Insurance giant American Insurance Group (AIG) is Back! Begging. Well, not really begging. Playing its Mo Money cards.

As predicted here less than a month ago, AIG is asking for another government handout. Or is it a hand up?

The ante up amount is $40 Billion more. The government is hedging this questionable move with it’s an equity infusion. We the American public are going to buy shares in this corporation. Doesn’t everyone in their right mind want to buy stock in what is apparently a poorly-managed and inefficiently-run corporation. A corporation that will need more emergency funding in the near future.

Total Expected Handouts to AIG to date = $150 Billion. Wow.

Are we enabling incompetence? Hmm.

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Your questions help me focus and address issues that are relevant to you. Here’s a good one.

Question: I am constantly helping others and never receiving any payment for it. No one even thinks to ASK if I charge and I’m not sure how to tell them that I do.

As business owners, pricing and selling your products and services determine the viability of your business, and the quality of your financial life. Making money starts with your ability to price your services, and ASK for the sale.

Free or For a Fee?

In an attempt to be helpful, do you give potential clients mixed signals about whether your services are free or for a fee? Is it a business or a hobby? Do you want to be paid for the services you provide? These are questions you’ll want to clarify for yourself.

Next consider if it is time to shift from a giving model to one of allowing yourself to receive. Do you often eschew money, downplaying its significance? Do you applaud *service* as more noble than business? What messages about money do you tell yourself and others? Are you ready to accept that you are worthy of earning more? If you want to attract more money in your life, you’ll need to change the ways in which you think and speak about money.

Don’t Prejudge Ability to Pay

A friend mentioned a woman who called about her services. She liked the prospect and felt she would enjoy working with her. Yet she doubted the prospect could afford her services.

I suggest you not prejudge another person’s ability to pay your fees. It’s amazing how people pay for what they want. Let the universe help them. You just state your fee, and then be quiet. No apologies, no equivocations. Hold a positive expectation. It’s absolutely counterproductive to hold a negative one. Expect what YOU want. Expect for others what is in their best interests, and as a service provider, what’s in your best interest too.

Keep in mind … Some will. Some won’t. So what. Next!

No Free Lunches

How many times have you tried to share freely your knowledge or expertise? How often have you been disappointed by how your offer was received? People tend to undervalue free. They also tend to commit less time and effort in implementing free advice. I wonder if they think, “If you know so much why are you working for free?”

It’s difficult to help others for free. Too often it doesn’t work. In order for many people to listen to you, they need to be financially engaged.

Limit the amount of pro bono work you do. Don’t consistently talk yourself into free labor with ego-defeating self-talk like “it’s good exposure,” or “I may meet someone important,” or other fairy tales. The probability is that it won’t be good exposure and you won’t meet anyone important. Smile and state your fee.

Discounting your fees can be a sound business decision. However, there are NO free lunches. A habit of free relationships usually costs you time and frustration, not to mention cash flow. Discount your fees only when necessary, or when you really want to work with a particular individual.

Honor yourself by charging for your services.

Have you had difficulty charging for your work? What did you do to resolve the matter? Do you have suggestions or recommendations for us? Share your thoughts in a comment below.

Warmly,
Judith

See Part 2, Ask For the Sale, on Monday.

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As I talk to people about money, I realize again that many people have money issues - excess money baggage - that plays out when making money decisions.

What are some of those issues? Many people believe that money is bad and people with money are bad too. There’s our collective love and hate of money.

Feelings of inadequacy at not having enough money. The consuming guilt some feel at having enough or too much money. Then there’s the fear of losing the money we have. Or the fear of never having enough. These ambivalent thoughts, coupled with feelings of unworthiness, are at the base of many things monetary.

And yet … there is also the driving motivation to achieve financial security or freedom -  to achieve what we largely dislike and disrespect. There’s the defensiveness felt as we begin to earn more than we need for basic survival. And the need to justify having more than just enough. The unspoken assumption seems to be that poor people somehow go to a higher heaven than wealthy people at the end of their lives.

How does one reconcile such conflicting emotions and move forward to plant a healthy money mindset to grow a weed-free money garden? It begins with understanding how our brain functions, and how we can reprogram it to work in harmony with our current beliefs.

My friend and associate, Katherine Reschke, is showcasing groundbreaking research on brain development and how we can use this information to change our mindsets. If you want to start changing your money mindset, click on Katherine’s recent teleseminar and give it a listen. You’ll find new ways of thinking about your current thinking.

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On Friday, I joined my friend, Katherine Reschke, on her Blog Talk Radio show. Our topic was Developing a Money Mindset.

Click below to listen to the program. Learn more about your money mindset and how you can change it to attract more money in your life.

You’ll enjoy our interview. You’ll gain great money insights, like how to go from attracting pennies to finding dollars in your life. The show is informative as well as entertaining.

Let me know what you think about it. Share your money mindset comments here. Thanks!

Warmly,
Judith

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Hi! Thank you for visiting Yes To Financial Fitness!

I’m Judith Stephens, the Money Lady, your guide to financial fitness.

We’re going to strengthen our money muscles, learn to increase our earnings, and build wealth.

I’m on a mission to get people to learn and talk about money. I want to know more about how money is made, how it’s saved, and how to invest it to make more of it.

I want to help you get over the limiting money *issues* most of us have learned in our lives, and move on to ensuring that you have enough to live a long and abundant life.

We’re going to take the mystery and secrecy out of money topics. More of us need to understand all things monetary. We will increase our understanding of how to use money for our individual and collective good.

Welcome to a new world based on Money Intelligence. It’s going to be a lovely ride!

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