A few weeks ago I got to spend a day and a night hanging out with Gary Vaynerchuk of Winelibrary.tv as he was in town for a book signing. The full video experience of my time spent with him will come later, but for now, I have a video about a person I met who was in Gary’s entourage… Marianne Frantz of the Cleveland Wine School.

The video below is an interview I did with Marianne about the Cleveland Wine School, with a funny impromptu appearance from Gary V in a few places. Pretty funny. The video was shot at lunch after a live taping of the Thunder show with Gary in Cleveland Browns Stadium (personal video on that to come later). Go watch, great episode.

Why am I posting this video about a regional company when my blog is read by thousands of people who don’t live in Cleveland? Well, it’s a perfect example of how anyone can make a video commercial for their company with a simple inexpensive camera. Something I encourage all businesses to do. Tell me this isn’t a video you’d like to show to your customers to educate them about your business?

The whole thing took me 10 minutes to edit, and by using the Flip camera, easy to record. Why aren’t you doing video yet? Give me a ring so I can help you get on it, or sign up for my free Online Video Toolkit for some free advice.

Here’s the video on Youtube if you wish to view it there.

Good question, eh? I’m willing to bet you suffer from what most people suffer from… devaluing yourself or your business. You know… charging too little, or not making your value known to customers and employers.

Admit it, it’s ok. Everyone does it. But the time to stop is now. You’re never going to get where you want if you continue to devalue your knowledge and experience.

So how do you determine your value as a consultant or employee or as a sales organization? Some people or companies have no idea how to price themselves, or when/if to discount. Today I talk with Duncan Macpherson from Pareto Systems, and co-author of “Breakthrough Business Development”.

We talk about value and negotiating your value. Good stuff the consultant who needs to know how to price or value their work and time.

Is there a reason that you, or your company, make it so difficult to be contacted?

There is? Why? What, you don’t want my business?

Assuming you’re selling something… there’s no conceivable reason to me that you would want to make it difficult for a customer to get in touch with you.

Yesterday I had to do some online shopping for a company to host my video ads I’m going to run for a client in 6 online major newspaper markets. Here’s my short saga.

Naturally I started at Doubleclick.

• Check out this super-long web form that I was NOT going to fill out. Forget it.
• So I called the toll-free number and left a message that I needed assistance asap.
• Closing in on 24-hours later, I have received no contact from them.

Sure, they need to route the sales lead to the right sales person and all that, but you know what? I need help… now, not in 48-hours.

So what did I do out of frustration? I went to the next company.

I went to Adinterax.com, and went straight to their contact form. I needed to talk to somebody, quick. But as you can see from the screenshot below, the only way you can contact them is by… Snail mail? Wow.

After those two experiences, I’ve called a few others, and everything went sorta fine. Hats off to Eyewonder for not only picking up the phone (live person) when I called, but actually giving me pricing and answering questions when I called.

Not being easy to contact is just plain old dumb. Even me, the super Internet geek that I am, often just wants to get on the phone and find an answer quick. I don’t want to have to fill out yet another long web form. I don’t want to have to send an email or read through a forum. I just want a quick answer.

I make my contact details VERY easy to find on this site (home page right column). Why? Because I want you to contact me and let me help you solve your online marketing problems.

Is there a reason you don’t?

Are you struggling with how to successfully manage or create an online business? Does your business need more sales, leads and publicity? Do you simply need someone to talk to who can tell you what you need to do to be successful online?

I’ve decided that every Friday (for a limited time) is now renamed Jim Kukral’s FREE Friday. I will personally get on the phone, or meet you in person (Cleveland, OH) to discuss your problems or opportunities that you face online, all for free.

No catch. Simply contact me using the form on this page to schedule a time.

Not interested in free? Hire me to be your caddy.

Today I met with a client and presented him with a strategy for his struggling online business. When I finished my presentation and outlined my ideas, he said something that really hit home. And I quote…

“I wasn’t expecting this for what you charged me. I thought I was just going to get a few ideas. I’m blown away.”

Alright, so I’m tooting my own horn, but it brings up a good and valuable lesson for all of us, and not just consultants, for everyone who does something unique, or has skills that other people don’t have.

Never Sell Yourself Short Or Undervalue Your Knowledge

YOU are the expert.

YOU know what the heck you’re talking about, whatever it is.

YOUR time IS valuable.

YOUR customers will be ok with paying for it, don’t undercharge.

YOUR knowledge is valuable to those who don’t have it, simply put, they can’t do it, YOU can.

YOUR customers EXPECT you to “wow” them, that’s what they paid for.