Right now I’m reading “Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture” by Ellen Ruppel Shell. I’m only into the second chapter, but she’s got me hooked.
Fantastic side note: If you click on the title, the Amazon page shows the price as… discounted. Pure, unbleached irony right there.
The book is mostly about retail and product manufacturing, but there are some important lessons for creative service people, too.
One of those lessons relates to what I see as the cheapening of design services by crowdsourcing and the bid site model.
You know what? There’s always going to be someone who creates the same thing you do for less. There’s always going to be someone searching for the lowest price.
This is not a problem if you’re in the business of service.
If you’re a web designer, don’t sell web pages. If you’re a graphic designer, don’t sell graphics.
Rather, offer your unique brand of experience and knowledge. See how long cheap web sites or graphics can compete with you there.