This is a question I wrestled with a lot when I started my business. A perk of network marketing is that someone else determines the price for you. It’s just your job to sell it at that price. It’s a whole different ball game when you have to come up with pricing and literally put a price on products and services that mean so much to you. How are you supposed to put a price on yourself?
There are typically two schools of thought on this topic: be super up front with your pricing and be more secretive. Allow me to explain the logic behind these, both of which I have tried myself.
The logic behind being secretive
Simply put, you don’t post your prices publicly. The biggest perk of this method is that you can really customize prices based on the client. Maybe you know you’d love to work with a certain client but your typical prices are a bit out of their price range. You can make an estimate that reflects that. On the flip side, that means you have to make a lot of custom quotes which takes time. If you’re an over-thinker like I am, it takes a lot of time. If they ultimately decide not to work with you, then you just wasted a good 30 minutes to an hour.
Another perk of this method is that you force prospects to have a conversation with you, so you know who is interested and follow-up with in the future. But again, the flip side to this is that you will spend time talking to people who might not be all *that* interested in the first place. They’re snooping or trying to shop around.
This is how I started my business. I quickly got tired of people “wasting” my time. But on a positive note, it helped me nail down what my prices should be. I still do custom quotes for one of my social media “done for you” packages because you can’t put a firm price on that.
The logic behind transparency
With this method, you post your prices publicly whether that’s on your website, social media, e-commerce site (like Etsy), or have a downloadable price sheet. After getting tired of writing so many custom quotes, I ultimately chose to take a few popular services, turn them into single-buy products, and list them on my website with a flat rate. This also allowed me to create some lower-cost services that I knew people wanted but couldn’t afford as part of my higher rated packages, like content calendars, for example.
This method also allows you to weed out people who aren’t seriously interested in working with you. If someone can’t afford one of my $150 services, then they probably are not a fit to work with me and I’m glad I didn’t spend a lot of time going back and forth with them. But of course, if someone has questions about my single-buy products, I’m always available to help/answer.
It’s kind of a relief to have set prices when someone asks how much something costs. It simplifies the process and makes referrals easier too. If other people know your prices, they can share them with others who need it.
What method do you use in your business?