Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Raise your fees in one night!

Want to make more money? Yes, I think it was a rhetorical question. Everybody wants to make more money, but often we do not want to do what needs to be done to make it.For example, I do not want to work a 80 hour work week to double my income. I have a wife and a 1 ½ year old son - I wanted to spend time with them. I want to take a vacation and visit my parents at the end of the week and hosts a dinner party for my friends.I do not want to cheat old women to make more money, or I'm willing to lie, steal, or otherwise dishonest. 

I do not want to work for a boss who humbled me, or I am prepared to work in an environment which is promiscuous, unfair, or just plain dull.So, putting all things aside, what I was willing to do to make more money? I am ready to develop products and services that business owners want and need. I am prepared to work regular business hours Monday through Friday with some evening / weekend work when needed. I am ready to face my fears and try new things to market my business - such as public speaking and close partner of the joint venture. I am willing to listen to my client response '. And, I'm ready to get what I worth.In services business, which last is the key. Trust me - if you ask for it, you get it. So how do you know what you're worth? Looks like a fairly straightforward question has an answer "right", but it is not. Worth is a value judgment that you, your prospects and your clients can make independently.

You think your services are worth $ 60/hour, and by choosing to hire you, your clients say they agree that you are worth that amount. But, what if you raised your rates to $ 120/hour? Did they hire you then? How to prospective buyers choose to go with someone, even if you offer your rate of $ 60/hour? They obviously do not think your services for $ 60/hour. So, who's correct answer is - the truth. Each of us has our own unique set of criteria to determine the amount of any offer. We analyze every offer we made using the criteria of whether we realize it or not.So, evaluating your values, let's start with what you charge now. How do you come up with that figure? Did you take it out of the sky? 

Did you find someone local that offer similar services and find out how much they charge? Have you done extensive research to determine the national, regional, and local hourly rate for your industry average does not matter how you come up with the current rate per hour that you are, do not forget you are the one - the only one - with the ability to raise it. There is hope does not say, "I know you usually only charge $ 60/hour, but I think you pay more along the lines of $ 85/hour. Is it okay "And, no clients will call you at the end of the year and said," I thought -? You do a great job for us that we want to start paying you $ 100/hour since January 1, just to show our appreciation .. "It's just not going to happen! I was reminded of the importance of this message when I spoke to Alexandra last Thursday. Alexandra is a company that offers leadership development workshops for corporate team-building medium. Instead of charging an hourly rate, he set a daily rate of $ 1,500. Before starting his own company, he worked for a small company that provides similar programs. Only when other companies were sent out of work, they charged clients $ 4,000 / day.Yep, it is true. Both workshop - $ 2,500 more.

Now, how is it to be? A client who pays $ 1,500 / day for his services are payable at $ 4,000 / day if he asked? Now, perhaps, the company he worked for had developed some brand recognition that Alexandra does not have when he went out on his own. But, the point is, there are companies out there pay $ 4,000 / day to his craft. It's just a matter of who made the offer and how to offer it to presented.So, the real answer to 'what is worth to you?' is a combination of how high you appreciate your own abilities, how do you feel confident in communicating the value, and how well the values ​​that meet the specific needs of market.If someone is willing to pay $ 120 / hour for your services, you are worth $ 120/hour - to them. Are there enough 'somebodies' to generate enough income for you? That is what you need to find out.Take look at your market. If you're Mapping the market with a local audience, look at your competitors ads in newspapers, press coverage, web site, etc. 

If you're Mapping market a national or international audience, do your research online. Make a few phone calls posing as a prospect, if necessary.How much they are charging for similar services (s) do you offer? How do they show the advantages of this service? How can they offer the service pack? How do they position their company as a whole? What can you learn from the company to charge more to provide the same services to give you a lower level? Once you do your research, take the time to re-evaluate how you are packaging, positioning, and branding your business. Then, determine if you can provide increasing value rates.If guarantee you, you want to make more, you have to ask for it!