I'm learning this the hard way. It's a great introduction to sales when you stop giving something away and actually charging money. You instinctively begin justifying costs based on features/benefits, value/ROI, etc. Then you start reading books on sales, only to realize you are already doing most of things they talk about :).
It also changes the way you plan and prioritize your development objectives -- you begin approaching your project as a real business instead of just a website. When you are ready to begin your next project, you now have a wealth of business experience to bring to the table along with any development/domain knowledge.
The ideas we're talking about here are discussed thoroughly in the surprisingly fascinating book "Winning through Intimidation." My ex-girlfriend was a touchy-feely people person, a trainer by trade. She often cited that book as being straight from the devil, the antithesis of everything she believed in with regard to motivating people. So I bought the book as a joke, to annoy her with its presence on my bookshelf.
Then I started reading it one day, and it actually has a ton of really fantastic business and sales ideas that are not evil at all. The thesis of the book is that for your business to succeed, you need to project an image of success and confidence. The book goes through dozens of specific ways to do this, and asking for more money is one of those. Others include specific ideas on how to present and package the company.
The author discusses the issue of pricing and payment extensively. I highly recommend this book for anyone contemplating issues of pricing their products and interacting with customers. It's honestly not as evil as it sounds. And even if the very idea sounds terrible, consider the book anyway. As Aristotle said, "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
Comments
I'm learning this the hard way. It's a great introduction to sales when you stop giving something away and actually charging money. You instinctively begin justifying costs based on features/benefits, value/ROI, etc. Then you start reading books on sales, only to realize you are already doing most of things they talk about :).
It also changes the way you plan and prioritize your development objectives -- you begin approaching your project as a real business instead of just a website. When you are ready to begin your next project, you now have a wealth of business experience to bring to the table along with any development/domain knowledge.
The ideas we're talking about here are discussed thoroughly in the surprisingly fascinating book "Winning through Intimidation." My ex-girlfriend was a touchy-feely people person, a trainer by trade. She often cited that book as being straight from the devil, the antithesis of everything she believed in with regard to motivating people. So I bought the book as a joke, to annoy her with its presence on my bookshelf.
Then I started reading it one day, and it actually has a ton of really fantastic business and sales ideas that are not evil at all. The thesis of the book is that for your business to succeed, you need to project an image of success and confidence. The book goes through dozens of specific ways to do this, and asking for more money is one of those. Others include specific ideas on how to present and package the company.
The author discusses the issue of pricing and payment extensively. I highly recommend this book for anyone contemplating issues of pricing their products and interacting with customers. It's honestly not as evil as it sounds. And even if the very idea sounds terrible, consider the book anyway. As Aristotle said, "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."