, and I was earning a good income from royalties and other forms of passive income. To do real time coaching takes an investment of time on my part, in the session itself and in the preparation. So I never tried to market coaching, not ever. Every single one of those sessions in the past came about because someone who had read Moneylove, or listened to my tapes, or heard me speak in person or in a talk show interview, came to me and asked, “What would you charge to work with me in person?” And because I really didn’t want to do it, I named a figure higher than I thought they would be willing to pay, fully expecting them to walk away and leave me in peace. But I obviously misread my audience, because a majority of those people did not balk at my price at all. And if I continue to be honest about it, I must admit they accepted so readily that I wondered if I should have named a really outrageous figure, like $10,000 for an hour’s coaching.

The truth is some people who could have afforded $10,000 would have done it just so they could brag that they had paid the highest possible price for a single coaching session. But I’m not sure those particular people would have gotten much out of my session. And on the other hand, it is demonstrably true that charging a high price will sometimes motivate people into putting more attention on actually doing what the coach tells them to do to change their lives. We have so many emotional threads running through our consciousness about money, that it often produces strange behavior, like getting more value out of something that is priced outlandishly than out of a real bargain.

So perhaps another question to ask yourself is whether, in paying for the most valuable information you got in 2009, you took action in using it in your life. Money is actually the smallest part of the price you pay for personal growth, consciousness expansion, valuable knowledge. Your time and mental/emotional energy is much more significant in the whole exchange scenario. These factors of your participation dictate the success or failure of your experience. This can be humbling for a coach or trainer or teacher. To know that your client is much more responsible for whether the material you offer produces positive results. And the first aspect of your energy you exchange for this information or wisdom is your decision to get it, whatever the cost. And then you take action by ordering and paying for it. And then you listen and learn and devote some time to the process. Finally, and this is the big one, if you are going to be successful, you put some of the stuff into action in your life.

That’s what I mean by looking at the price you are willing to pay for information and wisdom–it is much more about your intention and attention and participation than about the money.

Jerry