Everyone hears the phrase “give something of value” and people talk about “creating value” all the time. In fact, it could possibly be one of the most used catch phrases in the blogging / marketing world.
And it’s true. In order to compete, others have to value you, your business or your product. But there is a flip side to that coin ; you also need to balance the value you give with the value you get.
So, if you are writing books and selling them on Amazon for $1 and get 100 sales over the course of a month…and your readers really like your books, then you could say that the value is one sided. And an author simply won’t want to continue on that way if what they value is financial. Unless they are sadistic or doing simply for art sake, they will eventually reach a point where they will ask is $100, 200, 1,000, 10,000 worth the price for the amount of work that I am having to put into it?
If it isn’t, then eventually, they will burn out or not be very appreciative.
Sometimes it isn’t about the amount of initial work you put into it either. The allure of daily deal websites like group-on for businesses is exposure. You basically give away the farm for customers in the hopes of establishing new clientele. But for most businesses, this model doesn’t create enough value (ie. new clients) to want to reuse the ad medium.
And sometimes, it isn’t even about the money you put into it, but the time it takes to manage it (more support…more customer service…etc.)
More work for less money usually = less value for you.
Google’s recent SEO shakedown is another example of value (yours…not theirs). If it takes you 2 months of link building to work and you only stay ranked for a month before the next algorithm update, then you have to ask if the value of being ranked quickly supercedes the value of staying ranked or if you can find more value in choosing other traffic / ad mediums.
Some will say it does. Most, who don’t have the resources to quickly scale SEO campaigns, won’t find any value in it thought.
The reason why I even mention this is because most entrepreneurs focus on the value they are giving rather than the value they are receiving. If that is you, then you will likely find that what you are doing is really not worth it.
There have to be a balance. Value is a 2-way street. Yes, you need to give value to customers. But you also have to feel like the hard work is worth the stretch.
What do you think?
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