Be the highest price option in your industry

Let’s talk about pricing. I’ve been in business for just about 10 years. I started as a freelancer and I’ve built an agency. I have six employees and I’m at multi-six figures and have been for several years. But there’s a mythology around the multi-six figure web consulting, training, and website management business– a kind of mystery. People often wonder: How do I get there and what does it take? Does this mean I’m rich? I would like to share the process of how I achieved a six figure business. In order to grow your business to multi-six figures you need to get comfortable with raising your prices. Perhaps you find yourself asking: “Am I charging enough for my services?” The answer is that you need to raise your prices. That should not be a question. You may be worried that some of your clients won’t be able to afford higher prices. And that’s normal. Some of your customers won’t be able to afford your new pricing. And that’s okay because raising your prices can attract a different set of clients who can afford your pricing. You will have to get comfortable with hearing “No” or “I can’t afford your pricing right now” if you want to grow into a multi-six figure business. For example, sometimes people call my office and ask to work with us but they cannot afford our services when we state our prices. My team and I think of this as a “Not right now” instead of “Never.” In time, these prospects may be able to afford our services. I encourage you to become the highest prices in your industry. Customers who can afford your higher prices are often used to paying a premium price for services. When I started out offering training services, I offered a period of five-week in-person session format with a group of people. I charged 20 dollars per session and the first session was free. About 18 people showed up to the first session. Nine people showed up for the next class. At the end of the program, only about six people were consistently showing up. So a bunch of people said, “No.” They didn’t see the value. Maybe they didn’t have the time or money to afford my services. Based on that experience, I made changes. I tweaked my service offering and I started charging $450 for a comprehensive training. This new format lasted eight hours over two days. Surprisingly, almost everyone said “Yes”. I made more money. I was happy about that. I started thinking about hiring an employee to help conduct training sessions. Then, I decided to raise my price to over a thousand dollars. I thought my prospects might completely dry. I feared that no one would agree to that price point. But we actually had more people sign up for training. I didn’t see any decrease at all even though I had more than doubled my price. This time was also successful. I was booked out until weeks in advance. I begin to wonder, “Why haven’t I been charging this price all along?” I encourage you to take this leap too.