Recently, I read a story for my marketing class at Columbia about the pricing of Gibson guitars. At one point, the Gibson Guitar Corporation lowered its prices to compete with Japanese guitar rivals, such as Yamaha and Ibanez. Surprisingly, Gibson found that its guitars weren’t selling well at lower prices.

Why? Put simply, it’s because pricing provides a consumer with an indication of how much something is worth.What differentiated Gibson from Tamaha and Ibanez was that while the latter brands were sacrificing quality to be price leaders in the guitar market, Gibson Corporation did quite the opposite: they made beautiful guitars by hand. No shortcuts, and no substitutions. This was Gibson’s key value proposition, and it was lost on the customer once the company decided to lower its prices. This is a classic example of the inverse demand curve, which occurs when it comes to pricing something that’s viewed as having exceptional value.

As individuals, we each offer some kind of exceptional value. We may not be guitars, but we can learn a few things from Gibson Corporation’s pricing story:

1.) Don’t try to be someone you’re not.
Gibson wasn’t offering consumers a cheap guitar. By lowering the prices, Gibson was creating dissonance between the number they put on a tag (one indicator of value) and customer perception (another indicator of value). By trying to compete with guitar brands that had a different target market and positioning strategy, Gibson lost.

In the same way, we lose when we try to be someone we’re not. If you are great at writing, don’t go into investment banking just because people are telling you to worry about being poor (…compared to an investment banker, you will be. But, there’s no better pay than doing what you love. If you love writing, that’s what you need to do). 

If you want to be a pediatrician, but your dad is nudging you to follow in his footsteps and be a lawyer…you know what to do. Start studying for the MCATs. If you are an entry-level employee, don’t act like you are the boss. And, if you’re someone who is naturally inclined toward introversion, don’t pretend to be an extrovert.

If you try to be anyone other than who you are, you’ll lose. Not just job opportunities, the chance at a fulfilling career, or strong personal relationships. You’ll lose sight of your personal integrity and self-awareness, too. Stay true to your strengths and passions.

2.) Stop devaluing yourself.

You are only worth as much as you believe you are worth. If you place high value on your skills and personal being, that internal self-affirmation will speak volumes about your “price”.

Wonder why you haven’t gotten a raise? Why people take advantage of you? Why you seem to get hurt constantly in relationships?

…All of the above are byproducts of you settling for less than you deserve. If you truly understood how valuable you are, you probably would never settle for being paid less than the amount and quality of work you’re putting into something (and by ‘paid’, I don’t just mean monetary payment. Soft benefits, intellectual stimulation, and job satisfaction are all forms of payment, too). 

You also wouldn’t let other people take advantage of you- and in fact, the people who would even think to take advantage of you wouldn’t be in your life to begin with. If you knew your value, you’d never settle into a relationship with someone who didn’t bring out your best and love you for who you genuinely are. 

Pricing matters. It tells a story about how much something is worth. Realize that you are the one who sets the price. If you set it too low, people will find it harder to see the value in you that they should. 

So, what ‘price’ are you placing on yourself? How much do you think you’re worth?

I’m going to guess that you are offering a bigger discount for your time, effort, and love than most people deserve.Remember your value, and price accordingly. It’ll automatically weed out the people who aren’t willing to spend the effort keeping high quality people like you in their lives.