On Valuing Yourself + Your Services {And Setting Your Rates!}

As you've probably already seen, I co-taught a branding workshop for small biz owners + solopreneurs over the weekend. It was a total blast (this is one of my FAVORITE things to teach!), and it reminded me of so many of the challenges that we face when trying to make it as yoga teachers, bloggers, artists, photographers, designers, coaches/consultants, etc. 

We already know that going out on your own--or even just starting something on the side--takes a lot of courage, a crazy amount of work, and a serious passion for what you're doing. But what doesn't get talked about as much is the process of learning to believe in yourself and value what you're doing. 

I know this sounds obvious, like, "Of course I value what I'm doing or I wouldn't be doing it!" But do you value it from a financial perspective? 

Are your rates so low that you practically give your work or your services away for free? Do you offer discounts to anyone and everyone you think deserves one? Do you commonly offer "trades" with other solopreneurs or artists? Do you offer everyone a "free consultation" where you give tons of information away for free? Do you repeatedly let people "pick your brain" for over an hour disguised as "lets get coffee"?

All of these things could be devaluing what you do and hurting your business. They could also be symptoms of your not really believing that what you're offering has value--or feeling that you don't deserve a full-fledged rate because you're "new" to this job or not yet the full "expert" that you hope to be. You might even be suffering from a touch of Imposter Syndrome, and that could be holding you back. 

Don't get me wrong, I do believe in offering discounts or trades if you feel that the situation truly calls for it, but I think that many solopreneurs do this way too often because they lack the confidence that it takes to say no, or to put out number and just stick with it. 

But guess what? If you don't value your services, no one else will. If you don't believe that an hour of your time is worth $50, $100, or even $200, then no one else will. If you value yourself and put that out into the world, it will be reflected back to you. 

Now, granted, when you're just starting out sometimes you need to lower your rates in order to get experience and build up your clientele. Obviously. Similarly, you must be somewhat competitive with the going rates in your area and industry, so this isn't a call for everyone to hike up their rates and just go crazy. 

However, it is a call to those of you who are charging way too little for your services (or offering them for FREE!?), those who are hemming and hawing over a $5 difference in price, and those who struggle with putting a number on what you do; You know who you are. 

If this is you, here's something to keep in mind:

A lot of small biz owners or solopreneurs will simply charge an hourly rate that sounds reasonable for 1 hour of time. Great. 

Except guess what? A lot more time went into that 1 hour than meets the eye. Sure, you spent just 1 hour actually writing that sponsored blog post for your client, but keep in mind that you should also be charging a premium for the years spent growing your blog, the audience that you've accumulated, the hours and hours (and hours!!!) spent blogging for free. 

And oh, you spent just 1 hour in-person with that client, so you simply charged them your hourly billing rate? Great, but don't forget about the 30 minutes spent emailing back and forth to schedule and go over the topics you'd be dicussing, the hour of prep work, the 30 minute drive to meet them, and the expertise that you've built up through trainings, reading, and studying. 

Often, your hour is worth much more than that low, hourly rate you've listed, and you need to remember that. 

Fellow small biz owners + solopreneurs: Does this resonate and/or make sense to you? Still need help? Here's a great hourly rate calculator to help you figure out what you should be charging.

 Another thing to think about: If you have a waitlist or are working yourself to the bones trying to accommodate anyone + everyone who wants to work with you and you're still not making much money, you need to raise your rates. Plain and simple. 

I hope this helps. Valuing yourself and your services is SO hard (one of the things I struggle most with!), but it's a must. 

You are worth it, darnnit!