Lifestyle and Marketing: Notes on Setting and Raising Prices
Lifestyle and Marketing: Notes on Setting and Raising Prices
If you think you need to live large to attract business, think again. What attracts business is a valuable offer delivered to the right prospect with confidence, integrity, and consistency. On the other hand, it is almost impossible to attract business when you are desperate for work.
Your lifestyle choices can underscore your commitment to an authentic and connected life, one lived in awareness and respect of the well-being of others and of the planet. Living these choices and letting them inform how you show up in the world can be a compelling aspect of your personal marketing formula. They can distinguish the offer you are in your chosen niche.
Insurance, Taxes, Retirement, and More
Other considerations for the self-employed are medical, dental, life, and disability insurance. In addition, you may need professional liability insurance, insurance on your equipment and records, and insurance to protect you in the event of accidents on your premises.
Self-employment taxes can take the unwary by surprise. Check with your accountant (you do have one, don't you?) and find out what your tax liabilities are likely to be.
How do you plan to fund your retirement? There may be tax-advantaged plans available to you as a small business owner. Again, check with your accountant. (Have you noticed that one of the expenses you will need to plan for is accounting?)
It is easy to overlook hidden costs such as depreciation. Think about the furnishings and equipment you use and how often you will need to repair or replace them. Where will you get the money for these expenses? How will you pay for software upgrades or for a technician to debug your computer?
The following outline can help you understand how to set your own rates and why there is no "one size fits all" formula.
How Much Do You Want to Take Home? Net Income Versus Gross Income
Here's a partial list of expenses you may incur in your business.
Taxes
Benefits
Medical insurance
Disability insurance
Dental insurance
Retirement
Overhead
Depreciation (it's not theoretical!)
Replacing furnishings
Replacing equipment
Upgrading software
Administrative overhead
Clerical help
Bookkeeping
25-50% of your time to manage and market your business
Vacation, Holiday, and Sick Pay
Where Does the Time Go?
Hint: Keep a running list of everything you do for thirty days. Not a "to do" list, but an "I did" list. This will help you to understand where your time goes.
Sales and marketing
Service (email, phone, troubleshooting)
Email
Proposals, Prospects
Phone Calls
Meetings
Administration (bookkeeping, correspondence, contracts, reports)
Training
Variables Affecting Prices
Geography
Demography
Niche
Experience
Perceived value
Skills
Client capacity to pay/realize value from your work
Cost of delivering services
Competitors' fees
Is It Time to Raise Your Fees?
Full calendar
Reputation as leader or expert
Turning away work
Recognized author or speaker
Prestigious affiliations or awards
Advanced training/certification
Improved services
Increased costs
Strategies for Raising Prices
Annual incremental increases
Business cycle increases
"Going rate" increases
Be sure the going rate is set by going concerns!
Do going rates reflect your costs and services?
More work to justify rate increases of more than 10%
Keep clients informed of how great you are
Training and skill development
Concern for their well-being
Improvements in service and capacity
How you saved them time or money
How you made them money
How you solved problems for them or for others
How much you are in demand
Create a mood that supports your declaration of value
The body of confidence
What Clients Want to Know When You Raise Prices
What are the new rates?
When do they go into effect?
Give reasonable notice
Consider giving current clients a grace period to adjust
Why are they going up?
What value will the client receive for the higher fees?
Adjust Prices to Manage Work Type and Work Flow
Projects you don't really want
Rush work
Difficult clients
Profit is commensurate with risk (and distaste!)
Lifestyle and Marketing Notes on Setting and Raising Prices - To learn more about this author, visit Molly Gordon's Website.
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Lifestyle and Marketing
If you think you need to live large to attract business, think again. What attracts business is a valuable offer delivered to the right prospect with confidence, integrity, and consistency. On the other hand, it is almost impossible to attract business when you are desperate for work.
Your lifestyle choices can underscore your commitment to an authentic and connected life, one lived in awareness and respect of the well-being of others and of the planet. Living these choices and letting them inform how you show up in the world can be a compelling aspect of your personal marketing formula. They can distinguish the offer you are in your chosen niche.
Insurance, Taxes, Retirement, and More
Other considerations for the self-employed are medical, dental, life, and disability insurance. In addition, you may need professional liability insurance, insurance on your equipment and records, and insurance to protect you in the event of accidents on your premises.
Self-employment taxes can take the unwary by surprise. Check with your accountant (you do have one, don't you?) and find out what your tax liabilities are likely to be.
How do you plan to fund your retirement? There may be tax-advantaged plans available to you as a small business owner. Again, check with your accountant. (Have you noticed that one of the expenses you will need to plan for is accounting?)
It is easy to overlook hidden costs such as depreciation. Think about the furnishings and equipment you use and how often you will need to repair or replace them. Where will you get the money for these expenses? How will you pay for software upgrades or for a technician to debug your computer?
The following outline can help you understand how to set your own rates and why there is no "one size fits all" formula.
How Much Do You Want to Take Home? Net Income Versus Gross Income
Here's a partial list of expenses you may incur in your business.
Taxes
Benefits
Medical insurance
Disability insurance
Dental insurance
Retirement
Overhead
Depreciation (it's not theoretical!)
Replacing furnishings
Replacing equipment
Upgrading software
Administrative overhead
Clerical help
Bookkeeping
25-50% of your time to manage and market your business
Vacation, Holiday, and Sick Pay
Where Does the Time Go?
Hint: Keep a running list of everything you do for thirty days. Not a "to do" list, but an "I did" list. This will help you to understand where your time goes.
Sales and marketing
Service (email, phone, troubleshooting)
Proposals, Prospects
Phone Calls
Meetings
Administration (bookkeeping, correspondence, contracts, reports)
Training
Variables Affecting Prices
Geography
Demography
Niche
Experience
Perceived value
Skills
Client capacity to pay/realize value from your work
Cost of delivering services
Competitors' fees
Is It Time to Raise Your Fees?
Full calendar
Reputation as leader or expert
Turning away work
Recognized author or speaker
Prestigious affiliations or awards
Advanced training/certification
Improved services
Increased costs
Strategies for Raising Prices
Annual incremental increases
Business cycle increases
"Going rate" increases
Be sure the going rate is set by going concerns!
Do going rates reflect your costs and services?
More work to justify rate increases of more than 10%
Keep clients informed of how great you are
Training and skill development
Concern for their well-being
Improvements in service and capacity
How you saved them time or money
How you made them money
How you solved problems for them or for others
How much you are in demand
Create a mood that supports your declaration of value
The body of confidence
What Clients Want to Know When You Raise Prices
What are the new rates?
When do they go into effect?
Give reasonable notice
Consider giving current clients a grace period to adjust
Why are they going up?
What value will the client receive for the higher fees?
Adjust Prices to Manage Work Type and Work Flow
Projects you don't really want
Rush work
Difficult clients
Profit is commensurate with risk (and distaste!)
Lifestyle and Marketing Notes on Setting and Raising Prices - To learn more about this author, visit Molly Gordon's Website.
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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