How to Price Yourself: Tips, Tricks, and Common Mistakes

Tune in or read the blog version below!

Introduction

Hello, hello, my loves today on the podcast, we are diving into a topic that is so important for any entrepreneur or online business, and it’s often awkward or hard to talk about – and that is how to price yourself.

Pricing can be daunting. It really is, especially when you’re just starting out, nd I think that because it’s not talked about enough.

Clients get really frazzled when I ask them, well, what are you going to price this at? Especially if it’s your first online product or service.

But let me tell you, getting your pricing right can be the difference between thriving in your business, gaining that confidence. and also maintaining really healthy profit margins versus crashing and burning in your business.

Whether you’re a coach, a creative, or any type of online product or service provider, understanding how to price your services is crucial.

In this episode I’m going to share with all of you some tips on tricks, and common mistakes I see when working with my clients, and hopefully it’ll give you the push you need to charge what you are worth and know exactly what to price your next offer at.

Understand Your Value

First and foremost, pricing starts with understanding your value in the market and it is essentially an exchange of energy.

Oftentimes I see my clients get imposter syndrome, they are comparing themselves to other business owners who have been in the market for 5 years, or they feel that they’re not experienced enough to charge what they think is a higher rate or a high ticket offer.

So I want you to ask yourself if you’re in this position, what value do you bring to your clients?

It’s really important at this point to ignore everything out there in the market. This is an honest conversation you’re having as a business owner, and you are seeing what value you are bringing to them, not just in terms of deliverables, but also any secondary benefits.

If you are a virtual assistant, not only are you delivering on what tasks that you have completed, you’re also saving time. You’re also increasing their confidence because they have so much more time to do other things in their business. If you are a relationship coach, it’s not just helping them get into their perfect, healthy relationship.

It’s also improving their self awareness, improving their self esteem, self confidence. And do you see how you are shaping your offer around the value you bring the transformation from A to B versus just the number of hours worked?

So for example, in the Business Academy, I teach you the strategies to make $5,000 a month and more.

So although this is in course format, the transformation that I get people from making 0 a month to $5,000 a month, I then get to ask myself, how much would people pay for this? How much would they be willing to invest for this transformation?

That’s why I price the Business Academy at $1,000.

Another example, let’s say you are a photographer, your client isn’t just paying you for the two hours that you spend shooting, they’re also paying you for the years of experience you have in your industry, your creative eye, their trust in you to capture their vision and what it is they want to bring to life.

They have to compensate for the hours of editing and the final products that will last them a lifetime of memories. 

Come up with a number that feels good to you. Come up with a number that feels like an even exchange of energy for what you are offering versus what your client receives.

Reflect On Your Pricing

After you spend an hour or two thinking this over, really sitting down with yourself to think about what you think is a fair price, I want to ask you, how do you feel about it?

How do you feel about the price you’re setting for your first offer or service? As a new business owner, especially your mindset around money and pricing can really make or break your confidence because you’re kind of fishing for that validation.

You’re waiting for the first client to sign up with you and say, hell yes, so that you can feel confident as a business owner. And that’s when you can really say to yourself, Oh my gosh, I’m doing this. I’m making sales, I’m getting clients.

So we want to make sure you feel good about this. You feel confident to promote the price that you are setting for yourself.

Feel Good About Your Price

So my first tip for you is to start with what feels right to you.

If you feel uncomfortable with a price, chances are that when you are marketing this product or service, you’re going to convey that to your clients. You’re going to need all the confidence.

So you want to be firmly standing behind the price you are offering.

And as a reminder, for this exercise, for the purpose of coming up with your first price, ignore what’s out there in the market for now.

I know it sounds counterintuitive, but when you are just first starting out, ignore what’s out there. Eventually, yes, you’re going to want to research competitors and understand your industry standards, but in the very beginning, comparing yourself to people who have been in business for many more years can lead to doubt and confusion.

So focus on your own journey and what you currently bring to the table.

A Pricing Exercise If You’re Still Not Sure

If you are still struggling and you really can’t come up with a range at all, there’s no intuitive, ‘I should be charging this for my first client or my first customer’.

Then an exercise that I have for you, I’ve gone through this with a few of my clients, is to start with an hourly rate.

This can be super simple. If you are offering a service, I want you to calculate how many hours total are you going to dedicate to that one client to complete this service.

If it’s a one hour consultation call, how many hours beforehand do you need to prep? How many hours after are you going to spend with the client if they have any remaining questions?

How many hours did it take you for maybe setting up a pre call questionnaire? And let’s say the total amount of hours is five. Now you can ask yourself, how much do I want to get paid per hour? Maybe you start with 20 an hour. And so for that one hour consultation, you can charge 100. For that first service as a starting point.

This is a very fair calculated approach to pricing and it works for some people. It works if you really want to just like have the numbers and multiply it and come up with a price.

Know that this can always change. Know that you can always increase it after. And know that as your experience grows, you’re able to raise your pricing.

So I don’t want you to see this as like a concrete statement. set in stone point, but it’s a great starting point. Having your own personal hourly rate, it could just be a number that you keep in the back of your mind.

What Your Time Is Worth

Having that number really helps when you are spending your time doing something and you’re wondering if it’s worth your time.

So if you are not making $20 an hour in that time that you spend doing whatever it is you’re questioning, then it’s a great opportunity for you to say, no, there are better things I can be working on in my business.

Over time, the hourly rate is obviously going to increase. It might go up to $50, then $100, then $500.

And then at a certain point, Your confidence with what you say yes to and what you say no to will be just so clear. If you are going to wait an extra half an hour in line to get like cheaper gas down the street, you can ask yourself, am I going to be saving 250 with this 30 minute wait?

Or is it better to just pay full price and work on my business so I can actually make 500 an hour?

I guarantee you over time as your experience and your confidence increases, so will your hourly rate. 

Pricing Tips & Tricks

In the second half of this episode, I would love to share some tricks with pricing that you can implement in your own business and common mistakes that you can make, that I see.

Finish Your Pricing In A 7 Or 9

So the first tip that I recommend is to price with an ending in either seven or nine. This is a very interesting phenomenon.

It has been tried and tested. I have run many ads to different offers at different pricing, but consumers and clients think it is cheaper when it ends in a seven or nine.

So instead of selling something at a hundred dollars, offer it at $97 or $99. Same thing with any digital products that you may have on sales pages.

Offer Flexible Payment Plans

The next tip is to offer very flexible payment plans, and don’t be afraid if they go outside the delivery window.

I’ll see a lot of people, they offer three month payment plans for a three month coaching program. Let’s say the full price coaching package is $3,000, and they offer a payment plan of three months of $1,100.

Go one step farther and offer a six month payment plan, even though it is outside of the scope.

Some people may argue against this, but I’ve seen significant improvements with payments. When they are at a lower price point that people can afford, they see the value in your coaching and they continue afterwards because it is affordable to them and they see the results.

It really captures the interest of clients who originally might not be ready to commit to large upfront payments or larger payments, but they still really want to work with you.

I had a client who broke up her power session, or she called it a skyrocket session, into two monthly payments. It was just a 90 minute session, but she offered a flexible payment plan and saw so many more people sign up that day because it was offered.

If you want to take it a step further, offer it at 0 percent interest. So you’re not even charging an extra five, 10, 15 percent on top of it. That makes it extremely attractive.

I’ve seen this many times with online courses. Those are usually the ones that I personally sign up for as well.

So if you can offer a flexible payment option, that’s a hell yes on both sides. That is a win win.

Of course, people are going to tell you a percentage of them are going to default or not complete their payments. But in my experience and in many of my clients experiences, the percentage is negligible.

Like the amount of new signups you’re gonna get on because of this flexible payment plan. It’s going to outweigh the people who don’t finish.

Offer Beta Trials Or Flash Sales

The other tip I have, and I recommend, if you are ever launching a new product or service, offer a beta trial. So offer your new service at a discount or even for free in return for testimonials and knowledge on your own workflow and to get comfortable with what you are offering.

If it’s not your first time offering this product or service, what you can also do is introduce a flash pricing offer. So it can be when they sign up in the next few weeks, they get a special discount or they get a special payment plan that’s not usually offered.

Basically it’s just a marketing strategy where you can create your own hype. You’re still getting paid, you’re still getting the same amount of money and you’re just getting more people signed up.

Common Pricing Mistakes

Pricing Too High, Too Soon

One of the biggest mistakes that I see new entrepreneurs making is pricing too high too soon. And this usually happens when they’re comparing themselves to others in the market who have been in business for many, many more years, and they have many, many more testimonials.

Don’t get me wrong, like I’m all about knowing your worth and charging what you deserve.

But if you’re an entrepreneur who gets very freaked out and you kind of like shy away when you don’t see that instant validation in terms of people signing up, when you’re new in business, you’ll need to build trust experience and your own confidence.

If you see your confidence dwindling because no one’s paying you for that high ticket offer, it might be a sign that you’re pricing too high too soon.

Start with a price that feels good. So start with a price that feels good to you as a business owner and to your client. Seeing your new business. And this brings me back to the first step, which is, do you feel good about this price? Do you feel like it’s too high? If you feel like it’s too high, it’s probably a sign that it is too high.

As you gain more experience. more testimonials and more confidence, you can gradually raise your prices. So after you get your first three clients or your first three customers, you can increase your price. You don’t want to scare away potential clients and make yourself feel uncomfortable about your own services.

Pricing Too Low, For Too Long

The other pricing mistake that I see a lot is pricing way too low for an extended period of time. So pricing low to gain confidence for something that takes an hour or a month, that’s okay.

But I’ve had clients who priced too low for a six month coaching offer, and you’re stuck in that contract. with maybe a really, really needy client who’s taking up so much of your time.

So the takeaways from this, if you are offering a longer term package, make sure you are overestimating the number of hours you are putting towards that client. so that you feel fairly compensated and have strict boundaries with maybe times of day where they have access to you, how much access they have to you, set your boundaries clearly because it’s going to make your life so much easier when you don’t have all your clients trying to get your attention with something that they can do themselves or something that’s not in their contract.

Conclusion

I want to end this episode by saying again, pricing is all about confidence. So you need to own your rates. If you feel insecure or doubtful about your pricing, your potential clients will feel it also. I’ve seen this over and over again. Confidence in your pricing comes from knowing your worth, the value you deliver and the market you are in.

So if you want to practice saying your prices out loud before you say them to your client or customer, say them out loud every single day, get comfortable with them so that when the time comes, you deliver your pricing confidently without any hesitation. If you have any questions about pricing, you can always DM me on Instagram. 

And there you have it! My tips, tricks and common mistakes to avoid when pricing yourself. Thank you so much for tuning in. If you’ve found this episode helpful, take a screenshot and tag @thewanderlover, @thewanderloverpodcast so I can repost you. I hope you all have an amazing week! Love you all.

If you’ve enjoyed this episode, it would mean so much if you could leave a review on Apple Podcasts. This helps us spread The Wanderlover mission to those who need a dose of inspiration today.

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