Crippling fear of asking for money. 8 years building and never launching my products.

[JahvonCreamCone]

Hey guys, been a member for years now I’ve read all of MJ’s books. And I have to admit that I’ve built over 8 websites, have gotten a lot of validation from potential customers and even signs ups, but I’ve never launched any business because I have a crippling fear of asking people for money.

The services I built usually charge people on a weekly basis. I’ve beeen acting tough for years but the reality is;

The literal thought of asking someone to sign up for my service and enter their credit card gives me anxiety and dread. I come from a inner city neighborhood and a family where money was tight, and seeing my mom frustrated with little things like the cable bill, or phone bill left a deep scar in my mind.

So whenever I think about my services which I truly do believe have great value, subconsciously I always envision each of my customers as people who are struggling financially (not the case), and it hurts me to think I’m charging people.

I’ve been trying to launch a business since I was 23, and I just turned 28 this year. My confidence and joy and youth is fading.

If I’m coming across as a whimp, I totally agree. But please, I could just really use some advice to get over this hurdle. By the grace of god I’m actually launching my first idea this week, and the thought of doing so is filling my heart and mind with pure fear.

 

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[Jeannen]

Hi!

I can definitely relate for the « youth is fading part », I’m in a somewhat similar situation, lots of projects, very little success, sometimes afraid of launching products

If you were selling the lastest iPhone for $100, would you be afraid of asking for money?

If yes, could it be a blockage with this specific action? it might be a trauma or something, and in this case I’d suggest to work on overcoming your fears. Great book about the topic: Feel the fear and do it anyway. Or actual therapy if it’s deeper than that

If not, do you lack of confidence in your product? Do you think it’s worth the price your asking? You want your product to feel like a nobrainer for your customers

The thing is, even if you don’t think it’s worth that much, that’s not up to you to decide that. The market will tell you. The only way to know is to get people to pay you. Someone saying « yeah I’d pay for that » is worth nothing, you can only know if they actually give you the money

I recently sold a fake product to test the waters ( refunded peoples of course) and I thought that people would never pay that much for my product. Well, they did.
So, try to see if you can test the market. Nothing wrong with getting someone to pay you and refunding him straight after. Saying it’s a mistake, you’re out of stock etc…

 

[Fastlane Liam]

Do you believe in what you offer?

 

[woken]

You do realise getting money is the direct result of providing value, right?

Build a free platform if charging is not an option.

 

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[AppMan]

Hey guys, been a member for years now I’ve read all of MJ’s books. And I have to admit that I’ve built over 8 websites, have gotten a lot of validation from potential customers and even signs ups, but I’ve never launched any business because I have a crippling fear of asking people for money.

The services I built usually charge people on a weekly basis. I’ve beeen acting tough for years but the reality is;

The literal thought of asking someone to sign up for my service and enter their credit card gives me anxiety and dread. I come from a inner city neighborhood and a family where money was tight, and seeing my mom frustrated with little things like the cable bill, or phone bill left a deep scar in my mind.

So whenever I think about my services which I truly do believe have great value, subconsciously I always envision each of my customers as people who are struggling financially (not the case), and it hurts me to think I’m charging people.

I’ve been trying to launch a business since I was 23, and I just turned 28 this year. My confidence and joy and youth is fading.

If I’m coming across as a whimp, I totally agree. But please, I could just really use some advice to get over this hurdle. By the grace of god I’m actually launching my first idea this week, and the thought of doing so is filling my heart and mind with pure fear.

I had same fear of charging money for me web design service in my early years as I was kind of feeling I am not a real designer and I am not offering quality service that worth paying. but after I got many happy customers my confidant in my service increased and I started being more bold in asking money for my service.
I think you just dont think your product worth paying maybe because of lack of confidant or because your product have some bugs or gaps that you think you are cheating on users.

 

[door123]

Hey guys, been a member for years now I’ve read all of MJ’s books. And I have to admit that I’ve built over 8 websites, have gotten a lot of validation from potential customers and even signs ups, but I’ve never launched any business because I have a crippling fear of asking people for money.

The services I built usually charge people on a weekly basis. I’ve beeen acting tough for years but the reality is;

The literal thought of asking someone to sign up for my service and enter their credit card gives me anxiety and dread. I come from a inner city neighborhood and a family where money was tight, and seeing my mom frustrated with little things like the cable bill, or phone bill left a deep scar in my mind.

So whenever I think about my services which I truly do believe have great value, subconsciously I always envision each of my customers as people who are struggling financially (not the case), and it hurts me to think I’m charging people.

I’ve been trying to launch a business since I was 23, and I just turned 28 this year. My confidence and joy and youth is fading.

If I’m coming across as a whimp, I totally agree. But please, I could just really use some advice to get over this hurdle. By the grace of god I’m actually launching my first idea this week, and the thought of doing so is filling my heart and mind with pure fear.

I am in a similar situation in terms of age and anxiety. Recently, I signed up a "poor" black lady for lawn service for $135 a month (2x what other folks in my area would charge for similar service). When I quoted her for the service, my mind was like " look at this poor ole lady, husband disable, 2 kids, drives old car, she can't afford the $135 monthly service, blah blah blah" Then I realized, "who am I to judge what she can or can't afford, I'm not her mother or her accountant. For all I know, she could very well have fat 401k in her name or a considerable sized income"

People can be tricky, I know a guy in his late 20s, always claiming that he's broke and poor, yet I know for fact that he personally holds $300k in index funds.

What helped me overcome the anxiety is assuming that all my customers are just fat cats that are begging me to take their money, no matter how they look, dress, or talk.

I don't sell to poor folks, I only sell to fat cats.

 

[JahvonCreamCone]

I am in a similar situation in terms of age and anxiety. Recently, I signed up a "poor" black lady for lawn service for $135 a month (2x what other folks in my area would charge for similar service). When I quoted her for the service, my mind was like " look at this poor ole lady, husband disable, 2 kids, drives old car, she can't afford the $135 monthly service, blah blah blah" Then I realized, "who am I to judge what she can or can't afford, I'm not her mother or her accountant. For all I know, she could very well have fat 401k in her name or a considerable sized income"

People can be tricky, I know a guy in his late 20s, always claiming that he's broke and poor, yet I know for fact that he personally holds $300k in index funds.

What helped me overcome the anxiety is assuming that all my customers are just fat cats that are begging me to take their money, no matter how they look, dress, or talk.

I don't sell to poor folks, I only sell to fat cats.

Haha, that put a big smile on my face. I’m gonna use this from now on. It instantly took the pressure off my conscience.

 

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[JahvonCreamCone]

I had same fear of charging money for me web design service in my early years as I was kind of feeling I am not a real designer and I am not offering quality service that worth paying. but after I got many happy customers my confidant in my service increased and I started being more bold in asking money for my service.
I think you just dont think your product worth paying maybe because of lack of confidant or because your product have some bugs or gaps that you think you are cheating on users.

Yeah, after giving it some thought it’s primarily cuz I lack the confidence. Like you said the only way for me to get over this is to build the confidence. I’m gonna start by charging way under what I think I should just to build the confidence to slowly ask for more. I definitely do believe in my service so I think building confidence through action and less thinking is my go too route.

 

[JahvonCreamCone]

Do you believe in what you offer?

Yeah I do, but because I’m good at simplifying things sometimes I feel like I’m scamming people because I’m not losing up my offer with a hundred perks or because I don’t have any social media presence. Those little things eat away at my confidence tbh

 

[JahvonCreamCone]

Hi!

I can definitely relate for the « youth is fading part », I’m in a somewhat similar situation, lots of projects, very little success, sometimes afraid of launching products

If you were selling the lastest iPhone for $100, would you be afraid of asking for money?

If yes, could it be a blockage with this specific action? it might be a trauma or something, and in this case I’d suggest to work on overcoming your fears. Great book about the topic: Feel the fear and do it anyway. Or actual therapy if it’s deeper than that

If not, do you lack of confidence in your product? Do you think it’s worth the price your asking? You want your product to feel like a nobrainer for your customers

The thing is, even if you don’t think it’s worth that much, that’s not up to you to decide that. The market will tell you. The only way to know is to get people to pay you. Someone saying « yeah I’d pay for that » is worth nothing, you can only know if they actually give you the money

I recently sold a fake product to test the waters ( refunded peoples of course) and I thought that people would never pay that much for my product. Well, they did.
So, try to see if you can test the market. Nothing wrong with getting someone to pay you and refunding him straight after. Saying it’s a mistake, you’re out of stock etc…

That’s a great idea. I’m pretty good at building landing pages at this point, so I could test it and just refund the money worse case scenario . Great advice ! Thank you

 

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[Tubs]

If you don't like asking individual people for money, why not use the B2B model instead. If you're charging an organization I bet you won't feel there's anything wrong with it.

 

[BlindSide]

Hey guys, been a member for years now I’ve read all of MJ’s books. And I have to admit that I’ve built over 8 websites, have gotten a lot of validation from potential customers and even signs ups, but I’ve never launched any business because I have a crippling fear of asking people for money.

The services I built usually charge people on a weekly basis. I’ve beeen acting tough for years but the reality is;

The literal thought of asking someone to sign up for my service and enter their credit card gives me anxiety and dread. I come from a inner city neighborhood and a family where money was tight, and seeing my mom frustrated with little things like the cable bill, or phone bill left a deep scar in my mind.

So whenever I think about my services which I truly do believe have great value, subconsciously I always envision each of my customers as people who are struggling financially (not the case), and it hurts me to think I’m charging people.

I’ve been trying to launch a business since I was 23, and I just turned 28 this year. My confidence and joy and youth is fading.

If I’m coming across as a whimp, I totally agree. But please, I could just really use some advice to get over this hurdle. By the grace of god I’m actually launching my first idea this week, and the thought of doing so is filling my heart and mind with pure fear.

What's your idea?

I have a brilliant idea for you that will help: Get a sales job. Be an SDR. You know what I learned? It's just as hard to ask someone for their time, as it is their money. You'll break it when you have to call a high level director for a Fortune 500 company, out of the blue, who doesn't want to talk to you at all. And then, you can turn that into a meeting.

It's about value.

 

[JahvonCreamCone]

What's your idea?

I have a brilliant idea for you that will help: Get a sales job. Be an SDR. You know what I learned? It's just as hard to ask someone for their time, as it is their money. You'll break it when you have to call a high level director for a Fortune 500 company, out of the blue, who doesn't want to talk to you at all. And then, you can turn that into a meeting.

It's about value.

Basically I crowdfund profitable video games by collecting recurring payments from a handful of people over 6 months.

 

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[DamienRoche]

whenever I think about my services which I truly do believe have great value, subconsciously I always envision each of my customers as people who are struggling financially (not the case)

It sounds like you need to develop a better vision of your target market. Could it be you haven't defined your customers properly and are filling the gap with an image from your own past? I'd recommend doing more market research and look into customer personas, give them names, behaviours and salaries. These are the people you are selling to.

"8 Years Building And Never Launching My Products"

Lean into this and get angry. Why is it there are others who are profitable after a few months and you haven't got yours despite 8 years of trying?

Believe me, I've experienced this to a lesser degree -- the first 3 years of this journey I built several products and never released them. Then, in frustration, I scrapped everything and hacked something together over a weekend and tried to get users. That spiralled into a half decent product and I have recently, after months of development, got a couple of paying subscribers.

You have to stand behind what you've built with confidence.

Is there a fear of rejection at all? I ask this because rejection (with reason) is one of the greatest sources of information. These are the objections you can address as you refine your product and offer.

 

[Two Dog]

The literal thought of asking someone to sign up for my service and enter their credit card gives me anxiety and dread. I come from a inner city neighborhood and a family where money was tight, and seeing my mom frustrated with little things like the cable bill, or phone bill left a deep scar in my mind.

Pretty much everyone - including me - will tell you fear of selling is something you have to figure out. It's almost impossible to be successful without doing some form of selling. It's a huge skill. You might not be asking prospects for money, but entrepreneurs are always selling something.

However, there's endless ways you can work around it.

- hire a commission based salesperson
- use a 3rd party sales team
- use a shopping cart
- setup an autoresponder sequence with embedded buy buttons
- setup an affiliate program
- accept donations or "make up your own price" deal
- screen or segment subscribers by income (which is pretty silly, but might give some ideas about the real problem)

Endless possibilities. But none of that is going to make you feel better about screwing over poor people. It sounds like you either don't have a value proposition at all or don't believe in it. Getting tough or outsourcing sales isn't going to fix that.