3 Tell-Tale Signs That It’s Time To Raise Your Fees

When it comes to fees and charging, most spiritual women feel a lot of conflict. We’re spiritual, we’re women… it’s a double-whammy of cultural conditioning that says “give it all away.”

Thing is, this leads to women chronically undercharging and waiting far too long to charge what their work is really worth. It may feel giving and generous, but as the saying goes, you can’t give when your cup is empty. Ultimately, undercharging leaves you depleted and defeats your purpose of making a big impact in the world.

Here are 3 “dead giveaways” (and one bonus!) that both you and your clients will be better served by giving yourself a raise:

Tell-Tale Sign #1: You’re exhausted instead of juiced.

Back when I was a direct response copywriter, I would spend hours and hours and hours and hours (did I mention hours?) on projects that paid very little. Sure, the money was nice when it was coming in, but 40+ hours on the project later … let’s just say it was hard to stay motivated. And I love writing.

Doing what you love should inspire, well, love. And gratitude. If you’re not feeling the love, that’s a big clue that you’re falling far short of receiving money in alignment with the energy you’re giving – and you simply can’t sustain that for the long haul.

Tell-Tale Sign #2: You feel resentful towards your clients.

Ironically, women who undercharge often find themselves attracting needy and demanding clients. But even the best of clients can become a drain when you’re not charging enough. (Or not charging enough and overdelivering!) If you’re feeling resentful and feeling guilty… it’s time for a shift.

Tell-Tale Sign #3: You’re working constantly and still just getting by.

You can always create more money, but you can never create more time. So when you’re signing on clients and charging too little, what happens? You get burned out… quickly.

One of my past Platinum clients was in a situation where she had two choices: continue to serve the last few clients in the “old way” of working (dollars for hours), or release them with love if they weren’t ready to step into her new high-end packages. The decision was really weighing on her because they were awesome clients who she deeply cared about. (There was a lot of history there, too – all of them had been with her for years.)

With a little coaching, she had a huge breakthrough: saying yes to those old clients would have meant saying no to herself – her own needs, self-care, time with her family, and her dreams of a much bigger business. (And the opportunity to give those clients something bigger to step into, as well.)

And here’s one more tell-tale sign you’re charging too little…

When clients consistently quibble about your already-low fees, chances are it’s time to raise them. Counter-intuitive, I know, but experience has shown this again and again. (Indeed, back in my copywriting days, increasing the price of a floundering offer would often increase conversion.)

“But Elizabeth,” you may be saying, “My fees are already way too low and people are complaining. How can I raise them when I can’t even get them to say yes now?” (I hear this all the time!)

The way to authentically increasing your fees is this…

To increase your fees and feel great about it, you must stay connected to the value of the transformation your clients get. What really gets to happen for them as a result of your work? How can their lives change when they step up and you step up… together?

Often this means letting go of the clients who aren’t a fit for the value you provide, and turning your attention to those who are. Remember, energy follows energy. When you own your value first, you’ll naturally attract clients who value you… and themselves as well.

To Experience Abundance In Your Business, You MUST Have Strong Boundaries

Did you read last week’s article in the Abundant Business ezine?  It may be my most-responded-to article yet.  So many readers wrote in to say that it struck a chord (and to share triumphant success stories of cleaning up their own boundaries).  I’ve posted the article below.  This is SUCH an important topic – please feel free to repost and re-Tweet. To make sure you don’t miss any articles, sign up for the Abundant Business ezine here.

If you follow me on Twitter or are a friend on Facebook (if not, please do!), you may have noticed that I was particularly silent last week.  Why?   After 3 weekends of travel to three amazing events in just over a month, all of the signs were clear: I was pushing myself too hard.  I needed to rest.

Now, those who know me are sitting there smiling to themselves.  I have a reputation for “doing it all.” So it would be easy to say that it was just a case of finally burning out.  But my intuition told me it there was something else going on: my energy was being drained thanks to some pretty serious boundary leaks.

Here are some areas where you want to be sure that YOUR boundaries are clearly drawn:

1. Your money. Do you cave in when your clients ask you for a discount or extra services, or worse, are you bartering your services when you know you should be getting paid?  You will never make the money you want (and deserve) if you are giving away your services.

(If you’re bartering for your services, my coach’s challenge for you is to stop immediately.  No excuses, no apologies.  No matter what the spin, the truth is, the energy behind bartering is “I can’t afford it” – not the message you want to be sending to the Universe if you want abundance in your life.)

2. Your time. Do you let sessions and services run over?  (As someone who is… eloquent, let’s say, I know what a challenge this one can be.)  Do you get caught up in the haze of mindless email checking and Twitter skimming?  Your time is your ONLY non-renewable resource, which makes it the most valuable resource you possess.

3. Your energy. I’ve always been sensitive, bordering on empathic.  And as much as I’m a little embarrassed to admit it, I’m not sure how I got to be in my mid-30′s without fully understanding the realities therein.

Over the past week, I finally got it: your energy is not entirely your own.  If you’re standing next to someone and all of a sudden, you feel grumpy when you didn’t before, guess what!  It’s probably not you. Then there’s the leaks when it comes to expending energy (on other people’s drama, for example).

In both cases: pay attention, respect yourself and just say no. Feeling weird and you don’t know why?  Check in… and perhaps move away from whoever is nearby.   Someone wants to reel you into their drama?  You don’t have to engage.  (This goes for clients, by the way.)

4. People. One of my clients finished up a project (read: completed; as in, her commitments kept) for one of her clients recently.  Her client wasn’t happy and proceeded to interrupt her during private time with all kinds of changes, which would eat into time for her OWN projects.  After a little coaching, my client drew the line: the woman would get her changes, but she’d have to wait her turn.

The lesson: unreasonable demands are just that. You don’t have to give in!  A fear of drawing the line with clients often comes down to a fear of losing a client.  Again, scarcity thinking (and not what you want!).

5. Yourself. This is the biggie, and the one I hear talked about the least.  Boundaries with all of the above start with YOU.  You can have all the boundaries in the world, but they won’t mean a thing if YOU waste your own time, your own energy, your own money. If you’re good at insulating yourself from energy vampires, then turn around and waste hours of your own time in an Internet trance, that’s an incongruence!

I invite you to examine each of these 5 areas for boundary leaks and commit to taking ONE action step to clean up one or more boundaries this week. I cleaned up my boundary leaks across the board, and I immediately felt more energized than I have in months!  (My clients are happy, too, because they have “the Elizabeth they know” back.)

For more on boundaries, check out “4 Ways To Gracefully Set Boundaries In Your Business” by Alicia Forest of Client Abundance.

© 2009 Elizabeth Genco Purvis.  All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article on your website, blog or in your own ezine? No problem! But here’s what you MUST include:

Elizabeth Genco Purvis, “The Marketing Goddess” teaches spirited solo business owners and conscious entrepreneurs how to attract an abundance of clients, income, freedom and satisfaction in their business while staying true to their values.  Visit MarketingGoddess.com to claim your copy of “Grow Your Business With Spirit And Soul,” a 7-part audio workshop with everything you need to begin attracting more clients right away.