Ditching Hourly

Hello and welcome to Ditching Hourly. I'm Jonathan Stark. In the world of vintage watches, provenance is a critical component of the value of a given watch. So what is provenance? Here's a good description I got from Timepiece Chronicle. They say, when discussing vintage watches, especially those claimed to have been owned by notable figures, the notion of provenance should always be kept at the forefront of your mind. Far more important than condition or value, provenance is the term used to describe the legitimacy of recorded ownership for a particular item. While for many vintage watch purchases, it is condition and value that are of primary concern when considering watches that are claimed to have belonged to an important figure, provenance is the most important factor. So provenance is kind of like the backstory of a watch or who owned it at least. For example, a 1930s-era 14-karat gold Longines, I think I said that right, wristwatch, sells for about $1,000. A 1930s-era 14-karat gold Longines wristwatch owned by Albert Einstein sold for $596,000. So that's almost 600 times more money for the exact same watch. But is it really the exact same watch? Sure, the materials and the construction and design are all the same, but one is a direct physical connection to one of the greatest scientific minds who ever lived, and the other, well, tells the time, and probably pretty badly at that. Here's the thing. The value of a product or a service often comes from intangible things like provenance or status or brand or morale or peace of mind, things like that. This is not a rational buying behavior, and you prove it every time you buy a Coke or shop at a Target or splurge on a pair of Nikes and then tell yourself that, well, this one's worth more because of some reason. Value is not an inherent property of a thing. It's a perception in the mind of the buyer. It's a feeling. So the question is, what does your ideal buyer value? That's it for this time. I'm Jonathan Stark. I hope you join me again next time on Ditching Hourly. Bye. Hey, Jonathan again. The next time someone asks you for your hourly rate, I want you to stop what you're doing and go over to valuepricingbootcamp.com to sign up for my free value pricing email course. That URL again is valuepricingbootcamp.com. Hope to see you there. Hey, Jonathan again. Do you have questions about how to improve your business? Things like value pricing your work instead of billing for your time? Or positioning yourself as the go-to person in your space? Or maybe productizing your services so you never have to have another awkward sales call or spend hours writing another custom proposal? Book a one-on-one coaching call with me and get answers to these questions and others in the time it takes you to get ready for work in the morning. Best of all, you're covered by my 100% satisfaction guarantee. If at the end of the call you don't feel like it was worth it, just say the word and I'll refund your purchase in full. To book your one-on-one coaching call, go to jonathanstark.com slash call, C-A-L-L. That URL again is jonathanstark.com slash call. Hope to see you there.