When do you know it’s time to raise your coaching prices? Probably when it’s already too late!

I kid. 

(Sort of.)

You have a business.

You’re still crazy enough to still be here, working on said business.

You know that you can help people (like if I put the perfect client in front of you, who can pay you no problem, you’d confidently, 100% show up and change their life like that, right?).

You know that this whole self-employed thing is slightly more complicated than you thought it was, when you first started researching a few years ago.

And you want more, and better.

And you know you deserve more, and better.

Okay, we’re all on the same page, then?

There are a lot of objections that can come up around raising your prices. I thought it might be helpful to tackle them one-by-one, especially if you’re like me and you want to work with people “Like You” and you’re not so thrilled to work with the uber rich upper class.

You deserve to be able to provide for yourself.

This dives into the whole “Put your oxygen mask on first” deal. The concept is that if you don’t take care of yourself, you won’t be able to take care of others. The same thing goes with money.

Let’s say you’re working 90 hour workweeks. You’re taking consults for $20/hr (or less, thinking that the networking value is worth scrunching an extra meeting into your already packed day) rushing back and forth from workshop to training to school drop-off. Your kids are starting to know you as “that lady who’s here sometimes, cusses a lot, and drops off food.”

As long as the bills are paid and the family is fed, you’ll just keep plugging along because “eventually things will get better.” You let the guilt go, because every parent has lots of work to do, right? 

Everyone is overloaded at work, right?

Here’s the thing:

You deserve to provide better for YOURSELF. So what if the rest of the country’s same-age/sex/income demographic is doing it this way. 

You deserve better.

You deserve better than the crap that you’ve been putting up with for too long.

And sure, if it takes a while to transition (you’d be amazed how many months it can take to figure out how to pronounce the word, “No,”) then that’s okay.

But you’re better off being in the awkward transition period than you are if you “going to do it someday.”

Set a date to raise your prices. Put the date 6 months out if you have to (better if it’s more like two months from now, though, to be honest). 

But make it official, and do it for yourself, because you know it will help.

You’re resilient enough to keep up your current workload.

You’re experienced enough to know that good change takes time.

You’re trustworthy enough to do the work that needs to be done and focus on the small changes that need to happen between today and official first day of your new prices. 

You are not a bad person for wanting more money. You are a good person who knows that good work requires (and deserves!) financial support.

Is every person who has asks for a raise a bad person?

Nope!

You probably know quite a few people who have asked for and deserved a raise because of all the work they put into their job, and didn’t get it.

Well, I hate to break it to you, but…

You are putting a lot of work into your job and deserve a raise.

You’re not doing it to swindle people. You’re planning to make some serious change in people’s lives because of what the money will do for you.

You know that a lot of those things on your vision board don’t fit into your current budget. 

You are a CEO in a scaling business, not an entry-level admin assistant.

Sure, you may be doing all the admin-type stuff at the moment (and that’s fine! Bootstrapping for the win, for now!) but you’re also wearing all the boss hats, too: the budget hat, the marketing hat, the HR hat, the networking hat, etc.

Also, need I remind you...

You know what it’s like to work for a boss who’s scrimping and saving and totally cheaping out on ridiculous things, expecting it to show up in the quarterly profit and loss report. It never works. You know this from years in the corporate trenches. 

It’s time to start leading your business the way you wish people would lead at your day job. That’s the only way real change happens -- when the decision makers start putting their money where their mouth is and planning (and executing!) change that will make an actual difference.

Give a raise to the person in your business who’s pulling the biggest load, believes in the company more than anyone, and is in it for the longhaul.

You!

You can still be accessible to people of all budget sizes even if you raise your prices.

You can increase your prices for people who can afford them, both financially and emotionally. There are plenty of families out there who can afford larger investments. They don’t have to have a divorce-threatening talk with their spouses or pull their kids out of private school to do it. They have healthy marriages and communicate clearly with each other, so you won’t have to worry about how much of a handicap you’re putting on them. People who are rich are good at managing money (that’s how they go that way to begin with).

What if you don’t want to help the rich?

What if you want to help the poor?

Having low prices is not the only way to help the people you want to help. 

We all see the devastating new on social media every day and immediately feel helpless: people are starving, underserved communities are being abused, and rich white men have all the control.

Who will help them?

You will.

For free.

Free is even more accessible than cheap.

Free also feels more generous to receive AND give than “cheap” does.

Here’s how:

• Start volunteering for local charities and non-profits. Find a way to work with those people, face-to-face.
• Make regular donations to causes you care about. 
• Include a specific cause in your branding and business message. Consider donating a certain percentage of every invoice.
• Get involved with your library, chamber of commerce, local government, or small business development center to provide your services free of charge through already established programs. You can volunteer for free coaching calls or open office hours.

Word will spread about the good work you want to do, and you’ll get that feeling of “fulfillment” from helping the little guys much sooner than if you tried to do it all by yourself!

Rochelle’s New Prices

All that being said, I’m also announcing that as of September 28, 2019 my prices will be increasing as shown below.

(And yes, I did feel compelled to write an entire blog about raising prices I did freak myself out making this decision!)

I spent the last couple months or so talking with different mastermind members and business coaches about how I want  to raise my prices, but never actually doing it.

Now it’s for real, and I’m freaked out, but luckily I’m not alone in this. 🙂

Current prices and packages, until December 6:

For folks who can’t commit to the investment right now, there are free resources available:

• Free video training & resources on this blog and my podcast, Compassionate Side Hustle Strategy
• Monthly Workshops (coming in 2022)
• Free Facebook Group with Office Hours, Co-working hours, and more

Prices go up after December 6th! (Right after the new moon, for my fellow woos and spooks! 😉 ) 

If you’d like to have a conversation to start working together at my current rate before they increase, please use the contact form on my website.

Now’s your last chance to:

• Get personalized, income-oriented business coaching in a nurturing group setting at 50% off.
  

Of course, if you’re good with working together at higher prices later, no worries. You’ve got time and there’s no rush.

Oh, and make sure you raise your prices, too, okay? You can do this!