Value-Based Fees: How to Charge—and Get—What You're Worth: A Guide for Consultants, Second Edition

9.5. AND NOW FOR SOME PERSPECTIVE

I'm not saying that you should abandon all pro bono work or refuse to offer free assistance to anyone you please. I am saying that there's no need to give away the store, that success does not demand self-immolation, and that people realize that there is no free lunch. Or at least they should realize that, and we can help them. I speak at least a dozen times a year for free to professional trade association chapters in my profession.

You may choose not to take a personal fee but to suggest other forms of remuneration. Here are some alternatives that I use:

• Make out the check to a favorite charity or cause

• Provide a favorable review of one of your books to be posted online

• Volunteer for a cause you are leading or backing

• Return the favor with referral business

• Return the favor by helping with some tedious work

• Participate in a sample taping you're doing for a product

• Promise to help another person develop business, skills, or marketing when he or she is ready

• With permission, use the opportunity to test new material and approaches

I'm not mercenary, but I am pragmatic. I've found that most people who seek and accept free advice seldom put a premium on it and rarely fully implement it. They know that if they screw up or need further help, there's always more to be had at the original price.

Consequently, I can make a case that you're helping people more when you require that they invest—no matter how modestly—in their own success and take some accountability ...