Own Your Ask: How to Charge for Your Time

In a mentoring discussion with an entrepreneur, Laura admitted she felt uncomfortable charging people for her services. She works with expecting moms from pregnancy to post birth focusing on how to prepare them for this new journey. It is very time consuming and demanding both physically and emotionally.Laura also confessed how despite her training, both local and abroad, and all her certifications, she didn’t feel like she knew enough yet. The self-talk went “just after this course or just after I read this book, I’ll be ready to charge properly for my time”.Sound familiar?She’s not alone.So many women — including the successful entrepreneurs — struggle with the concept of putting a value on their time.The more I spoke to other women, the same pattern emerged. It brought up all sorts of emotions around self-esteem, self-worth and confidence.A key challenge for entrepreneurs who have previously been in a company role is to make the move from a safe salary to saying “My time is worth X’ and define what that value is and stand by it proudly and unapologetically.There’s a famous story about a woman bumping into Picasso in a bar. She asked him to draw a picture on her serviette which he did in less than 10 minutes. She thanked him and began to walk away. He stopped her and said ‘Excuse me, that will be one million dollars. The woman was shocked and exclaimed ‘How can you charge me that amount for 10 minutes worth of work? Picasso replied ‘My dear, it took me 30 years to learn to do that in 10 minutes’.Do not under-estimate the currency of experience you bring to the table.

Why do we feel guilty charging for our time?

Noah Kagan, founder of AppSumo says there are 3 main reasons people feel guilty charging money for work:

1. You don’t feel worthy or realise the value of your skills to others. In other words, you have an exceptional talent and just say “it’s nothing special.” But others see it as very unique and valuable, and they’ll pay to learn from you or get your help.
2. You don’t feel qualified as an expert because you believe you need more experience, accolades, or certifications.
3. You’re afraid charging friends (or friends-of-friends) will damage the relationship

How can you get away from this negative thinking? How can you charge even more money with the confidence to back yourself and what you deliver.The first step is to understand the intricacies of how to price. When you’re prepared, you feel less nervous and guilty. For example, do some homework on industry norms and standards. Utilise your network and reach out to people in your field and ask their advice and guidance.

4 Ways to Justify Your Pricing Strategy to Yourself

Once you have selected your pricing strategy, Noah suggests four ways to feel confident in whatever pricing you decide.

1. Understand how you create value

It’s easy to start feeling guilty when you can’t directly see the value you bring to your client or customer. The best way to overcome this type of guilt is to understand the problems you help solve.For example:

• If you’re a copywriter, you’re solving a messaging problem for your clients. You’re helping your client create more compelling website copy, email campaigns, landing pages and more. You’re uniting the brand under one “voice.”
• If you’re a fitness trainer, you’re solving a health problem for your customers. This doesn’t necessarily mean weight loss: Maybe you’re helping people feel healthier. Improve their diets. Lower their cholesterol levels. Improve their confidence.
• If you’re a coach, you’re fast tracking employees’ progress, increasing productivity and creating more well rounded employees who take accountability for their actions.

To gain clarity on the value you create, talk to your clients or customers about their goals and intended outcomes. Then, break down metrics or key performance indicators you can quantify and measure success. The key to remember: Value isn’t always created with a currency sign.

2. Recognise that people are buying time

Some amazing products and services which have gained huge market acceptance over the past few years do ONE thing really well: Save people’s time.

1. Uber: People don’t just use these services for convenience. People use them to save time getting from one place to the another
2. MacBooks, iPhones, and Android devices: Help people to get more work done in a shorter period of time and allow them to connect with another person with ease
3. Your amazing restaurant down the street: Saves you so much time in growing your own ingredients and preparing your own meals

Time is a finite resource, and everyone values their time.Even if the financial ROI is cloudy, many business owners will buy your product or service if it means they’re able to free up their time for something else.If your product or service helps save time, you win.This is why I created Beyond the Dress. To help companies enable their staff to take responsibility for their careers by owning their time, creating their personal brand and enabling them with tools to navigate their careers.And that’s why I hire someone to do my accounting and taxes. It is not my strength and enables me to focus on growing the business and training which is my passion.

3. People VALUE what they pay for

I’ve hosted public events in the past for clients who insisted on not charging attendees for their seats and offered it as a value add. I can tell you most people who had something better on the day did not arrive despite the amazing speakers. I always advise clients to charge something for public events because people place a value on something they have paid for. They are emotionally invested in it and will make the time to be there.Most of us value what we pay for over what we get for free. So do your customers.Money is a truth-teller. Keep in mind price/value association. If something sounds too cheap, we question its legitimacy. It sounds too good to be true, there must be a catch.

4. Start small but at least start somewhere

“I’ll just be nice and give this away for free. Or “I’ll give them a really great discount to make sure I get the job”.How long will “free” pay your bills?When you charge nothing, you’re undervaluing yourself. You have a solution for someone else’s problem and you asking for money is fair.Start small if you need to. Then, gradually increase your price as your business gains traction and provides significant value to your customers.Charging for your time starts with your headspace. Acknowledge your experience, skills, knowledge and worth you bring to the table. Then take pride in sending that invoice. Unapologetically!Go out there and own your space!Warm wishes,Lori