0:00:00.760,0:00:02.800
No one will ever pay you[br]what you're worth.

0:00:05.880,0:00:08.216
No one will ever pay you

0:00:08.240,0:00:09.440
what you're worth.

0:00:11.840,0:00:13.776
They'll only ever pay you

0:00:13.800,0:00:15.181
what they think you're worth.

0:00:16.440,0:00:18.000
And you control their thinking,

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not like this,

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although that would be cool.

0:00:22.880,0:00:24.496
(Laughter)

0:00:24.520,0:00:25.800
That would be really cool.

0:00:27.400,0:00:28.640
Instead, like this:

0:00:29.400,0:00:34.136
clearly defining and communicating[br]your value are essential

0:00:34.160,0:00:36.040
to being paid well for your excellence.

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Anyone here want to be paid well?

0:00:39.360,0:00:40.656
OK, good,

0:00:40.680,0:00:42.160
then this talk is for everyone.

0:00:43.000,0:00:44.976
It's got universal applicability.

0:00:45.000,0:00:48.496
It's true if you're a business owner,[br]if you're an employee,

0:00:48.520,0:00:49.976
if you're a job seeker.

0:00:50.000,0:00:51.800
It's true if you're a man or a woman.

0:00:52.600,0:00:56.136
Now, I approach this today through[br]the lens of the woman business owner,

0:00:56.160,0:00:59.560
because in my work I've observed[br]that women underprice more so than men.

0:01:00.560,0:01:03.736
The gender wage gap is[br]a well-traveled narrative in this country.

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According to the Bureau[br]of Labor Statistics,

0:01:05.880,0:01:11.136
a woman employee earns just 83 cents[br]for every dollar a man earns.

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What may surprise you

0:01:12.600,0:01:16.216
is that this trend continues[br]even into the entrepreneurial sphere.

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A woman business owner earns just[br]80 cents for every dollar a man earns.

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In my work, I've often heard women express

0:01:23.720,0:01:26.496
that they're uncomfortable[br]communicating their value,

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especially early on in business ownership.

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They say things like,

0:01:31.520,0:01:33.200
"I don't like to toot my own horn."

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"I'd rather let the work[br]speak for itself."

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"I don't like to sing my own praises."

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I hear very different narratives[br]in working with male business owners,

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and I think this difference[br]is costing women 20 cents on the dollar.

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I'd like to tell you the story[br]of a consulting firm

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that helps their clients[br]dramatically improve their profitability.

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That company is my company.

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After my first year in business,[br]I saw the profit increases

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that my clients were realizing[br]in working with me,

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and I realized that I needed[br]to reevaluate my pricing.

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I was really underpriced[br]relative to the value I was delivering.

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It's hard for me to admit to you,[br]because I'm a pricing consultant.

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(Laughter)

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It's what I do.

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I help companies price for value.

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But nonetheless, it's what I saw,

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and so I sat down to evaluate my pricing,[br]evaluate my value,

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and I did that[br]by asking key value questions.

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What are my clients' needs[br]and how do I meet them?

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What is my unique skill set that makes me[br]better qualified to serve my clients?

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What do I do that no one else does?

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What problems do I solve for clients?

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What value do I add?

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I answered these questions

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and defined the value that my clients[br]get from working with me,

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calculated their return on investment,

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and what I saw was[br]that I needed to double my price,

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double it.

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Now, I confess to you, this terrified me.

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I'm supposed to be the expert in this,[br]but I'm not cured.

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I knew the value was there.

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I was convinced the value was there,

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and I was still scared out of my wits.

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What if nobody would pay me that?

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What if clients said, "That's ridiculous.

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You're ridiculous."

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Was I really worth that?

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Not my work, mind you, but me.

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Was I worth that?

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I'm the mother of two beautiful[br]little girls who depend upon me.

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I'm a single mom.

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What if my business fails?

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What if I fail?

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But I know how to take my own medicine,

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the medicine that I[br]prescribe to my clients.

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I had done the homework.

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I knew the value was there.

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So when prospects came,

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I prepared the proposals[br]with the new higher pricing

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and sent them out

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and communicated the value.

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How's the story end?

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Clients continued to hire me

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and refer me and recommend me,[br]and I'm still here.

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And I share this story

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because doubts and fears[br]are natural and normal.

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But they don't define our value,

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and they shouldn't limit[br]our earning potential.

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I'd like to share another story,

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about a woman who learned[br]to communicate her value

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and found her own voice.

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She runs a successful[br]web development company

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and employs several people.

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When she first started her firm[br]and for several years thereafter,

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she would say, "I have[br]a little web design company."

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She'd actually use[br]those words with clients.

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"I have a little web design company."

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In this and in many other small ways,

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she was diminishing her company[br]in the eyes of prospects and clients,

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and diminishing herself.

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It was really impacting her ability[br]to earn what she was worth.

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I believe her language and her style

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communicated that she didn't believe

0:04:58.280,0:04:59.614
she had much value to offer.

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In her own words, she was practically[br]giving her services away.

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And so she began her journey

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to take responsibility[br]for communicating value to clients

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and changing her message.

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One thing I shared with her

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is that it's so important

0:05:18.160,0:05:19.656
to find your own voice,

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a voice that's authentic and true to you.

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Don't try to channel your sister-in-law[br]just because she's a great salesperson

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or your neighbor who tells a great joke[br]if that's not who you are.

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Give up this notion[br]that it's tooting your own horn.

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Make it about the other party.

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Focus on serving and adding value,[br]and it won't feel like bragging.

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What do you love about what you do?

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What excites you[br]about the work that you do?

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If you connect with that, communicating[br]your value will come naturally.

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So she embraced her natural style,

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found her voice and changed her message.

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For one thing, she stopped calling herself[br]a little web design company.

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She really found a lot of strength[br]and power in communicating her message.

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She's now charging three times[br]as much for web design,

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and her business is growing.

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She told me about a recent meeting

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with a gruff and sometimes[br]difficult client

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who had called a meeting questioning[br]progress on search engine optimization.

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She said in the old days,

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that would have been[br]a really intimidating meeting for her,

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but her mindset was different.

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She said, she prepared the information,[br]sat down with the client,

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said this isn't about me,[br]it's not personal,

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it's about the client.

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She took them through the data,[br]through the numbers,

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laid out the trends and the progress[br]in her own voice and in her own way,

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but very directly said,[br]"Here's what we've done for you."

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The client sat up and took notice,[br]and said, "OK, I got it."

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And she said in describing that meeting,

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"I didn't feel scared or panicky

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or small,

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which is how I used to feel.

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Instead I feel like, 'OK, I got this.

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I know what I'm doing. I'm confident.'"

0:07:05.800,0:07:08.416
Being properly valued is so important.

0:07:08.440,0:07:10.096
You can hear in this story

0:07:10.120,0:07:13.336
that the implications[br]range far beyond just finances

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into the realm of self-respect[br]and self-confidence.

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Today I've told two stories,[br]one about defining our value

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and the other about[br]communicating our value,

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and these are the two elements[br]to realizing our full earning potential.

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That's the equation.

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And if you're sitting[br]in the audience today

0:07:33.560,0:07:36.016
and you're not being paid[br]what you're worth,

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I'd like to welcome you[br]into this equation.

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Just imagine what life could be like,

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how much more we could do,

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how much more we could give back,

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how much more we could[br]plan for the future,

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how validated and respected we would feel

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if we could earn our full potential,

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realize our full value.

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No one will ever pay you[br]what you're worth.

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They'll only ever pay you[br]what they think you're worth,

0:08:01.960,0:08:03.480
and you control their thinking.

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Thank you.

0:08:05.640,0:08:08.960
(Applause)