Stop giving away all your gems for free! How to monetize your time and advice
š A step-by-step guide to setting up "office hours" sessions
If youāre someone who has good ideas, people are going to want to brainstorm with you. And at first, it will feel fun, energizing, and flattering. It will reinforce to you that you have amazing ideasāand that feels really good. But over time, if the same people continue to ask to pick your brain, they should offer to compensate you for your timeāespecially if your ideas are benefiting their business and making them money.
As a seasoned brand strategist, I am someone who can come up with great ideas on the spot. A business name, product idea, taglineāall things that would cost tens of thousandsāfor free in a second. And even though this made me feel smart, I started to feel a little resentful that I was giving away all my gems for free. So, I set up something called āOffice Hoursāāa way for me to offer 1:1 sessions where someone can pick my brain, workshop an idea with me, or I can give advice from my experience. And now, instead of spending 50% of my week on free networking calls, I send anyone who wants to chat my booking link. The ones who really respect my time and want what I have to offer book. And ironically, they value what they gleaned from our time together more, because they paid for itāin their minds, there is a value.
So I implore youāif you have any skill, service, expertise, or advice that you keep giving away for free, itās time to monetize it! If you feel guilty charging for your time, this is a sign that you need to practice valuing your time and talents moreāso this is going to be both a business and a self-worth exercise for you. Yay, growth!
Hereās how to set up your own version of āOffice Hoursāā¦
Step 1: Choose a scheduling platform that takes payment to make a booking on your calendar: I love and use Squarespace for a custom landing page and use their scheduling app, Acuity. People also love Calendly, TidyCal, and others.