Many coaches think: “I’m new at this and need to gain experience. I will raise my prices later.” But many wait too late to save themselves. Don’t let this be you.
Are you waiting for some abstract sense of worthiness before you price enough to keep yourself in business?
Maybe you thought: “Lower pricing will help me get more clients in the long run.”
I thought that too once, but I know for sure that the opposite is true. You will have to market far more than you are willing if you keep your pricing in student mode.
There is a lot of shadow about pricing your services in a way that cannot possibly sustain you or keep you in business. It is a form of self-sabotage. It’s time to align your money mindset with your coaching career goals.
Let’s do some breakthrough thinking, dissolve the typical limiting beliefs so you can be smart about your pricing from now on — no matter how long you’ve been a coach.
Breakthrough #1 — Investing is Empowering
After 23 years of working with clients, I believe with all my heart that when you charge well for your services, everyone wins.
It comes down to this … when people invest in themselves, they get more out of the experience. When you charge prices that feel like an investment to your clients they will invest energetically into their own growth. It’s a win – win.
Charging too low of fees to sustain you is a lose – lose.
Don’t get me wrong … you don’t need to gouge people. Simply honor yourself. Do what is really right for you in your business. Model that to your clients. Then you truly embody your own vision of success.
Because if your business doesn’t make it, you won’t be able to help anyone — not yourself, your family or your now and future clients.
Think of times when you’ve invested in yourself from your own pocket. You were, in that moment, at the cause of your life rather than the effect.
And the more you focused on receiving the benefits from your investment, the more you evolved. It’s empowering in a life changing way.
The reverse is also true. When you pay for something that isn’t at least a bit of a stretch there’s less intention to squeeze all the value out of that thing.
You become empowered by earning. And I’m not talking about driving yourself towards a business that steals life away from you. I’m talking about feeling fulfilled while you ensure that you can stay in business.
When you realize that you can earn well you step more fully into your personal power — it is part of self-actualization.
Hear this … earning your livelihood as a coach takes nothing away from someone else, especially if you make sure that you and your offer stands out in the crowd. Niche down. Target a unique audience. Offer a Signature Program.
Your ideal clients will hire you because it feels right to them. It’s no longer a scarcity trap of your own making.
Breakthrough #2 – Own Your Right
I’ve met new coaches who question their right to have a business. If you haven’t already, start consciously owning that right to:
- Be in business for yourself
- Earn well
- Create, innovate and lead
Take your place in the world! Being a business owner gives you a unique opportunity to do things your way, work with the best clients, do what you really want to do. Yes, YOU can have this thriving business serving people.
Breakthrough #3 – Factor in All of the Costs
Another reason why you want to charge significantly for your services is that, as a business owner, YOU carry the burden of starting your business and keeping it alive.
Think of your business as an extension of yourself. Your business is an entity. It needs to be fed and nurtured or it will die. It needs to be given the opportunity to grow and thrive.
You may be used to working for someone else’s company. They carry the burden of ALL the costs of doing business. Their vision, their risk, their profits.
Think about the investment you’ve made so far to become a coach – coaching training, possibly a business mentor like me, training programs, website, monthly expenses for online services and the costs of marketing. These things add up and reduce your profit.
That’s normal. But it’s new for you, so you need to think differently than when you were an employee. Step into the CEO role! And check out episode 161 about the identity shift needed to go from an employee to a business owner.
When deciding how you’ll price your services consider your financial investment for your coaching business startup and ongoing expenses, but also factor in your time to attract clients, do administrative and marketing tasks. Those are enormous costs of doing business.
I shared in Episode 58 that you can plan for profit from day 1 of your business. And in Episode 60 I cover how to strategically price your Signature Program, which is a way to do business as a coach that is smarter than just selling coaching sessions.
Breakthrough #4 – Act As If
This is the eye-opening secret I most want you to come away with from this episode … learn to ACT AS IF. Act as if you are already a coach in high demand. What would you do, how would you act, and how would you price if you had so much work coming in that you had to turn some clients away or put them on a wait list? Do that now to bring that about faster!
That’s how you will stay true to the goal of earning well. No matter what is going on, act as if you have already reached your goals. You will make better decisions for your business.
7 Ways to Act As If You Are a Coach in High Demand Right Now:
- Decide what you want your life to be like.
- Strategize every step of your business development to fit that vision.
- Only offer times on your schedule that you truly want to work.
- Only offer exactly what you want to offer and not what you think you should offer.
- Create a low overhead, easy to manage coaching business model (Episode 5).
- Treat yourself and everyone else with the respect you want your colleagues, prospects and clients to have for you.
- Charge prices that will help you reach your financial goals.
It’s time to build this money mindset muscle … how will you ACT AS IF you deserve ideal clients who pay you well?
