The 4 Principles of Pricing for Profits

How much should you charge for your services?
How do you ask for a raise?
What should you give away for free? 

Timing is everything. 

It’s not the best time to ask for a raise when you just screwed up a big project.
Or when the company just lost half their business because of the pandemic.
How to you maintain your price as an entrepreneur when the competition starts giving theirs away for half-price? Or free?

THE 4 PRINCIPLES OF PRICING 4 PROFITS! 
The ideal income is a thousand dollars a day—and expenses.
                                                     Pierre Lorillard 

When do people need you the most? 

If they want what you have—they’ll pay anything to get it.  

If they don’t want what you have—free isn’t cheap enough. 

I’ve been teaching the Financial Stress Reduction Workshop for 30 years. First in person at my office, then at my home, then as a teleclass and now it’s on Zoom. 

I’ve taught it through recessions, expansions, during 9/11, during the crash of 2008 and now during the pandemic. 

My posted prices have always gone up—but sometimes I have a special discount or a package of services, or a special offer for something new that isn’t as expensive. 

I post my prices for all my services on my web site, which a lot of coaches don’t do. I like to know that the price of a service is going to be in the ballpark of what I can pay, so I expect other people do, too. 

Here are the 4 principles of pricing:

1. You have too much work and not enough time.  
   
   Success is yours! Everyone admires and appreciates you. You are in demand. Now you find yourself working until the wee hours night after night trying to get all the work done. This is the perfect time to get a raise—you are obviously worth it! If you are self-employed, you may lose a few clients when you increase your rates, but you will make up for that by making more money working fewer hours for the clients you retain.
   
   
2. A market survey shows your pricing is lower than average.  
   
   If you are on salary, you should always be aware of the going rate of pay for your job position with your skill set and experience. The Small Business Administration has stated that the number one reason small businesses go under is that they don’t charge enough for their product or service. If you are underpriced, you will burn out working long hours for survival wages. 
   
   
3. Your boss or client is doing great financially, and you helped.  
   
   You don’t ask for a raise when the company has just posted a big loss, is downsizing, or is in the middle of a change in direction or management. Timing is everything. You want to ask for a raise when you have just helped your boss or client increase profits through your new advertising campaign, when you’ve made the deal to get the new computers at a discount. 
   
   
4. You just received special recognition or publicity. 
   
   Whenever you win an award, get a prestigious appointment to a board, get profiled in a newspaper or magazine article, or appear on television make sure to let all your clients know about it. When your clients regularly see you achieving success and notice, they will recognize that you have moved up the world and are worth more money.  

Ready? Then fill up the hold with cargo, batten the hatches, and go sailing for a bigger sale.

Today’s Affirmation: “I have perfect timing for getting perfect pay!”

Chellie Campbell, Financial Stress Reduction Expert, is the author of bestselling books The Wealthy Spirit, Zero to Zillionaire, and most recently From Worry to Wealthy: A Woman’s Guide to Financial Success Without the Stress. She is widely quoted in major media including Redbook, Good Housekeeping and more than 50 popular books. She has been treating Money Disorders like Spending Bulimia and Income Anorexia in her Financial Stress Reduction® Workshops for over 25 years. Her website is www.chellie.com.