This weekend has been one of nostalgia, sparked by the 13 minute highlight reel of Usher’s catalogue of music that had some of us popping and locking into the office, whilst the rest of us embraced our inner Ivorian, tested our knees and started playing Premier Gaou. BUT in and among all of this talk and sharing of weekend activities and articles, from Cosmopolitan to USA today, one fictional question came up…

Would you rather: Get paid $1.3million right now or play your version of the Super Bowl Halftime Show and deliver the most incredible performance (or pitch) to a global and growing audience of over 100 million+ individuals?

So often the topic of pricing becomes a conversation within our community of fellow founders, clients and entrepreneurs, but one thing that is shaping our decisions as we grow and specialise is a simple framework a mentor helped us craft.

👉🏾 Alignment: Does the opportunity and brand align with those you wish to be associated with?

👉🏾 Value over Time: For the creatives & professionals who continue to sharpen their skills, the speed in which it takes you to create, innovate or deliver can often be considerably reduced as your experience is increased, hence charging purely based on time alone could bring you challenges in the future.

👉🏾 Sponsorship over Free: It’s time to scrap the word free and reframe this to a sponsorship opportunity that complements your goals and brand. But also accurately represents the value of what you’re willing to share.

👉🏾 Value: Does the value allow you to do any of the following. Reinvest, scale, build and create impact that aligns with your purpose.

👉🏾 Exposure: Is there any? Do you need it? And is it right?

Over to you, are you taking the cash or the 13 minutes?

Siri, play Premier Gaou for the 13th time today.