I’ve talked before about the perils of overpricing your services. But what if you’re underpricing them?
There are a few telltale signs that it’s time to raise your rates.
Maybe you have a nagging feeling that you could be charging more, but you’re afraid to make the leap. Perhaps you feel a tad resentful after a full day of client work. Or maybe you feel like you’re stuck at a money setpoint and just can’t push past the plateau.
If you want to charge more but aren’t sure where to start, this post is for you.
You CAN sell your services at higher rates, but it takes a specific strategy. And that’s exactly what I’m going to share with you today.
Double Your Rates with Integrity
Before we get to today’s training, I know what’s about to happen.
You are going to look at the video and think, “Jenny, I don’t have time to watch a 12 minute video!”
I hear you.
But really, is that true?
Ask yourself: What would happen if you doubled your rates? What impact would that have on your business, your life, your relationships… everything?
The truth is you can’t NOT make the time to watch this training, if you want to make more in your business without working yourself to the bone.
Grab a pen and a paper to take notes, get comfy, and dive in. It’s going to be a game-changer for your business.
Now that you see how to double your rates in a way that provides tremendous value to your clients, it’s time to take action!
My Personal Recommendation for You5 Signs It’s Time to Raise Your RatesYour Action Steps
To get results, you have to follow through, and that’s exactly what I’m going to help you with right now (just like I do with my clients).
Step 1. Watch the whole video. (Yes, I saw you click ahead. You gotta watch all of it, my friend!) Take notes and see what you need to do to double your rates with integrity.
Step 2. Based on what I shared in the video, tell me where your gaps are when it comes to raising your rates. What areas of your business need to be addressed before you can implement this change?
Step 3. Download this free cheat sheet to help you follow through and create your new packages.
Leave a comment below and fill me in! I want to help, but you’ve got to tell me where your gaps are.
I can’t wait to see you double your rates (without doubling your workload). You’ve got this!
Hi Jenny,
Loved this video.
For me the gaps that come are strategic and copy writing.
I recently created bite size offers that went like hot cakes. I normalized the price on one, but it’s still undercharging. In your video, I realized I”m doing the right things, but will need more thing before I can up the price and feel good about it. O
For me, the next few months are about getting the funnel to work properly. I’m putting a new e-course and offers that people will love. They are not expensive. once I have it in place and it’s working, I will focus on what comes next. I need a bigger package, but don’t know what it is at the moment.
Once I have it – I will check-in with my prices.That was the decision I made about a month ago when I saw Kendrick’s email about charging premium prices. I”m getting paid in testimonials. I’m having fun.
I also have someone helping me with the copy writing (more like mentoring me). If only I could sprinkle love dust on every email!
Thank you for this. This helped me get clarity.
Good personal insights, Nathalie. It’s so important to see what you own gaps are so you can close them! Too often people try to make a jump in their biz (like increasing their rates) without considering what else needs to change to make that jump successful.
I love that you have an action plan for yourself so you know what needs to happen and you can take action on it. Keep up the forward momentum, and thank you for sharing!
Hi Jenny,
This was a great mini-training! What I noticed for me was a gap in my money mindset. I immediately cringed when you worked from the top down and said “take what you’re currently charging and double it!” My brain said “Can I really charge $7000 for a 6 month program?”
Another gap would be the strategic marketing to get clients in the funnel. I still need to download the cheat sheet and work it through, but this is what came up for me after watching the video.
Thanks again for another amazing share!
Christine
I love that you can see your gaps, Christine. That’s the first step to closing them.
You bring up such a great point about charging more; it’s really common for people to have that question. The trick to answering it is by asking DIFFERENT questions. New questions. Next level questions.
For example, what would need to b included to make it worth $7000? How would YOU as a coach have to change to provide that value? And how can you make that happen? (I love helping my clients find answers to these questions for their own businesses.)
At the same time, maybe jumping to $7k isn’t the best move, but a more incremental upgrade is. This is where, as you learn to look at your business from that higher level, that you can play with new ways of doing your work and providing incredible value for clients.
I’m excited for you to learn these next level tricks, because I know you, once you understand them, you’ll go crush it 🙂
Thanks so much for this training Jenny!
I have a huge tech gap. I’m getting better slowly but it’s a learning curve. The simplest things take me forever to figure out or stay undone since I no longer have a budget for a VA.
I’m also still tightening up on sales and follow up. I think that’s priority because getting better at those will create the income I need to keep going.
I am long on passion, ideas, and I love love LOVE what I do, so I know I’ll get there.
Tech certainly can be a hurdle, no doubt about it!
Have you seen if you could find a VA you could trade with for dating tips? Might be a fun barter to help you both out.
Keep working on the sales and follow up — I know that time spent there will pay off. I’m cheering you on!!!
Great video – thanks for so much great info! I loved re-thinking my offer through your process.
I feel like I have gaps with all of these items on the list, even though I’m working on them all. There’s definitely more room for love, attention and improvement.
That said, it’s so exciting to think about my favorite offering and thinking about ways to help it deliver even more and charging more for it. I think typically like to over-deliver, but don’t usually think to charge more for it (money blocks, bah…).
Thank you!!
You’re welcome, Katy! So glad it helped you think through your offers.
It’s definitely important to look at and address your gaps, so I’m thrilled to hear you’re working through them. Sounds like money might be one? What else?
I ask because often people think that charging more is a money block but often it’s not! It’s often a sales or marketing or packaging or value-added block, and I love helping my clients see that when addressed right, it can be an easy fix 🙂
Fill me in, and maybe I can help.
Hi Jenny,
I am in the trenches of Marie Forleo’s B-School right now, came across your name in one of the lessons and have been following you ever since. Just wanted to let you know that I love your posts and I’m getting a lot out of them to compliment what I’m learning in B-School.
Love your energy!
Joanne
Thank you, Joanne! B-School was such a great program for me when I was starting my business, and I’m happy to hear you’re enjoying it, too! I was honored to be featured in Marie’s program, and I love helping women connect the dots they learn there into tangible results and action here on my blog.
Nice meeting you, and I hope to see you more and more 🙂
Thank you, Jenny! B-School is awesome in a ‘kick in the pants’ kind of way! It’s made me think deeply and I cannot believe how much I’ve learned in the past 4 weeks.
One of my biggest challenges is trying to overcome my thought that I need to get every single thing done and perfected before I launch my business, even though Marie stresses ‘progress, not perfection’. I feel like if I don’t have everything perfect, I won’t come across as credible.
Did you feel this way?
PS…the new website rocks. I love the visual simplicity but clear message about what you do.
Joanne
I totally understand this feeling, Joanne! The biggest thing to remember is that people don’t really know you yet and you don’t have tons of traffic. This isn’t a dig, just a reminder about reality. The awesome thing is that it means you can keep working on your site and make it good enough now to put it out in the world.
For my Make It Work Online clients, I tell them that HOW you ENGAGE with people is so much more important than how perfect your site is. People want “real” and “authentic” not perfectly polished — so if you just show up and be of service in the most awesome way, then you’re ahead of 90% of everyone else out there who is hiding behind imperfection.
Here’s a post that might help you:
https://jennyshih.com/2012/02/how-to-stop-fear-and-perfectionism-from-holding-you-back/
Keep up the good work!!
My gap is overcoming perceptions. The services I offer (online/social media/web) are increasingly perceived as something people can get for free/cheap or figure out how to do it themselves using Google, thus there’s resistance to paying at ALL, let alone more. Developing packages that offer undeniable ROI and that overcome this resistance is my challenge. I’m loving the video – and all of your emails – because they are helping me stay in the zone for fabulous product development.
You’re wonderful, Jenny!
Maggie
We can get just about anything online for free by Googling, but it’s the organization, delivery, structure, and personal touch that makes paying for services worth it — and that’s a big part of the undeniable ROI you’re taking about.
I’m glad you’re ready to overcome this challenge, and I’m cheering you on as you make this change!
Thank you, Jenny! That was an amazing brainstorming session! So glad I picked up a pen and hit “pause” when you said to. 😉
My gap is definitely in sales skills and follow-up. What helped me when I sold the original version of the package I’m updating was to imagine that it wasn’t my program — that it was a program I had heard about. Would I be excited to tell my clients about it! Heck yes!
Now that I’ve got really fantastic, concrete ideas for how to make this program even better (thanks to this quick training), I’m going to tap into that excitement to tell my list, as well as my online and offline networking communities, all about it. It will help them so much, and ultimately, connecting to that is what makes selling work for me. Thanks for the great content and your unbeatable attitude!
I’m so glad you did, too! Such great insights you have on what your next steps are and how to take action. I’m so excited for you.
Keep me posted on how it goes — I totally want to know (and cheer you on)!
Hi, Jenny!
Great video, even for beginners! I can see how I need to build my foundations for products and services.
Thank you for the generous tips!
Brenna
I definitely need to double my rates, but my gap is that I’m a “ghostblogger” and it’s hard for me to measure results for my clients. Content is a long-term game, and a lot of the success (especially for ghostwriting) is based on how much my clients promote the content I create for them. Not only this, I don’t have access to their traffic stats, nor can I know if they got a new client or opportunity because of a piece I wrote for them.
I can look up the URL on BuzzSumo to see social shares, but I don’t know where else to go to measure results. I don’t really promote (on social media) ghostwritten posts because I don’t want to give away that I’m the author. Also, the posts don’t target my clients, they target my clients’ clients. Mind you, I always “like” the social posts my clients share, but I don’t schedule my own shares of them.
One of the most common mistakes I see people making is that they try to measure or quantify results in terms of dollars or weight lost or something with numbers. However, the results you want to measure are the results that your client hires you for!
As a ghostwriter, your clients are hiring you because they need more time to dedicate to other areas of their business or they want to spend less time writing. Or maybe they need to not tax their creative brain and like to outsource their thinking to a writer.
At the same time, your clients might have some goals for your writing for them. For example, maybe they want you to elevate their expert status or increase their likability or improve how well they communicate.
Speak with your clients about their goals for your writing so you can make sure you’re delivering on them — and then over-delivering. Some of your clients may not have even thought about these things, but if you open up the conversation, they might get excited about what you can do.
Then the more you do those things for them, the more valuable you are!
As someone who has hired many writers over the years, it’s easy to see that the people who “just write” are far less valuable than the ones who assess, fill gaps, elevate my free content, and write.
How you interact with your client is also a measure of your value. I’ve worked with writers who are defensive, entitled, and territorial — no, thank you! I’ve also worked with writers who are collaborative, easy-going, flexible, insightful, open, and easy to work with — yes, please!
The value you provide for clients is so much more than just a piece of writing, and the more you can see these different facets, the better you’ll be able to cater to your clients, raise your prices, and do the best work in the world.
Hope this helps!
I’m so jazzed about this!! Literally, last night I was panicking about raising my rates and didn’t know if I could do it. After watching this video I’m EXCITED and ready to improve my program exponentially. I have a long list of all of the resources I want to create for my resource vault. As for my gaps, I’m going to tighten up my copywriting and my sales call script. I’m going to highlight the results of my results even more! I’m getting to work and already building out my big-picture biz strategy! Thanks again, Jenny.
YESSSS! Exactly, Gabby. Yes, once you see how to think about your offers and your rates in this way, it feels good to make changes and increase your rates. I’m excited for you!