How much did you pay for your smartphone? The average iPhone user spends roughly $1,000 per year for the cost of the device, cellular service, accessories, etc.

Is it worth it? Almost 250 million were sold last year so it obviously is, but by how much?

What would you need to be paid NOT to have an iPhone or comparable smartphone?

Several prominent studies have been done around the concept of “Willingness to Accept” or “WTA”.

WTA studies are a framework to determine the exact dollar amount a consumer requires to willingly forfeit a service or product. The dollar amount is an excellent estimation of the perceived value they gain from using it.

One study of high net worth individuals from JPMorgan Private Bank Research showed that 75% of their 1,500 respondents needed $100,000 or more to give up their phone for one month.

Perhaps high net worth people value their phones more than the average person but broader studies indicate the number to be anywhere from $5,000 to over $10,000 per year.

The point is, whether it’s $5,000 or $100,000, most people perceive they are getting multiples of value from the device relative to what it costs them.

This applies to more than smartphones. Almost all products and services that persist in a free marketplace have high give-to-ask ratios.

If you or your product or service is unknown, the give-to-ask ratio must be even higher. Imagine you’re a new smartphone provider entering the market against Apple and Samsung. If the features are similar, the price must be lower. If the price is similar you must offer more in the way of features, extras or other value.

How high does your give-to-ask ratio need to be if you’re new?

To quote the internet marketer Alex Hormozi, “You have to give until they ask.”

I recently launched Valotare, a small business valuation and due diligence platform. It gives owners and prospective buyers institutional-grade analysis in a fraction of the usual time and cost.

Valotare solves both sides of the same coin. It gives an objective, outsider's view of a business and shows how its strengths and gaps drive the valuation. The seller who's too close to price it clearly and the buyer sizing up a business they don't know are asking the same question from opposite ends.

For both, trust is everything. They're weighing a large financial transaction and have to hand over sensitive information to get the analysis. They're not going to hand that to just anyone.

That's the whole reason the give-to-ask ratio matters to me right now. Nobody trusts a decision this size from someone they first heard of from a cold email or an ad on Facebook.

Valotare tells owners the truth about what their business is worth. They only value that truth if they already believe I know what I'm talking about.

No one cares that I've valued billions of dollars of assets, or that I'm a CFA® charterholder. People care about what problem I can solve for them, and they want proof I can solve it.

So I give the thinking away first. A free quiz shows an owner how ready their business is to sell. Their results trigger a free guide on how a buyer might read the gaps it found.

Each one is a small proof. Stack enough of them and by the time I ask, I'm no longer a stranger making claims. I'm someone who has already been right in front of them.

Most of the people I help will never buy from me. Some will never even reply.

I'm giving anyway, because people keep a rough ledger of who helped them when there was nothing in it for the helper. Every useful thing I put out adds to my side of that ledger.

When I finally ask, the ask lands against months of deposits. It doesn't feel like a pitch. It feels like the obvious next move with someone who has already earned it.

This one surprises most people but your “free thing” has to actually be good.

The value I provide through giving has to stand on its own.

The discipline of being useful with nothing coming back is the same discipline that will make the paid assessment worth paying for.

Give-maxing isn't just how I'm marketing Valotare. It's making Valotare better because the free stuff has to be valuable which sets the bar even higher for the paid part of the service.

Give-maxing sounds noble until you have to figure out what to actually give.

The good news is that giving has never been cheaper. A single piece of genuine value can reach thousands of people at almost no marginal cost.

It can take many forms:

The format matters less than the discipline behind it. Give something real. Then give again. Then give again. Ask only when you've earned it, and you'll find the ask was never the hard part.

Most people ask too soon. The whole edge is in giving one more time before you do.

My goal with The Leap is to provide you each Saturday with the knowledge, tools and lessons learned to help you get started and keep going toward building your future. 

Whether you are making the leap to startups, solo-entrepreneurship, freelancing, side hustles or other creative ventures, the tools and strategies to succeed in each are similar.