When a value is perceived, presentation trumps price. In February of 2019, I launched a new side business called Podcast Branding. I started this side business because I wanted to put into practice the advice I shared in episode 54and episode 93of the podcast, as well as my interview with Craig Burton in episode 174 on niching down your design services. Before starting Podcast Branding, I had been designing artwork and websites for podcasters for several years. Still, I was but one of the hundreds of general designers who dabbled in the podcast space. At the beginning of 2019, I decided to take that dabbling more seriously and focused my efforts on becoming known as a designer specializing in the podcast space. How did I do it? Did I take specialized courses to become a podcast design specialist? No. Did I undergo podcast design certification? No. Did I hire a podcast branding coach to show me the way? No. All I did was launch a new website and start telling people in the podcast space that I specialize in podcast branding. All of a sudden, people that knew me started passing my name around more and more often, and shortly after that, people who didn't know me but had heard of Podcast Branding started sharing it whenever someone asked about podcast artwork or websites. This proves how valuable niching can be. People are sharing my name not because I'm a designer who can help, but because I'm a designer who specializes in podcasting. Presentation Trumps Price In October of 2019, a very respectable podcast hosting company released a great blog article on how to design stunning podcast cover art. The author knew that not everyone would be comfortable creating their own cover art, so he listed five sources people can use to have podcast artwork designed. Podcast Branding was one of them. The other sources listed were Fiverr, 99designs and three “independent” designers, including Podcast Branding. Side note: This is another benefit of niching. The author included Podcast Branding in his article because I focus on the podcast space. If I had a generic graphic design website, it wouldn’t have made the list. Since that article came out, I’ve seen a spike in cover art orders through my website. The order form on my site asks the question, “How did you hear about Podcast Branding?” and over a dozen people so far have told me it was through that blog article. When the author listed the five design sources, he included the price each source charges for podcast cover art, of which Podcast Branding is the most expensive. But if I'm the most expensive, why have I received over a dozen orders for podcast cover art in the past two months? I asked each new client that exact question. Of the five services listed in the article, why did you chose Podcast Branding? Do you know what they said? Of the five services, my website looked the most professional and gave them the most confidence. Over a dozen people were willing to place an order, knowing I was more expensive than the other four services, solely based on how my website looks. It's my presentation. It’s the perceived value they get from ordering through me. The clients told me why. Here are some of the comments I received from these new clients. “I wanted to deal with a professional, and I got that from your website.” “I wanted to work with someone who understands the podcast space, and your site clearly indicated that you do.” “Your website looked more professional than the others.” “I wanted to deal with a real designer, not someone on Fiverr or 99designs and your website impressed me more than the other two designers listed in the article.” Even though I’m the most expensive service listed, the perceived value of what I offer was enough for over a dozen people to invest a bit more of their money with me to get their artwork designed right. I have no way of knowing how much new business the other four sources received from the article. Maybe they got more than me. But I don’t care about t