3 Times You’re Not Paying Yourself + Knowing Your Worth

Something that comes up in conversations with other business owners is figuring out what to charge and the battle between wanting to be “affordable” but still make money. I had the realization in my own business was realizing that what I was charging versus the amount of time it was taking me to accomplish my services versus the value for the customer were not equaling out to a profit. I realized this pretty early on and made immediate adjustments, but I wanted to share with you the three times that you are not paying yourself correctly so that you can start seeing profit in your business.

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NOT HAVING A SOLID PACKAGE/OFFERING

The first issue is not having a solid package or offering. From experience I can tell you, I’ve wavered between packages since I started. What I wanted to offer got glazed over by what I thought I had to offer which got tweaked and nitpicked by clients. In the beginning you are so terrified to turn down any clients or any money, so you take time to tweak and customize and go out of your way to become what someone needs you to be (just to lose the proposal anyway).

I’m not saying this is wrong by any means. But it’s not the most efficient or the most profitable way. What I want you to do instead is go back to that initial spark of an idea that motivated you to start this business (your passion). Write that down and DO NOT forget it, lose it, or let it disappear within your offering.

Your passion needs to stay in your business no matter what. [Tweet That!]

Forget what every other copywriter or coach or designer offers and focus instead on what you really, really, really enjoy doing. Combine your strengths with the needs of your audience or potential clients. Do not just mimic or pick and choose pieces of your competitor’s packages – or you’re just putting yourself in competition. Instead, create something that is catered to your ideal situation and skillset that can still be a solution for a client.

Here’s what I’ve landed on (This was updated in February of 2017). When I started I referred to myself as a branding designer and strategist. Somewhere along the way I realized no one else was talking about what happened after we stopped working together. You had a logo and a color palette... but what about a way to make content upgrades or branded materials for courses, etc.? It dawned on me that there was a solution in this open arena - becoming a design assistant for established business owners who need more time to focus on their passions. You can learn more about this evolution here.

If you want to talk more about how we can work together click here.

I tell you this evolution to teach you a lesson. When you don’t have a solid package or offering you lose money. You lose money by wasting time first and foremost, but you also end up losing potential clients. If a client doesn’t know exactly what they need and you can’t tell them what they need/what you can do, then you’ve lost their interest. 

Create something that is complete, easily explainable, and repeatable and offer that like it’s the greatest thing that could ever happen to them – because it will be! You’ll be doing your best work, because you’ll love what you do, and provide great results.

If this sounds too scary, I’ll give you a stepping-stone. Do all of those things, but also maintain a list of ‘custom offerings’ (for designers it might be logos, business cards, etc.) and only bring those prices out if you are asked super specifically to do “just a logo” or “just a business card.”

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NOT HAVING SYSTEMS IN PLACE

Another major way you lose money is by not having systems in place. This falls back into the time is money thought, because in our businesses, with out 27 hats, time IS money.

I’ve written a lot about different ways I stay productive and it has definitely evolved as my business has, but the biggest piece of advice I can give you is this: CREATE SYSTEMS.

I co-hosted a Masterclass about this called Systemize Your Branding, which you can still catch the replay of. We go in depth about systemizing your process and documenting it, so that anyone (a VA, an assistant, etc.) can help you out easily and efficiently.

I highly recommend having a system for creating quick social media graphics, a system for quickly outlining blog posts, and a system for quickly answering emails – because these are the things that end up taking up your whole day.

For social media graphics all you need to do is make a template. I cover this in depth and show you behind the scenes of my templates in Systemize Your Branding. I go more in depth to my blog post process here, but I will say that outlining saves a TON of time and can (and should) be done in bulk. The hardest part of blog posts is generating the topic and the main points, so get that out of the way in bulk on a day you are feeling productive. The actual writing will be easy after that! With answering emails, please, please, please create canned responses. It is a LIFE SAVER because you will (if you don’t already) get the same emails over and over again.

These three things will definitely save you time, and therefore money, because you will free up your day to do things that make you money – client work, creating products, etc. 

Another extremely valuable place to implement systems is within your client work. Have an onboarding process that quickly gets contracts signed and invoices paid and homework or whatever initial steps started. Once you have a solid package or offering you should be able to have a ready made invoice and contract that details it so you no longer have to create custom ones each time. 

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WORKING OUTSIDE YOUR SCOPE/PROPOSAL

This is one that I was guilty of for so long. Even though my proposal detailed that I wouldn’t work outside of it, and doing so would require a new contract… I still did. They’d ask me to quickly do this or that, or show them how to set this up – which I wanted to do because I want clients to have a good experience – but that is money down the drain.

Repeat after me: Your time is valuable. Your work is valuable. You bring something to the table that can help others and you need to charge for it.

Your time is valuable. Your work is valuable. [Tweet That!]

I know how awkward it can feel to say, “yes I can do this but it will cost xyz amount.” But, if your client respects you and your time – which your ideal client will – they will understand. Or if it’s something that you just don’t want to do, or can’t do, then say, “that’s a great idea, but not my area of expertise. I recommend person so-and-so for things like that.” You’re still offering a solution, but not losing time or money in the process.

If this is happening to you a lot I would go back to my first point and include, extremely specifically, everything you are going to do in that specific offering. If they have a two week window to give you revisions or edits – say that. If you don’t set up lists and newsletters in MailChimp, say that. If you don’t create social media graphics, be up front about it. It doesn’t have to be mean or abrasive, just clear cut and straightforward. This will help you eliminate the awkward conversations and feelings of guilt when it comes to saying “I can’t do this for you.”

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KNOWING YOUR WORTH

The last thing I wanted to focus on in this post is knowing your worth. I don’t want to get to motivational-speaker on y’all, but it needs to be said: you bring value to your client’s lives. You solve a problem that they cannot solve on their own. You fix, adjust, navigate, or somehow alter something for them that was holding them back – and that is important and necessary and worth charging for.

I want you to eliminate the thought that a project takes you 5 hours so you should be paid hourly rate times 5. I want you to instead approach it as value-added to your client’s lives and price accordingly for that. Maybe you can build a website in 12 hours, but what is that website going to do for your customer? Grow their business? Convert people from passive viewer to subscriber or lead? Create your pricing with these thoughts in mind. I’m saying all of this with the thought that obviously you are going to provide these things (whatever these things are in your line of work) and therefore you’re worth more than $5/hour or whatever the lowest-priced freelancer is charging on Fiverr.

This post ended up significantly longer than I thought it would when I outlined it the other day. (See what I mean, once you start writing it’s a piece of cake). But I hope it shed some light on ways you can make sure you are creating a profitable business.

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4 Things You Need To Be Doing In Your Online Business

Starting an online business is hard work. You have about 100 hats you wear and switch between regularly, and even if your business is your passion, there are still parts of it that don’t exactly fall under the “your favorite way to spend time” category. There are so many things to do that it can feel completely overwhelming all the time and you end up just spending hours on Pinterest or Twitter instead of really doing the essential work that needs to get done in your business. I know the feeling, trust me. That’s why I wanted to talk with you about the four things you absolutely NEED to be doing in your online business above everything else.

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DEVELOP A VISION FOR YOUR BIZ + BRAND

In the very early stages of your business, or if you are realizing it’s time to buckle down and do things right, you need an overall vision for your business. What I mean by this is that you basically create something like a promise, a challenge, or a statement that explains exactly what you see your business doing in a “big picture” kind of way. Why does that matter? Because that’s going to help you figure out your “it factor” or what differentiates you from everyone else. You don’t want to just be another coach or copywriter or social media maven, you want to make a statement that you are going to be the best, the most influential, the most game-changing whatever-you-are and that clients or customers will see results because you know whatever it is that you know. 

I like to think of a brand vision as a promise, personally. When I help clients develop a vision for their brand and their business I often ask them to think about what they can ensure they are going to give to clients or customers with their services or products. What can we promise to deliver that will change their lives in some way?

If you don’t have a vision for your business you’re going to constantly be playing a game of catch up. You won’t have a clear end goal to create a path towards and instead will just be helplessly slinging ideas at the wall hoping something sticks. Don’t wait your time, energy, or money with that.

If you need more help discovering your brand vision (and other foundational pieces of information for your business) check out my eBook Branding 101: Building Your Base. Learn more by clicking here.

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MAKE REAL CONNECTIONS

This is a tricky area to navigate because it’s easy to spend too much time on social media and use it as a distraction/procrastination tool. I’ve mentioned before that you should stick to a social media schedule to avoid this, BUT, I also think utilizing time on social media to develop real relationships is vital to success.

A lot of my clients, especially in the beginning, came from referrals of peers and friends that I had made through being active on Twitter. Later, I got really active on Periscope, and saw a huge boom in my business due to the connections I made during that time.

Social media’s biggest benefit is the ability to foster relationships with people in your circle. (Tweet That!)

The value of masterminds or just a business bestie is invaluable. This online business world is crazy, emotional, and hard – it feels awesome to have someone in your corner who just gets it.

The easiest way to get started on social media is to get active in a few related Facebook groups and in a Twitter Chat or two. Those are both great places to find like-minded business owners who value building friendships and fostering community. . 

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START YOUR EMAIL LIST (LIKE, YESTERDAY)

New online business owners are so excited about their actual product or service that they forget to focus on long-term growth right away. This is a marathon, people! As soon as you possibly can, start growing your email list. Include opt-ins in your blog posts, have a free email course or challenge, write an awesome newsletter… whatever you think you can do and maintain to get subscribers coming in – DO IT!

I wrote a post a while back about creating your opt in that might be helpful to you if you feel completely lost about this area. The point is, whatever it is that you do, just make sure you are collecting the contact information for people who are interested in what you do. Those are warm leads for future product or service launches – which means money and growth for your business.

The absolute best part about an email list is that it is yours. Social media comes and goes – one day Periscope is everything and the next day it’s Snapchat and the next it’s a new app… all the time you spent gaining followers ends up being pointless as soon as that app isn’t the cool thing anymore. Email addresses though? Those are like gold. You can directly reach people that have already shown an interest in you. So the sooner you start collecting, the better!

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GIVE + CREATE POSITIVE EXPERIENCES

The last thing I really need you to focus on implementing immediately into your business is giving the best possible experiences to your audience, your clients, and your customers. In any sort of marketing or advertising, word of mouth will ALWAYS be the best option.

Giving a great experience ensures people spread the word about you (and grow your business quickly). (Tweet That!)

This is true for all forms of business and I am sure you know of a local store or restaurant that skyrocketed to success because of word of mouth advertisement. You can have that success too. The trick is that you do everything with your brand vision in mind and that you do it well. This is your business, so you must want a stamp of 100%-grade-A-quality on everything before it gets sent, posted, or shared. 

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I know that it feels stressful and scary sometimes owning or starting a business. The results can be so amazing, rewarding, and fulfilling once you get there and by following and implementing these four strategies I know you can! 

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