I’ve been invited to speak about “Four signals your pricing has gone stale” for the Freelance Business Community.
Fresh from that mindset, let me present you with four surefire ways to tell your price needs to change, in a nutshell:
- People are telling you – Every prospect says “yes” without negotiating. That feels good in the moment, but if your price is low enough to satisfy even the penny pinchers, it’s too low.
- You sell, and feel bad – You finish brilliant work, write the invoice, and feel that familiar stomach knot, angry at yourself for the price you accepted. Happened to me, frequently.
- Not meeting your goals – Even working at your maximum capacity, you feel you still won’t hit your financial targets or life goals, no matter how much sleep you sacrifice.
- Not even close to value – There’s a brutal disconnect between what you deliver and what you charge. The better you get, the faster you work, the less you get paid for the same amount of work. Your expertise becomes your punishment.
Please don’t think I’m judging you.
I went through all of them, and so did hundreds of others.
These things never feel entirely within our control.
But let’s start with this:
Pick the signal that made you wince the most. What could you change about it to allow yourself to charge 30% more? If you then write down three thoughts, at least one will contain an actionable step. Then, go and make it.