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  1. Pingback: Starred this Week
  2. And…. that moment when you have to replace yourself in your business and realize that there is NO budget for it is the real stunning bummer! Congratulations and keep preachin’ 🙂

  3. This is making me write an email (regarding the work i have done for free!) to a client I have been putting off for a week! Thanks! 🙂
    Also, I don’t think people always assume it will be free. I think that’s our natural bent bc it’s weird & awkward & everyone is a friend. And we truly WANT to help, & we WOULD do it for free bc we care that much! But I don’t think everyone that asks for your help assumes Whitney doesn’t charge.
    I’m not offended when someone says, “yes, here are my rates.” And if I am offended, I know that I shouldn’t be. 🙂
    Love this word. It stings & encourages!

  4. Thank you Whitney, this topic really hits close to home for me. I agree with you that creative entrepreneurs need to stand up and ask for what we are worth. I am considering a partnership with a group of start-ups. It is super valuable for me to recognize the REAL amount of time it takes to do good work, and share the process with others so they too recognize and value the creative process and our work.

    Keep ’em coming girl!
    Cheers, Lisa

  5. this is was a valuable lesson i certainly needed to hear today. i am venturing out in to the scary unknown of starting my own business. and in the process of doing my pricing and so this was SO relevant. thanks for sharing

  6. Go get ’em Whitney!

    I have closed my online shop twice now because it’s hard to keep going and take orders when people want to pay you what they think is fair. I’ve just decided that for now, I’m happiest being creative for myself because I enjoy the process AND the product (mostly ;)).

  7. Oh my gosh I haven’t resonated with a sentence as much as this one in a long while. – “These people need my help. They WANT my help. I WANT to help them, but I don’t know how to explain that I can’t help them. Not for free. Because if I help them for free, it’s pulling me away from more important things and putting us into deeper debt.”

    I love your idea of answering the most common questions on your blog. Great idea to help people and also get blog posts out! I was getting so many questions about how to start your own website with no budget that I set up a website I now direct people to (http://setupwordpresswebsite.com)!

    Thank you for so eloquently yet simply explaining exactly how I feel and making that Ok. I need to learn to start creating some boundaries (in the nicest way possible). Thank you for the inspiration!
    Lis.

  8. Thank you so much for posting this! I am a blogger/personal trainer/coach and I am like you, I want to give it away for free because all I want to do is help people live happier healthier lives. I really struggle with charging for…ANYTHING and have to constantly tell myself the things you mentioned in this post. I LOVE the idea of “Ask Whitney”! I think that’s a GREAT solution and plan to implement that on my site too!

    Thanks again!

  9. Thanks Whitney for this wonderful bit of info ! For years people just assume that because I have a sewing machine I would love to sew something for them that they need right now ! I am just learning to say I busy right now with my projects and I’m not sure when I will have the time 🙁 They don’t like it but oh well ! I have make a silent pack with myself to get out of debt by making and selling my goods be it sewing or crocheting. I have a hard time charging but I’m getting better !

  10. Wow. The way you write and your transparency puts into words what I’ve struggled with for a long time. I’m 10 years into my business and have just begun to see how I’ve confused business worth with personal worth; my sense of worth fluctuating with the ups and downs of business and my core sense of non-worth holding me back from quoting and billing with genuine dignity. Also, the misplaced compassion – seeing clients or prospects as some sort of rescue mission I should donate my time to help put food on their table – sacrificing my and my family’s future on the alter of my client’s profitability. I’m beginning to see that I cannot prove my value (to myself or others) by selling myself short.

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