Author: Lauren Carmer

Working in the business of selling ideas leads to a laundry list of challenges. One of the biggest: pricing. Lucky for us, Blair Enns, author of Pricing Creativity and The Win Without Pitching Manifesto, came to Buffalo on November 14, 2018 to teach us all his method on pricing the work we produce and sell.

Far from simple, yet surprisingly straightforward, Blair explained how to follow a few straightforward rules that can help lead your agency to realizing exponential returns.

The first rule: Price the client, not the job.

Agencies in particular need to realize that each of our clients is unique and could react to the same stimuli in totally different ways. Instead of pricing based on the projects we’re producing, it’s time to start considering pricing based on the level of value we create for our clients.

The second rule: Offer options.

Too frequently, we begin a conversation with a prospective client by finding out exactly what they need and show them the quickest—and only—way we recommend arriving there.

Blair suggests that instead of selling new work this way, present three options for your client to choose from. These should consist of: 1) work that will meet client goals; 2) work that will exceed client goals; and 3) work that will lead to exponential client returns (and not necessarily in that order).

The third and final rule: Anchor high.

Imagine this: you walk into a luxury clothing store. They ask your budget. You tell them $300-500. The stylist presents you with a pair of shoes that cost $1,100. They’ve just anchored your expectations of cost—and therefore your likelihood to spend—high.

When you anchor high on a potential new project, Blair suggests you approach it by doing two things: 1) always present the highest option first; and 2) when you present it, explain in detail why the price of this option is so much higher and what value that the option will add to their organization.

Thank you to Blair for a great presentation as our second installment of our Spotlight Speaker Series in 2018-2019!

The Spotlight Speaker Series continues in April.

Next up, join us on April 9, 2019 as we hear from John January, a CEO and lifelong creative from Kansas City, who will talk about “Dirty Little Secrets of the Creative Mind.” See you there!

We kicked off the third season of our 2018-19 Spotlight Speaker Series a little differently this year. Instead of focusing on content creation or the principles of advertising, Bridget Todd showed attendees how to use their skills to help create change.

A self-described Digitial Activism Strategist (a title she is quick to say she made up to have something to tell family when they ask what she does), Bridget is known to many for her role as co-host of the podcasts Stuff Mom Never Told You and Afropunk on the How Stuff Works network. Prior to joining the How Stuff Works team, Bridget served as the digital strategist for Planned Parenthood, where she navigated daily public relations crises and online attacks, and curated heart-tugging stories to use to flip the narrative surrounding the “controversial” organization.

During her talk, “Everyone Is an Activist,” Bridget explained the key to success when it comes to online activism: compelling stories that hit home on a personal level.

“People care when it affects them, or at least feels like it does,” said Bridget.

She then brought her point to life by asking AAF board member Chris Gallant a few questions about his family and what’s important to him on a societal level.

When Chris expressed his concerns about preserving the environment for future generations, Bridget made climate control personal by adding, “Things may not seem that bad now, but taking care of our environment is important for the kids, like Chris’ son. Right, Chris?”

Forty-five minutes and numerous personal anecdotes later, Bridget concluded the chat with a 30-minute Q&A session. During that time, she reiterated the importance of the story-finding process and shared with a captive audience what it’s like to turn creative skills into tools for social justice, leaving us with plenty to think about on the way home.