#its never on my mind 24/7. sure some things leave a greater impact but most certainly do not | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

tastyykpop · 3 years ago

Note

jeno extra filthy degradation please 😭

ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴍᴇ

Pairings: jeno x reader

Genre: smut

Warnings: dom/sub themes, degradation, brat!reader, brat tamer!jeno, spanking, fingering, eating out, overstimulation

you were annoying

that was as simple as jeno could make it. he found you absolutely insufferable. and the countless of times you've opened your mouth to make a stupid comment was like nails on a chalkboard.

sure you were pretty and kind to others but not very much to him. you were rude, cocky, and persistent, it was your way of getting his attention. and to say it worked was an understatement, you were on jenos mind 24/7. no matter where, when, or who he was with, he could only think about you. of course, you were the same, but that's because you've had a crush on him since trainee days and almost everyone in SM knew.

jeno knew.

since you worked at SM as a stylist, it was easy to get closer to jeno and work your magic everyday. you were blatant with every touch, every shameless sentence that entailed more then it should, he couldn't quite ignore it either or tell you to shut up. seriously, it doesn't work.

you're a brat, he would say to himself, nothing more than a brat that doesn't know her place.

which in this case, he was correct.

but to him, your behavior was easy to change. he's noticed how you've drawn blanks when he interrogates you on your behavior, how you downplay your wrongs to see him try and hold back his longing to make you submit. it was a game to you clearly, but jeno wanted to beat it.

so how did you end up under jeno so soon in the practice room?

well, the group had been preparing for a dance practice video and you and a few other stylists were called in to help get them prepare for the camera. jeno was trying his best to stay low and out of your sight. it didn't work, but it was worth a shot.

"happy to see me?"

jenos eyes rolled, "I'd be happy if I saw death staring at me in the eyes." he began walking away until you grabbed his arm, making him put his hands over his face.

"dont be like that." you push his hands away now seeing jenos annoyed face. "be lucky you're not stuck with someone else. at least I make your life more interesting.

"interesting or frustrating? I think you've got your words mixed up."

you began applying a light foundation on jenos skin, taking in his angelic features before realizing what he said, "impactful I must say. I know you love me, jeno."

jeno makes a face in disgust pushing your hand away from his face, "youre not my type."

"I dont know. chenle told me otherwise...."

"youre a brat."

"and you're close-minded."

"close- you-"

"done. now go dance and make some fangirls or boys scream." you don't bother turning around as you walk towards the back of the dance practice out of the cameras view.

jeno, somewhat red in the face, stood in his starting position for the choreography, you couldnt help but stare at him in awe. hes gorgeous, you can't lie about that. and the way he moved once the music started playing made you feel different. maybe it was your crush on him, but you heated up very quickly while watching him. other staff members weren't paying as close attention on the boys as you were, only their phones caught their mind. you didn't mind, but damn did they not see how hot jeno was when dancing?

sweaty and out of breath, the boys took a break to get a drink of water.

"you did well- you all did actually." handing jeno a bottle of water, he stared between the thing in your hand and you before taking it and chugging the whole bottle. "but I think mark was the one who stood out to me the most."

"what?"

"mhm. mark was very fluid in his footsteps and his movements were clean and precise. a good dancer I must say."

there's something up. you were staring at him the whole time and he knew it, he danced harder just because you were watching. how could you have seen mark when all you did was stare at jeno?

"and hes cute too. surely he's got a bunch of girls and boys ready to throw themselves at him. I would too, he's absolutely perfect."

jeno balled his fist. what game are you trying to play? "you're testing me." he may not like you, or maybe he did, but something about you talking about someone else like that sparked jealousy in him.

"good. maybe you'll do something about it." you put a hand on his chest, jenos heart pounding fast as you came closer and whispered, "I bet you won't. all bark no bite. pathetic if you ask me."

"youre gonna regret your words if you keep speaking."

"oh really," you leaned back, his eyes pierced your curious ones with a sense of fury and annoyance, "and what are you gonna do? spank me?"

just like that jeno pulled you out of the room and into another practice room. he pulled a chair out from the corner and pulled you over his knee.

"jeno, I was just kid-"

he spanked you hard over and over and over again as you wailed and wrapped a tight hand around jenos ankle for support. each spank was painful and to the point unbearable, yet jeno didn't back down. not after he felt he could break you now.

each time his hand made contact with your ass, felt like he was letting loose all the pent up anger you caused him over the past months you've been working here. for him, it was hell. no matter what people would say to you about him did not dictate his feelings about you. right now, he hated you and needed to let that burning passion out by spanking you. jeno wanted you to feel the hell he endured when around you. sure enough, you were feeling it, crying and sobbing on his thigh like an idiot.

you didn't fight back even though you proposed that you hated it. your body seemed to like it more then you thought.

"youre a pest!" he landed another hard hit, "an annoying pest who needs to learn when to shut the fuck up. now apologize."

"no!" you winced at another hit, squirming- no more like trying to grind on his lap because of how painfully wet you've become in just minutes.

"apologize." he repeated.

"you're- you're an idiot if you think I'll give up!"

jeno stripped you of your pants and panties, "its cute listening to little sluts like you thinking they have power over someone much stronger then them. it must be tiring thinking youre charge." he taunted before spanking you again, this time the impact was far greater and almost caused you to scream before jeno clasped a hand over your mouth. with the same hand, he pushed you off his lap and on the floor, leaving your lower half bare for him to see.

you were a pretty sight, a mess to say the least, but jeno loved that. finally seeing you disheveled with tears leaking down your cheeks, he thought of you as his little crybaby. he tried his hardest not to take a picture.

"don't think I didnt notice how your wet cunt leaked all over my thigh" he began, "do you really get off to being put in your place, slut? is that why we're here right now?"

"d-dont be so full of y-yourself."

"oh? but your dripping all over the practice floor, how could i not." jenos lips were close to your heat, teasing you with his eyes and tongue as he glided it just above where you wanted him.

you had nothing to say, yet your eyes told him everything. told him just how you'd defy him any chance youd get only to make him more upset. it wouldn't be fun if your goal wasn't to piss him off.

jeno kept his tongue away from your most needed area, his lips kissing anything but your dripping heat as you bucked your hips into his face. jenos hands would push your hips down and back his face away frowning at your behavior and returning to what he was previously doing. you weren't done though, since he was holding your hips, you grabbed his hair and forced his head where you needed him. his tongue inside you was far from good, it was amazing. and though you realized jeno wasn't pushing your hand away, you pushed and pulled his hair as you kept his head in place so he couldn't stop.

the long strides and the smooth rhythm he had was enough to make you arch against the floor, gasping and calling out his name far to loudly for his liking. but with watchful eyes and a steady tongue, he shamelessly enjoyed it yet he had to be aware of the people in the building. one loud moan and someone would sure walk in to see what's up.

so jeno swatted your hand away from his head and lifted up with a frown. he liked the frightened look on your face as he leaned closer and closer, "if you're this much of a slut for people to hear us, we might as well have just stayed where everyone else was."

"thats hot." you stated blankly, jenos eyebrow raised before realizing how far gone you practically were, with how big and dilated your eyes are. "w-wait no! I'll stay quiet I promise."

"No you wont." jeno got up and grabbed your underwear that layed on the floor, then shoved it in your mouth allowing you to taste yourself. "stay quiet, fucktoy."

"fucktoy?- oh fuck!" you mumbled into your panties as his fingers protruded inside you. at least you were quieter this time.

"tell me when youre about to cum." he said just above a whisper as he watched you slip further and further into bliss. the way your eyes rolled to the back of your head with each skillful thrust from jenos fingers made his cock grow harder each second. you were so hot, so damn beautiful as you moaned into the panties like a little bitch. jeno loved it too much to say he hated you.

"feels good- f-feels so good, j-jeno." you said quietly into the panties. it was getting harder and harder for you to keep silent as he began rubbing your clit like a desperate man, hungry for your cum. but you did your best keeping low.

you grinded against on his hand, inching closer and closer to what you believed to be your orgasm. clentching tightly around jenos fingers you gasped and spat your panties out, "jeno! i-im gonna-

"cum, fucktoy." he insisted, never removing his fingers from your wet hole as a white substance spilled out. he kept going, in and out, in and out as you clamped a hand over your mouth. so much sensitivity and his fingers were still going.

"stop i-i can't take it!" you found his wrist and tightly held it as you attempted to pull him out.

"youre gonna take this like a good bitch until I want to stop." he said right as your second orgasm washed through you.

too much. you could barely think straight and even tried pulling your hips back but his fingers followed.

too sensitive. you could barely breathe because of the overwhelming sensitivity. yet in a twisted way, it felt good in a strange way. maybe it was the pain of cumming over and over or how jeno worked his fingers. either way, you could feel another one building up.

"please, please, please." you cried hoping for the end, but there was no way jeno was stopping.

"apologize and this will be your last one." He stuck his fingers deeper, if that were possible, and watched you squirm trying to find words to say, but all that came out was drool. "disgusting whore." you slapped him in the face for that.

"I-i am not sor-sorry!"

"im not playing these games anymore. say you're sorry."

jeno growled, deeper and deeper he went and faster and faster he goes before your third orgasm of the day came. your legs shook and your grip got tighter but still to no avail did he stop.

you were very persistent on making jeno angry before, but now you seemed to have started rethinking that apology. "im sorry."

"for?"

"for being rude to you!" you legs shook again and that feeling in your stomach was back, "i-im sorry jeno, but p-please I can't take it!"

he did it. he broke you. and with that he finally pulled his fingers away letting all your cum out.

you cried softly, still a shaking mess from the orgasms and jeno, well he didn't care all too much but he knew he probably shouldn't be too harsh with you about now. so he gently took you in his arms, sitting your bare bottom right on his lap as he rocked you slowly.

"im never leaving after this." you say slowly, "and I know you don't hate me either, I can feel your boner against my ass."

jeno pinches your arm and shushes you. god, you were a pest and maybe youre right. maybe he doesn't hate you like he proclaimed he did. maybe he did enjoy this session in the practice room, but he won't ever say it. not because he's afraid to admit it, but because he doesn't want you to rub it in his face.

#nct #nct smut #nct dream #nct dream smut #jeno #lee jeno #jeno smut #lee jeno smut #nct imagines #nct drabbles #nct scenarios #kpop #kpop imagines #kpop scenarios #kpop smut #ask #anon

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swampertspawner · 4 years ago

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Me, Myself, and So On

A draft for our nonficiton class in university. I hope you enjoy!

I’ll be completely honest in saying I don’t know who I am. After all, what’s the measure of truly knowing a person? Is it knowing their tics? Is it knowing their secrets? Is it knowing their life story? I know all of this. Why then, don’t I feel like I know myself? Most days I don’t feel like a person, more like someone’s original character: a messy hodge-podge of other popular characters that the creator has as comfort characters. If I am to speak candidly, I feel like I’ve taken the best characteristics from the people I admire most and made a vain effort of emulating them just to create a singular personality. My best friend’s compassion, my blockmates kinship, one of my previous classmate’s work ethic, and the lessons in patience I learned from my ex-partner. What happens if it’s all torn away? Who’s left? What will I see? Will I even want to see it? Now, like many people, ever since I started quarantine I’ve had nothing but time. Unlike most people, though, my choices of activity were limited: eating, sleeping, using the computer, maybe watching the TV once but that’s pretty much it. Sometimes when I got tired of those I started thinking instead. Thinking about what state the world was going to end up in. Thinking about what I’d be doing once this all blows over (even though sometimes I felt like it never will). After that I ask what I’ll be like by that time. Then the ultimate question that comes up time and time again in my life reared it’s ugly head: who am I in the first place? Every time I tried to get at the bottom of this question, I’m met with many different answers. Some I’d like to show you while we think about themーme as I’m writing this and you as you’re reading this. I’m a personal believer that two minds are greater than one, but since I’ve lost mine over quarantine, I hope you can keep up for the both of us while you’re reading my revised stream of consciousness. The first answer I’ve come to is that I’m a reincarnation of my mother: bright, joyful, and even coming with a striking resemblance. Honestly, I felt like Harryーconstantly being told that I have my mother's eyes, along with her cheeks, nose, mouth, and so on. I feel like a clone they’ve started to project onto. I don’t completely blame them; my mother passed away at a relatively young age, and I’m one of the only things they can really remember her by. Still, it would be nice if they saw me as my own person instead of seeing my mother all the time. Even as I say that, I’ve still done my part in making sure I live up to the name she made for herself. She’s one of the people I look up to the most. The cutting intellect she possessed, the joy she seemed to emanate to other people; I aspire to be like her one day. I suppose that’s the biggest thing stopping me from claiming this is the fact that I feel like I don’t deserve to. I’m not so mean to myself that I’d say I haven’t done anything meaningful, but it’s harder to say that any of them amount to how my maternal family and her old co-workers talk about her. Of course, every light has its own dark, and it seems this idyllic answer of me that my maternal family keeps in their hearts is eclipsed by the constant sight that my paternal family--the relatives I spend more time with--sees. Seemingly on the computer 24/7, with no real world experience or motivation to do anything other than eat, play video games, use the computer, and sleep. Truly, it’s quite a stark difference depending on whoever I’m with. Like many people though, I do change, whether consciously or unconsciously, how I act towards other people. At some point I felt some pang of guilt every time I realized it, then eventually it just started fading away. Another answer I came upon is my online presence, and all the people I’ve met and all the people I’ve brushed with. This is the most speculative and sporadic answer because so many different people have so many different imprints of me. A lot of it is also dependent on what online circle and community I’m in. Sure, I have a general vibe that I exude to many people: a very chill shitposter that’s funny sometimes, soft all the time. Even still, I think about the people I’ve talked with before and lost touch with. What imprint do I have of them? What do they think of me? Do they still even think of me in the first place? One thing I don’t doubt is my negative influence. A good chunk of my time online was spent being a general asshole with the usual discriminatory bullshit you expect from someone growing up in the Philippines at the time. Trash-talking (even though I wasn’t very good at it), trolling, thinking I was hot shit even though it was far, far from the truth. Granted, I was 12 and growing, but that doesn’t make it any better. The fact still stands that there might be people’s lives I’ve impacted for the worse. Sometimes I think about them, how I want to make it up to them, maybe show them I’ve changed and give them closure if they need it. Sadly, with the imperfect world we live within, the last interaction it ever allowed me with those people is a negative one. Despite all this, I’m happy to report that I’ve grown as a person. At least, this answer has grown as a person. I’ve learned compassion. I’ve learned patience. I’ve learned respect. Sometimes I scare myself, since I say something bad and have to catch myself slipping mentally and right myself right after. Learning never stops, after all. Neither does the fear of going back to who you once were. The growth and development this persona’s gone through was definitely shaped by the fact that I was online a lot. While I’m sure it resulted in deeper psychological scars with a lasting impact on the rest of my life, I’m not sure what those are. Partly because I don’t entirely remember where those scars even are. You see, the funny thing about the brain is that it's smart, and it’s smart enough to hide away the things that make it feel bad (most of the time). For most of the things that happened to me, even if I want to remember them, I kinda can’t. Nonetheless, I still know they’re there. For one, it was pretty early on that I started to break away from the backwards values that I’ve been raised on that were steeped in misogyny, homophobia, colorism...the list just goes on. Philippine media (and quite frankly media in general) has a way of reinforcing the negativity that society tries to correct and progress past. Gay stereotypes, whitening ads, the usual storylines of teledramas that give 0 agency to the women in the story; it’s honestly so tiring, but I’m glad I can see what’s wrong with it all now. Another thing is that I was able to meet so many people that have irrevocably changed my life, whether for the better or the worse. Similar to how I’ve been able to impact many people in passing, such is the case for me too: thousands of people that have changed my life despite staying in my life for barely a moment. I wonder if they think the same way about me as I do with the people I’ve influenced. That’s the beauty of the internet really; so many people can touch your life even for just a fraction of a second and still leave you a different person than who you were before you met them. The third answer for me to show you is what my classmates see: someone demure or unassuming at first glance that suddenly evolves into a noisy, unhinged crackhead that you wonder how you became friends in the first place. This persona’s had an interesting development because I’ve started to completely disregard the demure part and start being a crackhead right out of the gate. The biggest reason for it was that I had the thought that acting so likely attracts similar people; similar people that I’ve desperately wanted to know and meet for most of my life. The truth is that there’s a singular driving force behind me having multiple faces for multiple people. Growing up, I’ve never been able to fully express myself for many reasons. The first one being that in the place I grew up in, I was practically the only person that had the interests I did. That pretty much stands true ‘til this day. To be frank, my household is one of the few that’s able to afford the privileges I enjoyed growing up (namely cable tv and the Internet). Because of it I was the only one that knew what the hell Adventure Time, Regular Show, and et cetera was for a long time. I was the only one in my neighborhood familiar with Youtube communities other than the site just being used for music. That’s not to say the people in my neighborhood were completely devoid of online culture. Everyone was familiar with the usual suspects of Pisonet Online Games: Audition, Crossfire, DOTA, League of Legends, and so on. The problem really only lies in the fact that I wasn’t able to really connect with those communities and ended up alienating myself. You can say the same about my other faces. My being put on a pedestal as my mother’s son was not helped by the fact I was also naturally smart and bright myself. One of the remnants that my mother left me was English being my first language. For the longest time I was talking English better than Filipino (and you can imagine everything that entails a bully-able kid only speaking English the Philippines). Even online, which is often seen as the last bastion for people to find others that they can connect with, other people that share the same interests, I felt alienated. I went so long without discovering those communities or being unable to fully express myself in those communities because widdle baby Raven wasn’t smart enough to make an alternate account. As such, even voicing myself online was restricted. There was never any avenue for me to really be myself. Well, not until recently, of course. Some people say that if a person has been depressed since childhood, once they reach adulthood they often try to take back the childhood they spent thinking they would kill themselves before they even became adults. While I’ve never been depressed myself, I resonate so goddamn hard with this sentiment that I thought I manifested an earthquake when I first heard it (I didn’t; god just wanted to fuck with me for some reason). I’ve spent so much of my life repressing who I was that I don’t even express it to people that would understand or accept. I end up feeling caged in my house, wistfully standing in a dark room and looking out of the window as I watch Spongebob and Patrick have fun being themselves. The final answer we have to our original question is a simple one: it’s the person of who I am when I’m alone, and truth be told, I have no idea who that person is. When I’m alone in my room at night, who am I really? When I have the house to myself, who comes out? I’ll be honest in saying that even when I’m completely alone, whoever the person I really am is, they barely come out. There’s nothing to make a face for, no front that’s needed, so why do they still stay cooped up and hidden? They’re quite the enigma. For one they paradoxically like being expressive. They blast music and sing and dance along with it. Maybe because they stay inside for such long periods of time they bask whenever they do come out. Another thing about this mystery person is how incredibly horny they are. Seriously, you would think they’re a teenager because of their constant thirst. Maybe this is their attempt to connect. They weren’t raised with the healthiest views on intimacy you see. It’s very warped. Despite the things they’ve done to remedy it, they slip at times. Or maybe it’s not horniness. Maybe they just do it systemically. They know that jacking off releases dopamine; maybe they do just whenever they need dopamine and not just because they feel something carnal. There’s so many things I can tell you about them, still: how much they like ambient sounds of rain, how they like listening to K-Pop music because they want to listen to music but not be distracted by lyrics they understand, how puzzling it is that they’re still unknown even though I’ve been given nothing but time these 8 months in quarantine. I can go on and on about all these but at the end of the day, it boils down to the fact that I have no idea who they are despite how much I know about them. It’s true I know a lot about them, but what do I know about them? Why does it feel like they keep giving me tidbits and not the whole thing? What the hell do these small pieces of personality tell me about the whole? As I’m writing this, I’m still thinking about who I really am. The person that’s dwelling just beneath the surface, trying their best to stay hidden against all my efforts to pull them out. For as long as I’ve been in quarantine, I’ve been starting to wonder if I even want to. Is all this trouble truly worth it? What if I don’t like what comes out? The other answers I have are so much nicer than the parts that the final one shows. I’ve lived for so long being comfortable with how I am now; is it really that important I find out what the “real” one is? At the end of the day, I don’t know. I’m a very tired person; I reserve my energy just for the things I deem the most important. As such, continuing with this may just be a waste of my energy, but I’ll really only find out by the end of it, right? It’s still a horrifying prospect to imagine that I wasted so much of my time to find out, only for it to be for nothing. There’s still a silver lining, though, that if I don’t like what comes out, maybe I can just keep looking for an answer that I like instead.

#writers on tumblr #essay #writeblr #writerblr #nonficion

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riichardwilson · 5 years ago

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How to Start a Consulting Business: Determining Your Rates

The rates you set send a message to perspective clients.

March 10, 2020 9 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

How much should you charge as a consultant? This can be an extremely challenging question to answer because it involves doing research, taking risks and proper planning. Fortunately, all three of these skills will come in handy as an entrepreneur so you may as well get used to it now.

In most cases, I strongly suggest asking the prospect what their budget is. If they have a number in mind, you can see how well that aligns with what you were going to charge. You might find the prospect has a much higher budget than you anticipated. However, they may respond to that question by asking what your rate is. To avoid volleying back and forth before one of you gives up, you’ll need to have this established from the start.

It’s important to remember the rate you charge will have a direct impact on how people perceive you. Too low? They could take that as a sign that you aren’t that good. Too high? You better really good — and prove it — or people are going to pass. I’ll always be in favor of doing what is required to deliver what your client needs and charging for a more premium service. You have the opportunity to build your own businesses, why wouldn’t you want to be the best solution out there for your specific audience?

Keep in mind, “premium” for your audience may not be viewed as premium — or even applicable — for other audiences. That’s why it’s so important to do deep research on who you’ll be helping. This allows you to genuinely say, “I understand you have this challenge, this is the impact it’s having on you, and I’ve developed a solution to alleviate it. Would you like my help?”

Once you’ve honed in on your audience, it is time to figure out how much to charge them for the solution you’ve developed. Here are some simple methods.

Related: How to Start a Consulting Business: Determine Your Business Model

1. Ask people how much they paid for a similar service

This is an approach I stumbled across by accident when I first started consulting. I asked a friend if she needed help optimizing her Instagram profile so she could land more clients. She politely informed me she was already working with a consultant, with whom she was very happy. I was somewhat disappointed but decided to turn it into a learning opportunity. I asked her how much her consultant charged so I could get a feel for the going rate in New York City. I then asked her another question, “What else could they do, that would justify you paying even more?” This is a crucial question for all of us to ask. If you charge the average rate, you’ll get average results. Her response let me know exactly what I needed to do in order to be positioned as a more premium service.

If possible, get input from 5-10 people. If you operate locally, you’ll want to inquire about the rates in your area or a similar metro.

Related: Grow Your Side Hustle With Instagram Direct Messaging

2. Research competitors rates online

Some consultants publish their rates on their site, including me. The reason being, I don’t like yelling “Surprise!” at the end of an enrollment call as I finally disclose my rate. From my perspective, being upfront about my rate is a huge timesaver for both me and the prospect I’m connecting with. If I can’t help them on their terms (which includes their budget) it’s not worth spending 30 minutes to figure that out. I should note, the value of publishing your rates is hotly debated. Jake Savage, Sales Coach at Grow Savagely, states, “Having pricing on your website leaves everything up to a numbers game. It becomes an endless battle of trying to increase your conversion rates. Instead, get your potential client on the phone. Be persuasive and close the deal.”

That said, being able to openly disclose a rate is more aligned with a time-based or retainer model as some projects can be challenging to scope without bespoke input. For example, Jake Savage trains sales teams. If he’s training three people the rate would be lower than if he was training a team of thirty.

Do some competitive research and keep track of the results you’re seeing in a spreadsheet. Be sure to take note of the services your competitors are offering, too. It could help improve the value you deliver to your audience.

Related: How Not to Benchmark Your Way to the Bottom

3. Directly ask other consultants what they charge

This one may sound counterintuitive but you’ll be surprised at how many “competitors” are willing to help you out. If you offer in-person public peaking consulting in San Francisco, you’re not much of a threat to someone who offers the same service in Chicago. Consider reaching out to other consultants on LinkedIn and asking for some friendly advice.

“Hi Mary, I see you’re a Public Speaking consultant in Chicago. I’m starting a similar business here in San Francisco and would greatly appreciate it if you could answer just one question for me. How much do you charge for your services?”

One of three things will happen:

Mary will ignore you or refuse to disclose her rates. If that’s the case, keep it moving and ask someone else.

She’ll get back to you with a quick response. Thank her and continue doing your research.

She’ll get back to you with a longer response and potentially offer to connect with you via phone.

In the last scenario, you could potentially pick up some valuable tips that will help you accelerate the growth of your business.

You can also ask consultants who serve the same audience, with a different service. This will give you an idea of how much they typically pay for outside help.

Related: The 7 Deadly LinkedIn Sins

4. Charge based on the value you create

Being able to determine the return on investment a prospect can expect is a gift to any consultant. It’s much easier for a prospect to justify an investment if they understand what they’ll get out of it. If you operate in a market that allows you to do so, it’s worth digging deep and crunching the numbers.

Heads up, there’s some math coming at you.

Let’s say you’re a business process consultant, and you help clients keep better track of their leads. You’re currently talking to a prospect who has the following data points.

Leads per quarter: 200

Conversion rate: 20%

New deals per quarter: 40

Average deal value: $6,000

Average revenue per quarter: $240,000

During your enrollment call with the prospect, you discover their process for tracking leads is horrendous. They forget to call people back, aren’t taking proper notes and don’t have a clear handle on their sales pipeline. With your help, it’s obvious they could increase their conversion rate by at least 20%, which would give them a new conversion rate of 24%.

Through working with you, here’s how the new scenario could look.

Leads per quarter: 200

Conversion rate: 24%

New deals per quarter: 48

Average deal value: 6,000

Average revenue per quarter: $288,000

By helping them get a better handle on their business process, you can help them generate another $48k in just one quarter. Over the course of a year, all things being equal, that’s almost $200k in incremental revenue. Assuming they’re going to be in business for more than one year, the benefits of your work will continue to pay off. If you show them this data and tell them your rate is $25K, it’s much easier to justify the investment.

You may be working with clients who generate more or less revenue, but the process is the same. That said, if you want to increase your rates, solve more expensive problems.

This same approach can be applied when you’re consulting individuals. Helping an established keynote speaker further hone their public speaking skills will most likely yield greater results than helping someone who is just starting out. The established speaker knows they can get on stages, they just want to get on more, and be able to increase their rates. You can charge more because you’re solving a more expensive problem.

Related: How to Forecast Revenue and Growth

5. Do a feasibility analysis

Once you arrive at a rate, you have to determine whether or not it makes sense based on your desired income and lifestyle. If you want to make $100k/yr before taxes and charge $2,000 per project, you need to book 50 projects per year. That’s a whole lot of enrollment calls, emails, admin work, etc. I’m not saying this isn’t doable, but you may be better off creating a solution worth $10,000 and connecting with an audience that can afford it. You’ll only need to land 10 clients per year, and will most likely have a deeper relationship with them. This can easily lead to more business through referrals and testimonials.

6. Close with confidence

Your rate will evolve over time, but it shouldn’t evolve over the course of your first conversation. Never say “It depends” or “That’s negotiable.” Tell it to them your rate like they asked you what time it is. I know its tempting to discount fees just to win business, but that can easily throw off your projections and lead to more people wanting to work with you at a reduced rate. Referrals are one of the best ways to grow your business. If you do a good job, you’ll earn them. However, you don’t want people to say “You should work with Spencer Bell, he’s amazing, and he only charges …”

Establish a reputation based on the quality of service you provide, not a discounted rate.

If you need any help, I’m available for remote consulting on Entrepreneur’s Ask an Expert platform. Be sure to follow along on Instagram as well.

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/how-to-start-a-consulting-business-determining-your-rates/ source https://scpie.tumblr.com/post/612220800806895616

0 notes

laurelkrugerr · 5 years ago

Text

How to Start a Consulting Business: Determining Your Rates

The rates you set send a message to perspective clients.

March 10, 2020 9 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Once you’ve honed in on your audience, it is time to figure out how much to charge them for the solution you’ve developed. Here are some simple methods.

Related: How to Start a Consulting Business: Determine Your Business Model

1. Ask people how much they paid for a similar service

If possible, get input from 5-10 people. If you operate locally, you’ll want to inquire about the rates in your area or a similar metro.

Related: Grow Your Side Hustle With Instagram Direct Messaging

2. Research competitors rates online

Related: How Not to Benchmark Your Way to the Bottom

3. Directly ask other consultants what they charge

One of three things will happen:

Mary will ignore you or refuse to disclose her rates. If that’s the case, keep it moving and ask someone else.

She’ll get back to you with a quick response. Thank her and continue doing your research.

She’ll get back to you with a longer response and potentially offer to connect with you via phone.

In the last scenario, you could potentially pick up some valuable tips that will help you accelerate the growth of your business.

You can also ask consultants who serve the same audience, with a different service. This will give you an idea of how much they typically pay for outside help.

Related: The 7 Deadly LinkedIn Sins

4. Charge based on the value you create

Heads up, there’s some math coming at you.

Let’s say you’re a business process consultant, and you help clients keep better track of their leads. You’re currently talking to a prospect who has the following data points.

Leads per quarter: 200

Conversion rate: 20%

New deals per quarter: 40

Average deal value: $6,000

Average revenue per quarter: $240,000

Through working with you, here’s how the new scenario could look.

Leads per quarter: 200

Conversion rate: 24%

New deals per quarter: 48

Average deal value: 6,000

Average revenue per quarter: $288,000

You may be working with clients who generate more or less revenue, but the process is the same. That said, if you want to increase your rates, solve more expensive problems.

Related: How to Forecast Revenue and Growth

5. Do a feasibility analysis

6. Close with confidence

Establish a reputation based on the quality of service you provide, not a discounted rate.

If you need any help, I’m available for remote consulting on Entrepreneur’s Ask an Expert platform. Be sure to follow along on Instagram as well.

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/how-to-start-a-consulting-business-determining-your-rates/ source https://scpie1.blogspot.com/2020/03/how-to-start-consulting-business.html

0 notes

scpie · 5 years ago

Text

How to Start a Consulting Business: Determining Your Rates

The rates you set send a message to perspective clients.

March 10, 2020 9 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Once you’ve honed in on your audience, it is time to figure out how much to charge them for the solution you’ve developed. Here are some simple methods.

Related: How to Start a Consulting Business: Determine Your Business Model

1. Ask people how much they paid for a similar service

If possible, get input from 5-10 people. If you operate locally, you’ll want to inquire about the rates in your area or a similar metro.

Related: Grow Your Side Hustle With Instagram Direct Messaging

2. Research competitors rates online

Related: How Not to Benchmark Your Way to the Bottom

3. Directly ask other consultants what they charge

One of three things will happen:

Mary will ignore you or refuse to disclose her rates. If that’s the case, keep it moving and ask someone else.

She’ll get back to you with a quick response. Thank her and continue doing your research.

She’ll get back to you with a longer response and potentially offer to connect with you via phone.

In the last scenario, you could potentially pick up some valuable tips that will help you accelerate the growth of your business.

You can also ask consultants who serve the same audience, with a different service. This will give you an idea of how much they typically pay for outside help.

Related: The 7 Deadly LinkedIn Sins

4. Charge based on the value you create

Heads up, there’s some math coming at you.

Let’s say you’re a business process consultant, and you help clients keep better track of their leads. You’re currently talking to a prospect who has the following data points.

Leads per quarter: 200

Conversion rate: 20%

New deals per quarter: 40

Average deal value: $6,000

Average revenue per quarter: $240,000

Through working with you, here’s how the new scenario could look.

Leads per quarter: 200

Conversion rate: 24%

New deals per quarter: 48

Average deal value: 6,000

Average revenue per quarter: $288,000

You may be working with clients who generate more or less revenue, but the process is the same. That said, if you want to increase your rates, solve more expensive problems.

Related: How to Forecast Revenue and Growth

5. Do a feasibility analysis

6. Close with confidence

Establish a reputation based on the quality of service you provide, not a discounted rate.

If you need any help, I’m available for remote consulting on Entrepreneur’s Ask an Expert platform. Be sure to follow along on Instagram as well.

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/how-to-start-a-consulting-business-determining-your-rates/

0 notes

gogocrazygo · 5 years ago

Text

It is human instinct to put out a fire or at least call for help when a house is burning, as we want to save what we can of it.

It is human instinct to help someone, sometimes even a stranger, when they are in desperate need, as we thrive from self-satisfaction of being of help to someone, and being perceived as thoughtful and compassionate.

So what makes us human? It is not just our built and physical capability. What truly make us distinguished from other living creatures on this earth are our minds. The capacity of our brains is greater than of any other species in animal kingdom, therefore our senses and logical reasoning are stronger. Imagination, creativity and being able to analyse situations and problem solve enabled us to build the world we are living in now. We are all so proud of our human achievements throughout history. We are also very compassionate in nature. We feel emotions towards objects like food, situations like falling in love or war, other people and their impact on our lives, and most of us appreciate and cherish animals and the nature surrounding us. So why is it that our so called Home, Planet Earth and natural world is slowly shrinking, sinking, burning and warming before our eyes?

Barack Obama himself said “Climate change is no longer some far-off problem; it is happening here, it is happening now,”, and with the amount of scientific support out there it is just no sensible reason for us as human beings to turn our backs on this crisis. Without our home we cannot thrive and continue to grow as we have been.

Growing up in an average household, global warming was mentioned in many family conversations. We tried recycling and being more aware but it was something that I never thought we would have much impact on at all. It is only now that I have been living on my own for one and a half years, I thought to myself that “yes there is an issue, and I am very aware of it”, but what can I do about it? The government and economy are way out of my control and while some people might be aware of the issue, but life is just too busy so we brush this topic under the rug. My budget is certainly not that great so I’m very cautious of my outgoings, and I’m also busy all the time, so how can I possibly be more environmentally friendly?

“No one will protect what they don’t care about, and no one will care about what they have never experiences” is what my man David Attenborough has said, which is why he is so good at showing us all through various or media how amazing this planet is and why we have to protect it.

I love this planet; I love what it has given me, the surrounding nature, the animals, my family, the people that I meet, and I love the freedom of speech and expression. Reviewing my current personal situation got me thinking, I have to do something or at least try and slowly start making changes as I cannot look away anymore.

If you already know enough about pollution but want to know more about what you can do to reduce waste at your household, skip to the Easy Swaps section. If you want to find some interesting facts continue reading on 🙂

Global Warming and Pollution

UN reports that from 1880 to 2012, the average global temperature increased by 0.85°C. Oceans have warmed and the melting ice is making the sea levels rise. From 1901 to 2010, the global average sea level rose by 19 cm which is quiet alarming.

UN also states that “Given current concentrations and ongoing emissions of greenhouse gases, it is likely that by the end of this century global mean temperature will continue to rise above the pre-industrial level. The world’s oceans will warm and ice melt will continue. Average sea level rise is predicted to be 24–30 cm by 2065 and 40–63 cm by 2100 relative to the reference period of 1986–2005.” Such a high rise in sea levels will make certain Islands such as Atolls, Maldives and Tuvalu hard to visit or live on due to coastal erosion. Other coastal cities like Miami will be affected and so will millions of people in residence.

When we talk about pollution, one of the first things that come to our minds is greenhouse gas emission from combustion of fossil fuels in cars, buildings, factories, power plants and burning fossil fuels in manufacturing processes etc. Here are some less popular facts that have a huge impact as well:

Population growth alongside the standards of living. In most MEDCs we have more money to spend on we don’t even know what as we have sooo many choices. When consumption grows, the waste and plastic pollution grows it’s as simple as that.

Methane released from landfills, natural gas and petroleum industries are a huge factor, but not as big as the methane released from food agriculture/ farming. This is mainly caused by grazing animals releasing gasses (yes this means #farts) on meat and dairy farms. We also have nitrous oxide released from fertilizers and gases used for refrigeration and industrial processes. Other things in agriculture that affect pollution and global warming are logistics, land use, water and food resource use, deforestation and interfering with natural habitats. All our food manufacturing processes result in using more and more natural resources, leaving less and less behind.

Single use plastic is proving to significantly contribute to greenhouse gas emission at every stage of its life, starting from production, going into distribution and then at the end of its life where it takes between 50 and 600 years to biodegrade. Even after that, the small plastic molecules are distributed in the air and the oceans, ending up in out drinking water, fish we catch, even farm foods we consume. I don’t like the idea of slowly being poisoned to death with plastic by just eating veggies and drinking water.

Plastic waste

Pretty city view in Amsterdam this summer surrounded by litter.

So lets’ get a couple of facts and figures out of the way, shall we?

Research shows that annual CO2 emission from plastic waste could grow up to 2.75 million tonnes by 2050. It’s in 30 years’ time guys. I’m going to be 58 and swimming in plastic waste. Lovely thought for future L

Jokes aside, plastic pollution has not only been a concern related to climate change. Recently it has been all over media, after Blue Planet 2 release in 2017, that plastic polluting our seas has an impact on the entire ocean ecosystem, our health and the natural world all over. Microplastic particles are now floating in the air and can be found from top of Mount Everest to Mariana Trench, which is the deepest ocean trench explored.

Millions of animals varying from krill, to fish, whales, birds, seals and turtles are killed from either ingesting plastic, or by simply being stuck in a plastic object unable to get free, suffocating to death. The UKs leading marine charity MCS organises yearly beach clean-ups to make sure we reduce the risk of animals and habitats being affected by the pollution on our coasts. You can get involved in their work by clicking here and help make change.

By simply identifying which plastics are recyclable and which ones are not, we can reduce plastic pollution dramatically. But the main goal is to reduce single use plastic buying. Less plastic in household means less plastic in our lands and in our seas.

BBC has done a brilliant, well researched and eye opening piece on the Plastic Pollution Problem, which I highly recommend on checking out by clicking here.

As consumers we have the ENTIRE power over what goes into our household, so why not take some simple actions right now?

Easy swaps

Here are some of my personal tips and easy swaps that can help you start plastic waste reduction:

No more plastic bottles. Reusable bottles are so much better in so many ways and water should be FREE so why are you paying for it?

Bringing your own food storage pots. In case you are thinking of having a take away or a lunch at a local caff, if you know they will give you a plastic pot to serve your food in, why not give them yours? I have been doing this a lot at work with the local caff, and they were more than happy to put the food in my own food container.

Have a straw with you at all times. I also carry my small cutlery set everywhere I go. Just say no to plastic straws and cutlery. Small stuff but it adds up over the years.

Invest in an eco-friendly coffee travel mug. A lot of coffee shops like Starbucks serve their drinks in fully recyclable cups, but sometimes these are not recycled properly so it’s better to have your own. Some places even offer you money off if you bring your own mug.

Use long life bags for house shopping. This should be a norm now I think.

Using biodegradable everyday items instead of plastic options. These could be cleaning ware, natural fibres in furniture and clothes, swapping clean film for food containers or beeswax wraps and just overall using natural substances where you can. Reusing and recycling is key.

Buy loose fruit and veg as much as you can. You can save money by going to local markets and educate your little ones (if you have any) about the importance of supporting local farmers and businesses.

If meat or dairy is in your diet, go to local butchers or farmers’ market and get fresh food packed in your own containers.

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I also did some blog posts on waste reduced food shopping and some Beauty Product Swaps that might be of use.

Another thing to consider is how you commute. Public transport is a great alternative to commuting privately, whether going around the country or travelling abroad. This is something I’m currently struggling with as I love to travel. Abroad is not much of a problem as I normally depend on public transport and walk or hike, but in the UK I take my car on way too many road trips.

As a personal choice I have also decided to go on a vegan diet and have been following it as best as I can for over 2 years. By going veggie I’m reducing individual impact on:

Agricultural pollution as animal waste pollutes waterways all over the world (which ends up in our oceans).

CO2 and methane emission from land use and livestock production.

Water use e.g.: it takes 13,000l-100,000l of water to produce a kilo of beef and only 1,000l-2,000l to produce kilo of wheat.

Not consuming fish impacts on life cycle of oceans. Oceans help absorb CO2 and they also hold one of the most important organisms on the planet, the phytoplankton. These little guys are responsible of absorption of most CO2 from the atmosphere and producing 2/3rds of the oxygen we breathe in.

There are many other reasons why I believe a plant based diet helps to reduce pollution and impact on the climate change crisis, but I think this is personal choice and this topic has been covered quite well by media already with plenty of evidence supporting it.

If you haven’t already started on being more environmentally aware, I really hope that you get inspired to take small actions and then see for yourself that little changes can have a big impact on pollution, plastic waste and global warming. Just because you are one person making that change, it doesn’t mean you are alone in this. Awareness is growing and more people are trying. With a new year around the corner, this could be a perfect challenged to take on for 2020. We can all be a part of this greater movement if we just try a little.

“There is no planet B. We have to take care of the one we have.”

________ Richard Branson ________