Add value and the money will come!
That is a version of a statement that we hear quite often.
I just Googled "add value as an entrepreneur"
Immediately I saw an article from 2009. It is incredible that something for 2009 would rank on the first page but that is a different conversation. The headline is " Adding Value: The Future of Marketing"
That headline implies that adding value is a brand new concept just discovered in 2009. HA!
Or perhaps you have heard "be of service and your business will grow"?
These are obvious statements though right?
We know that we should add value. Who would buy something or read something that didn't somehow add value. The value is arbitrary though. How do we define value?
When a comedian is getting ready for a big show does she think "oh crap I better add value…" before she gets on stage?
Probably not!
However, I am confident that she believes that she better be entertaining.
So telling someone to add value with their business, their blog, their service is very woo woo in my mind.
But just because something is woo woo doesn't make it less important. It isn't less true. It just makes it impossible to quantify. It makes it impossible to put into a formula.
That really sucks!
Formulas are beautiful. They make life easy.
Value can't be defined but we sure do recognize it when see it.
Why is there always a recipe on the back of a cake mix box? Without a recipe it wouldn't be a simple operation to bake a cake. Without that recipe we might as well just make it from scratch.
Which do you prefer, a cake from a mix or one that was made from scratch with love? We can always tell the difference.
So when we are starting a new project or a new business, we want instructions. We all want the secret sauce. We also all want to know that it is going to work out.
Or am I alone in that?
We want to know if we put in that brutal effort, will we get paid. For the record, paid doesn't always equal money. There are many forms of currency in this universe.
If there is a secret sauce it is that adding value takes tremendous effort. When I envision a baker perfecting her special recipe, I always see a trashcan full of cake.
It takes courage to add value. It takes stamina to add value. You have it in you, you really do.