Why I Won't Discount My Talent

What I've learned about myself over the last decade..

With the Holiday sales coming up, like Black Friday & Cyber Monday, I know we are inundated with sales/discount emails. And don’t get me wrong, I love myself some good sales.. but when it comes to someone’s time and talent, that’s a no.

When I started my business, I often offered my friends and family discounts (or free work) to help build my portfolio. I did a ton of wedding invitations, some website work, branding, etc. Looking back, I not only lost a lot of money (and time), but I devalued my work.

Yes, I believe there is a time and place for that when starting a business, but you also need to know your worth… and not apologize for it.

I’ve had my business for almost 13 years, and up until recently, I didn’t value my work as much as I should have. I would brush it off when people would compliment me because I didn’t think I was any different from other designers.

I’ve struggled with confidence for a long time, and I continue to work on it. Confidence in my business was always a big hurdle for me.

Even after being published in books, featured in magazines and papers, winning awards, etc. I still downplayed my business and my work.

However, even when I would downplay it, I still knew how much time and heart was put into EVERY single thing I created. I would hand-draw something for each brand and spend hours on end working on monograms. There was so much quality and value in what I was creating.

If I look back on my work, I am impressed. I am super freaking talented.

And as hard as that is to write, I think as artists, we need to say that more. We need to value craft.

As these Holiday sales start popping up, I will stand firm on my service pricing because I put far too much time, heart, and energy into my custom design and work to discount it.

Anyone who sees value in your work will understand that :) I’ve had plenty of clients wait and save, which I appreciate more than ever. Typically, those are often my best clients ;)

That said, if people reach out and ask about a discount, I suggest tweaking your package before simply discounting your work. I’ve recently had a client ask for a discount on a semi-custom brand, and instead of just saying no, I offered a lower price package but without the option for a monogram or sourcing custom stock images.

Another idea for this time of year is offering ‘mini’ packages, similar to photographers who offer mini-sessions. This could allow you to still capture clients and create work without discounting your actual time and talent.

I hope this gives you a little more confidence as you go into these Holiday sales and the new year. Your craft and talent are valuable, and just because it’s the ‘sale’ time of the year doesn’t mean you have to discount anything :)