I have recently been giving my Signature Talk “Charge What You Are Worth” in many cities and locations. And every single time, it’s a full house, either sold out, or close to it, and sometimes, it’s oversold.
This tells me that this is a subject that is very personal and dear to many entrepreneurs.
Charging enough for you to leverage your time, and create more income from your products and/or services is one of the KEY things I coach so many of my clients on, because it doesn’t matter what else we create in their business, from marketing, to systems, to branding & client attraction, if they don’t have this part handled, they will struggle financially and likely burnout from overwork.
Yet, while so many recognize low pricing as a problem, and to be honest, it is a symptom of much deeper issues, there are many other ways these issues show up, that have entrepreneurs regularly, under earn by leaving thousands of dollars on the table.
Undercharging shows up in many forms
While there are many ways that undervaluing yourself and undercharging can show up in business, today we are going to focus on 5 key areas where you may be giving away your power with money, and losing out on income.
#1 Bartering and Trading
Every time I bring up this topic I usually get a lot of “yeah but”‘s or outright resistance. However I remain unapologetic in my stance about bartering and trading. It’s rarely EVER a fair trade (see my previous article).
By putting a monetary value on your services you allow yourself to be compensated in currency that you can exchange for as many services as you desire. When you barter, you limit your choices to the service in front of you, that you may or may not want.
Bartering can result in you giving away thousands of dollars of your services without equal compensation and choices in return.
#2 Letting People Pick Your Brain
Coffee dates, questions, phone calls, you name it, there are plenty of ways that people may contact you looking to get advice without paying you for it. And to be “nice” or to provide value hoping to expand their network, many entrepreneurs fall for this trap.
The thing is, this rarely, if ever leads to business. What it leads to is the entrepreneur creating a reputation that they are the “free” source of information to anyone who needs advice.
Your brain and knowledge cost you a lot of time, and life and money to get it to the point where it is “pickable” – so don’t devalue that by giving it away for free.
The next time someone offers to buy you a coffee or lunch in exchange for picking your brain, let them know your fee and offer to buy THEM lunch. You will profit much more this way!
# 3 Not renegotiating when the client wants more than agreed upon
The truth of the matter is that when your client wants more it’s a GOOD thing, it means they value what you deliver and are getting benefit and they want more.
And often times they aren’t really trying to get more than they paid for, and it only seems like they are “demanding”, when in fact, they just want more of YOU and don’t realize the boundaries or agreement.
By simply offering your clients an extended or additional package in these times you can provide them with what they truly need, and add tens of thousands of dollars of income each year.
#4 Over-Delivering
I love what my mentor drilled into my head “Nafissa, you don’t have to give them everything you know and you don’t have to give them everything they need”.
The truth is, they can’t handle it! And instead of a satisfied happy client, you end up with an overloaded, overwhelmed and frustrated client, who likely is not going to want to reinvest with you.
My advice is to give them what they can handle in bite size chunks, so that they can experience and amazing result, are more than happy with what they achieve, and yet are still wanting more.
#5 Charging by the hour
Even if you charge for every single minute you work for your client, there are only 24 hours in a day.
AND there is still all your admin time, business development time, marketing time, and professional development time, to name just a few, that you need to spend in your business to be effective. None of that is billable time! But it’s not work you should be doing for free!
When you charge by the hour, you limit your income and make yourself a commodity. This is one of the first things I teach my clients to overcome when we revamp their business models.
Need Some Help?
All of these actions truly are symptoms of deeper issues and underlying beliefs about your value, and what you are worth.
Left untouched, they can result in entrepreneurs under-earning by tens of thousands of dollars each year.
If you are struggling with any of the above, or how to position and price your services, I invite you to reach out an apply for a complimentary Income Acceleration Session where I will help you identify how to Charge What You Are Worth and Get It.
Share Your Comments: