Note: please excuse the audio ‘skips’ here and there. Zoom was freaking the eff out during this call.

Pricing is such a huge topic for freelancers and entrepreneurs alike. There are so many variables and so many ways to unwittingly undercharge. In keeping with the theme of pricing your services appropriately, today’s guest, Ashley Quinto Powell, joins us to talk more about pricing.

Sales, self-advocacy & pricing

Whether you work for a company or organization and need help negotiating your salary, or you’re a solopreneur who needs help asking for prices that reflect your value, this episode is for you.

Ashley is a salary negotiation coach and speaker (and lots of other cool things) who jam-packs this episode with tips, tricks and tidbits about pricing.

Why is it so hard to talk pricing?

There are all kinds of people who struggle with talking about pricing. For this episode, we’re mostly focusing on female entrepreneurs in particular. However, anyone can learn from Ashley’s tips.

Sometimes, we’re just raised to be polite and not speak up. This is especially true for us Midwestern ladies in business, am I right? And if you’re in Minnesota, you’ll totally understand the concept of “Minnesota nice” which is actually kind of passive-aggressive, weirdly.

To effectively talk about money and pricing, we should keep these things in mind and learn to negotiate a little differently in order to be comfortable and effective.

You Sell Like You Buy

Seriously, this quote stopped me in my tracks.

Who are my bargain shoppers out there? I know I am proud to be a coupon-clipper and someone who loves a good deal. So it makes sense that I sell like I buy—I’m always looking for deals, so therefore I expect that everyone else is looking for deals also.

Instead of providing discount prices that don’t reflect your value, be like Louis Vuitton.

How do you know if you’re not charging enough?

Ashley helps us discover if we’re not charging enough with some fresh new advice that complements our previous episodes on pricing. Ashley recommends reflecting on whether you are booked out for months. If you are, you are likely not charging enough.

Tips to stop undercharging and set appropriate prices

If you discover that you are, in fact, undercharging, Ashley offers up some additional advice to help you set prices that are more appropriate.

Instead of asking yourself “How much do I need this project to make me?”, ask whether the price reflects what value your customer receives from you.

If you aren’t sure where to start out with rates as a freelancer, pick something and slowly increase the rate with each client that says yes.

If there’s a project that isn’t that exciting to you, ask yourself what price would get you excited to do it. Then ask for that price.

The budget question

As entrepreneurs and freelancers, we’re all familiar with the awkwardness that can happen around the question of pricing, proposals and asking our clients or prospects for their budget.

Oftentimes, clients won’t give us a number if we outright ask for their budget for the project.

Instead, ask them where they’d like you cap the proposal. That will likely elicit a more specific response from them and leave you less uncomfortable asking about money.

Pricing and Female Entrepreneurs

Now you’re armed with even more helpful knowledge and advice on how to set your rates. Go out there and ask for what you’re worth with confidence this week!