There’s a good way to ask your peers for pricing feedback—and a bad way.
Here’s how most of us ask:
“I need to quote three ebooks. The topic is X, and they want each ebook to be about 2,000 words long. What would you charge for something like this?”
The problem with asking the question this way is that it provides no context.
Your peers don’t know what type of business or industry this is.
They don’t know what this prospect is trying to achieve . . . whether they’ve worked with other writers before . . . how they’ll make the decision . . . what their budget is . . . why they reached out to you . . . what else they said in the conversation . . . and so on.
Without this context, it’s difficult for your peers to give helpful advice. Because we’re not selling tangible products with widely accepted market prices. We’re not selling couches or cars or compressors.
We’re selling custom services. And with custom services, fees can be all over the place. Because they depend on the context.
The better way to ask for pricing feedback is this:
“Have you done something like this before? If so, what did you charge?”
Notice the change from “what would you charge?” to “what did you charge?”
This shift might seem small and insignificant, but it makes ALL the difference for two reasons.
First, you’re now looking for data points. You’re not asking what they would hypothetically charge. You’re asking if they’ve done something similar before. And if so, what they charged for it. So you now have data points you can incorporate into your thinking.
Second, this approach will get you more responses.
Giving your peers a scenario and asking them what they’d do takes work on their part.
No one wants to give bad advice, so they have to really think about how to answer. They also have to provide their reasoning and logic, which also takes work.
And fewer people will respond when work is involved. It’s just human nature!
But if all you’re asking is if they’ve done something like this before—and if so, what they charged—that’s a much easier question to answer. Those who have done something similar will chime in because you’re asking for facts, not an elaborate opinion.
Give this approach a try the next time you need pricing help. Change the way you ask your question.
When you do, I’ll bet you get more and better feedback.
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