Some Thoughts About Cheap Post-In Notes and Pricing Your Book Coaching Packages
Some Thoughts About Cheap Post-In Notes and Pricing Your Book Coaching Packages
An argument for why people want to pay more.
Parts 1, 2, and 3 in this series on pricing:
Part 2: The Friends & Family Problem
Part 3: 7 Reasons Why Your Book Coaching Prices Are Too Low
Photo by charlesdeluvio on Unsplash
I use a lot of Post-It notes. On any given day, I may write 20 notes. I stick them in various places to remind me of things I need to look up, write, finish, or do, and then a few times a week, I organize them — usually re-writing the note on a different Post-It and putting it in a giant artist’s notebook where I organize my projects. It’s all very analog.
When I was working through the memoir certification course (which had so. much. content!) I knew I would need a lot of Post-Its so I bought a mega pack of knock-off ones. Not the 3M branded ones but a cheaper facsimile.
The fake Post-It notes are so bad. They don’t stick well. They don’t re-stick at all. They curl up in displeasing ways. They don’t accept ink in the same way. They are not as vibrant. I really don’t like them — yet I have thousands. It’s a lot of bad Post-It notes and so every day I am confronted with the fact that I made a cheap decision instead of a good decision.
Your clients are making this kind of calculation when they consider hiring you. They are looking for a solution to a problem. They want a whole solution. They have decided that working with a book coach is an important part of their creative process.
Do they want the cheap choice? Or do they want the choice that will help them achieve what they want to achieve?
Odds are good that they have already tried the cheaper route. Odds are good that they are feeling less than satisfied and now they want to invest in their success.
They want a whole solution to their writing challenge. They want a book coach who has a process in place to help them get them where they want to go.
Which means they want to pay.
Putting too low a price on your services may well signal to your ideal clients that you are not, in fact, their ideal coach.
And a high price that is in alignment with the value you are offering might serve as motivation for people who can’t (yet) afford your rates.
I once had a book coach certification student put my class on a credit card. This was several years ago when the course was about $1,800 — it’s now quite a bit higher. That kind of financial risk-taking is something I would never advocate doing because there is no guarantee you will get that money back; had I known she was doing that, I would have tried to talk her out of it — which when you think about it, is none of my business. I was telling myself a story about her finances and her life and her desires that had nothing to do with her and everything to do with me.
But this woman knew what she wanted. She was a freelance editor whose business was disorganized and not paying her enough to survive. She had a vision for the book coaching business she would run and the writers she would serve and she was ready to take a bet on herself. That was about six years ago and she has since cracked multiple six figures in her book coaching business and purchased a house from her earnings — something she never imagined she would be able to do in her lifetime. Stepping up to take that course and pay that money was an important moment for her.
We want to pay for the things we value.
Have you ever paid for something you were so happy to hand money over for? I have, many times.
Back when my kids were in private school and paying for it was a big sacrifice, I loved writing that check because I loved the school and the community. It was the center of our family. My kids were on financial aid and we had to scramble to pay tuition every single semester, but I loved meeting that challenge.
A group of my friends and I recently booked a limo to drive us (two hours) home from an international trip where we landed at LAX in the middle of the night. It was only slightly more than the bus we would have had to wait two hours for, and we were so thrilled to hand over our credit card and a fat tip to our kind driver.
I give money to charities and organizations and movements I am delighted to support. One local charity I am a fan of makes nutrient-dense soups to provide both food security and nutrition to low-income seniors and those with cancer or chronic illness. I can buy a tub of heirloom tomato and wild rice soup for $15 — enough for lunch — so that someone who needs it can get free healthy meals. I know I could make an entire pot of tomato soup for $15, but that is not the point: I am happy to give these people my money.
The next time I buy Post-It notes, I am going to buy the real ones and I am going to think, 3M — TAKE ALL MY MONEY PLEASE!
This is what you want your clients to feel.
Want to learn more about pricing your book coaching services?
Join me on July 12th for a masterclass on The Art of Pricing. We already have the minimum number of participants for both the session for new coaches and for the session for experienced coaches — and there are still seats available. Check it out HERE.