Today we talked about pricing your services: how to set your prices, communicate them confidently, and get paid for the value you provide.
Here are some of the highlights:
- Pick a niche. Define your audience. Be a big fish in a small pond. When you’re that expert in that small pond you can charge more. You know where to find your clients. You know how to speak to them and connect with them. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel with every project – the faster you deliver the more money you make.
- Be different. If you look like everyone else, you are going to be chosen based on bargaining for the lowest price. People choose you based on your differentness not your sameness. STAND OUT and don’t be afraid to turn off some people.
- Be the expert. Not the service provider. When you are the expert you are in control. You are a fine-tuned machine with fine-tuned processes. If you’re a service provider the client is in control and get ready for MAJOR SCOPE CREEP.
- Have an hourly rate. Even though you’re mostly charging on a per-project basis, have an hourly rate you can throw around for ‘consulting’ and scope creep.
Some of the gems from the meeting:
- Think about charging for your ‘discovery’ process. When people are getting a proposal from you it takes a lot of your time, and it could be a way for them to defer making a decision.
- Think about every client not as a customer, but as a ‘value partnership’
- If there is a typical price range for the service you provide, always charge at the top of the range.
Next month (Wednesday, October 13th) we’ll be talking about Branding and marketing your core service.