Ok, I hope I’m not too boring at the moment as I’m posting information from some of the people I admire and who work hard to provide great information for solopreneurs. I’m currently so busy with creating some ebooks on business start ups and other virtual assistant topics. So as there are only 24 hours in a day, I find it hard to produce my own blog posts, BUT I am committed to only post fantastic posts from really valuable sources on here.
One of the people who are very helpful for coaches, speakers and solopreneurs is Tom Buford. If you don’t know him, keep reading and take note because he really knows his stuff. His business is called “Charge what you deserve” and I recommend having a look at what his philosophy about fees is.
Underneath is Tom’s blog post from March, 13, check it out, chances are you like the ideas:
“When you are offering only one service or product, you’re putting a tremendous amount of undue pressure on yourself.
Every time you face a prospect you know in the back of your mind that it’s all or nothing.
Why not alleviate this pressure and at the same time give your market a selection of choices.
Here are a few ideas:
- Newsletters, articles and free reports
- Information products
- Group programs
- Split-fees
You can cover all your bases from “home-run” services to free information such as newsletters and articles.
Let’s go through these one at a time.
Most people need to get to know, like and trust you before they invest hard-earned money into your services. This might take 5 minutes or 5 months. Everybody is different. That’s one of the main reasons to offer multiple solutions for your clients’ problems. Not any one is going to be best suited for all of them.
Newsletters, articles and free reports:
These are, without a doubt, three of the best ways to get people interested in what you have to offer. If you give them valuable, practical information at no risk whatsoever then they will be more inclined to trust you when you offer more expensive solutions.
What about those prospects who truly cannot afford your fees? Newsletters, articles and free reports are a godsend for these people. They need information that they can trust, but they aren’t capable of shelling out the money just yet.
For others it absolutely frightening to hand money over to somebody that they don’t know. Give them the opportunity to know, like and trust you and their guard will come down. Just be sure to always respect and honor this trust. Consider it sacred and you can have long lasting relationships with your clients.
Remember, it’s MUCH more expensive to acquire new clients than it is to retain existing ones.
Information products
Information products come in all shapes, sizes and prices. They can be free, 15 page downloads all the way to multiple CD and 
book packages ranging from a few dollars to $2500 and more.
I watched one ezine guru go from $450 to $1500 for the exact same info product in ONE year. And she gets it. Obviously people have found her information to be worth thousands of dollars.
One of the easiest ways to create an information product is to record a teleseminar or a series of teleseminars, have the audio transcribed, then package the audio and book. You can keep it to a simple PDF text and MP3 audio download or create a physical product. Both can be very useful for your clients and very profitable for you.
Group programs
Teleseminars and workshops are great ways to leverage your time and offer your services at a lower fee. You can do this and make excellent income because you are working with several people at a time.
If you are providing superb value for your clients then many of them will want to get closer to you and hire you one-on-one.
Group programs are also a great option for current clients who are struggling with the financial commitment of more expensive private services.
Split-fees
Many coaches offer a set number of sessions per month for a set number of minutes each session at a set price.
For instance, they might offer four, 45-minute sessions per month for $500. This becomes very restrictive in terms of what you’re offering your clients. Not everybody is going to need the same number of sessions each month for the same amount of time.
Take the same example and make a slight adjustment.
Package A Package B
Sessions per month: Two Four
Length of sessions: 45 minutes 45 minutes
Investment: $400 $700
Imagine your prospects actually having choices? You don’t want to confuse them with too choices, but you don’t want to limit them to an “all or nothing” either.
This is also great insurance for not having to discuss your fees too early in a sales conversation.
You can be honest and say that you have multiple solutions for their needs and you would like to get more information first. More on that when I discuss tips for communicating fees with confidence.
Profit Step
Write down split-fee packages that you can offer. Include 2-3 different packages.
Challenge: If one of the packages is offering the same amount of time that you currently offer your clients, I want to challenge you to raise the price of that package at least 50% above what you currently charge.
Cheers and Success
Tom”
Note: This was an excerpt from the Charge What You Deserve Coach in a Book. To discover more practical techniques for how to charge what you deserve and get it go to:
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