Are You Charging What Your Services Are Actually Worth?

Image source: Pexels

You did it again didn’t you?

You completely lowballed yourself for less than your services are worth.

Kicking yourself. You gave up more than you should have. Ouch!

Feeling bummed.You practically gave away the farm.

Why didn’t you stop yourself? You basically gifted the shirt off your back too. Sigh! Starting out as a freelancer, independent worker, solopreneur or consultant, trading your talent, knowledge and experience as a service, it is tough to know your true worth. It is hard to know and understand how to pitch the true value of your service.

I am going to level with you. I’ve done it too - made that faux pas, slipped up and undersold my services; far too many times than I care to admit.

Don’t beat yourself up. You are not the only one. The first step on the road to recovery begins with deciding to take action (or not). You choose.

• Give up or swallow your pride?

• Panic or be honest with yourself?

• Wallow in self-pity / blame or get to work?

Let’s get to work. You have to learn from your mistakes so there will not be a next time. I am sure you want to avoid the blunders that can damage your worth and hurt your business bottom line and reputation. I do. Join me on a quest to find tips and tactics that I can use to stop shooting myself in the foot.Here are the top picks of my favourite cures.

How to Charge What You are Actually Worth

Image source: Pexels

1. Don’t use your old employee salary to build the fee structure for your independent business. I know it seems like the logical thing to do particularly if your freelance work is in the same line of business as your old employee job.It makes sense to use your old salary to set your freelance rates, calculate your consulting fees.

STOP! Free yourself from your old employee mind-set. This is an easy gaffe to make in the early days of going solo. It is a sure fire way to fall into the trap of selling yourself cheap, devaluing your service before you get started. Nip that in the bud early or risk creating painful obstacles that will prevent you from making a real living from your freelance status.

"Grow your worth by honouring your gifts and valuing your experience and skills."

“Your price does not simply reflect the raw ‘quality’ of your work. It reflects everything else you have put into your brand and your business over time: your professionalism, your authority, your influence, your client alignment and targeting, including the thousands of hours of work put into developing a style.” Don’t forget to factor in the costs associated with setting up as a self-employed or starting your business?‘Notes on How to Price Your Work Like a Hero’– Side step pricing pitfalls. Dive into this super insightful article by Alex Mathers in Red Lemon Club blog.

2. Talk Value NOT Price: Want to stand out from the crowd? Then focus on the extreme value that you offer your customers / clients.

"The extreme value you deliver tells the story of your service and brand worth."

Here are 3 critical questions to ask yourself and answer.

I) How do I best serve my customers / clients?

II) What painful obstacles do I help them resolve and overcome?

III) What aspirations do I help them achieve?

Next, lock in your service offering and customer/client experience to deliver value – every time. Go all out to make you customer / client the hero of their story. When they shine, you will too .Deliver Maximum Value and increase Your Net Worth.

Building your business and competing on price alone is a mug’s game. Never ask “what is your budget?” or “what to your expect to pay for this work / service?” at the start of the conversation.Instead focus on ‘How to start selling on value instead of price’ and make your competition irrelevant. 

Speak in terms of value at all times with customers / clients and prospects.  Like learning a new language, it is hard in the beginning. But with regular practice it becomes more authentic and fluent.

3. Beware the Brain Pickers: Now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with sharing your expertise, offering insight, or gifting some of your time. In fact I positively encourage it. But be sure to keep your pro bono work in the right balance to the projects you are working on. You know; the ones that pay your expenses and from which you make your living.

Watch out for the pick your brain, pick your pocket zombies. They will literally lift the money out of your pocket and suck your brain dry of your know-how and experience, if you let them.

You know the type. Those quick phone calls asking your opinion, invitations to coffee for a chat, would-you-mind-having-a-quick-look-and-tell-me-what-you-think emails.

Do you feel the respect that this is your business – your bread and butter? You may find it hard to say no to such requests. I get that.

Set clear boundaries, instead of giving open access to your resources, For example, only accept two of those coffee meetings per week and spend a maximum of 20 minutes. And stick to it.

Being accessible all the time for FREE does not contribute to your business’ bottom line or boost your worth.

4. Give Away the WHAT and Sell the HOW: Admittedly, I was sceptical.

Can you be too generous or too helpful?

What do you think?

I found this Copyblogger post super easy to digest and useful.  I keep it as my go-to reminder as I build my business. How to Decide Which Content to Sell and What to Give Away for Free.

So there you have it. 4 ways to recover when you undersell your services.

Try them out, learn to do better and recover. Practise daily to minimise the risk of a relapse.Then get down to business creating value for your prospects and clients so you can charge what you are actually worth.

How do YOU ensure that your charge what you are actually worth?

Share in the comments and let’s help each other.