When I was first starting
out, I didn't know what to charge. I decided to look around and do a bit of research
to see what other similar services were charging. After I collected enough
information, I picked a price that was basically in the middle of all the fees
I learned about. Really scientific right?
I picked something in the
middle because I wanted to fill my practice quickly. I purposely didn't choose a high price
point so I wouldn't have what they call a "barrier to entry". A
barrier to entry is a price point that is higher than what the marketplace will
bear. You don't want to set the bar too high when first starting out because
too many people will find the price unaffordable.
How do you know if you
have selected the right pricing? Here's how it worked for me. I could gauge if I was overcharging or
undercharging by how quickly I filled my practice. If I was getting 80 percent
of people to say, "Yes", then I kept going until I nearly filled my
practice. Only then, did I raise my rates because I could afford to have people
say, "No" at that point and be more selective since I had lots of
clients and money coming in. For me, I raised my fees frequently, sometimes
almost every three months, but at least a couple of times a year.
This is my philosophy: If
you are not well-known and you have more time than money, it's simply better to
work with more clients. As soon as you fill your practice, then you can afford to up your rates
and increase your marketing. As you gain experience, you will better understand
what marketing works for you and who you can serve best. As you refine your
target audience and how to talk to them, you will be able to charge more.
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| Click here for step by step tutorial on how to set your hourly rate. |
Have you done research on pricing and what your competitors are charging?
If you are a new business, this is an important step to making sure you are not under or over charging. I recommend finding that middle spot and holding there until your practice is nearly full. Then, you can feel free to raise your rates as you and your business continue to evolve.
By Fabienne Fredrickson
Image by Paul Moore
Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Mentor, is founder of the Client Attraction System, the proven step-by-step program that shows you exactly how to attract more clients, in record time... guaranteed. To get your F.R.E.E. Audio CD by mail and receive her weekly marketing & success mindset articles on attracting more high-paying clients and dramatically increasing your income, visit http://www.attractclients.com
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