Chapter 3 – If You Think Your Competition Is Fiverr, You’ve Already Lost

People do not buy goods and services.
They buy relations, stories and magic.
~Seth Godin

 

To bemoan the cheap and quick design output that is available online is a critical error in how to think of your own value. It’s all too easy to point to this cheap offshoring as the reason you can’t raise your rates or get a better job.

But think about that comparison. Can what you do and what you output be acceptably reproduced for a tenth of the price online? If so, you have a massive problem.

The uncomfortable truth is that a lot of the output that can be acquired on cheap design sites would be sufficient for many people. This is what happens when design tools become so powerful and design trends become so prevalent.

Recall the last ten apps or websites you used. If you honestly think about it, many of them looked strikingly similar to one another. There is no great difficulty when a client points at Pinterest, saying, “I want something like this, but for selling plants.” Any half decent designer will arrive at a usable design.

But this is where the critical shift in perspective comes for your design career.

You are not competing solely on the output. Your value comes in the intangible qualities that cheap output can never replicate: the relationship, the care, the flexibility, the empathy, the trust, and the reliability.

They can do pretty, but they can’t do you.

They can’t reproduce the connection and understanding you can bring to your client, coworkers, or boss. They can’t emulate your persona and how that shows in your empathy and care for your client’s success. You are able to hear not only what they’re saying, but understand what they truly mean. You are the shepherd encouraging their ideation through rough patches, pouring in your creativity and kindness to bring others to a place they can’t get to by themselves.

Is the blue circle logo you produce worth $75 an hour? On its own, probably not, as that can be reproduced on many cheap online sites. But the empathy and experience you provide where they feel heard, encouraged, and truly helped through the journey to arrive there will have people pay you the amount you want and are worth.

Do not get this confused with “process.” If you have a process that helps you, then wonderful! But just because you want to take me through a circle with six steps doesn’t mean your work is worth one hundred times more. The steps themselves don’t matter, but how you engage your clients and leave them feeling does.

Let’s go through those again:

The Relationship:

How comfortable are you telling new ideas to strangers? How incredible is it when you try and explain your idea to someone and it’s as if they can read your mind! How valuable is it to really know the person on the other end and know they’ll be able to help you?

The Care:

Knowing that a person genuinely wants to help and is personally invested (beyond money) to achieve success is incredibly valuable.

The Flexibility:

Small changes, new ideas, tangents, and a shortcut to help a client’s deadline all create an undercurrent of likeability. Being quick on your feet and willing to bend when the business has an urgent need will cement you into their critical processes (namely, you become highly valuable and irreplaceable).

The Empathy:

Having an earned understanding of where the request is coming from, knowing who it will be consumed by and how, and anticipating where it may be going is remarkably valuable. It’s almost a new language to be able to really understand what’s needed for the project and then be able to deliver.

The Trust:

Perhaps trust is the greatest value of all. For a business or coworker to know what they’re going to get, to know that you are going to give it your all and try out ideas, to know there will be no judgement, only kindness and effort, puts you at the front of the line for their next project. To have full faith that you, the designer, are going to put in the work and deliver for them endears you to them forever.

Fiverr is not your competition. Even if they can produce designs as well as you can, that’s not your value. You are the trusted creative who works with the team for the success of all. This wholehearted service is not available for five dollars.

What I’m Not Saying

• All online design sites are bad.
• You can overcharge because of the qualities listed.

 

What I Am Saying

• Your value comes from the experience and care you have cultivated.
• Your output is but one component of your role as designer.
• Find ways to empathize with and help those around you.
• Approach all tasks (however frustrating) kindly, without ego, displaying an eagerness to help.
• Make your clients feel they are getting superior quality and a personal touch that offsets your higher rates.