One thing that breaks my heart is seeing creative entrepreneurs sell themselves short. When you underestimate your expertise, you're not only leaving money on the table but you're also missing out on exciting opportunities and a lot of joy!
Let's be real, who doesn't want to feel fulfilled doing what they love?
So, let's dive into why it's important to recognize your worth and stop discounting your expertise!
Reason 1: Not charging prices that make you feel well compensated
I get it, it can be tough to put a price tag on your time, energy, skills and wisdom. But trust me, you deserve to feel well-compensated for everything you bring to the table. It's not just about not giving actual discounts, but rather about charging what feels fair and rewarding for the transformation and service you provide to people.
Reason 2: When you don’t speak your truth as an expert
This often comes down to imposter syndrome, especially when you're starting out, or people pleasing tendencies. You need to remind yourself that you are the expert of your business, even if you told feel like the #1 expert of your industry. It's not that you're not going to listen to your clients or not take into consideration what they want, but clients in fact don't know best, that's why they hired an expert! Being afraid to share what you know would work best is a lose-lose.
Note: this can be really difficult, especially when you have clients who are just kind of bulldozing you, but you need to step up and be brave, bold, and speak your wisdom as a confident expert.
Reason 3: Not being proud of your success and accomplishments
Not having a healthy sense of pride in your experiences and your accomplishments is another way in which you may be discounting your expertise.
Think of all you have done and had success with, and notice if you tend to downplay it.
When you’re not sharing proudly things like the major results that you've gotten for clients, or the accolades that you've received, it can not only make you not stand out as an expert, but you will miss out on opportunities. You might be the perfect person for someone or an opportunity, but you will miss out when you undervalue your accomplishments!
Put simply, don't be afraid to share the impressive stuff, let people know how good you are, it's not bragging in a bad way! Giving yourself that credit you deserve.
Reason 4: Not having boundaries
The fourth mistake that many entrepreneurs make is failing to hold their boundaries like a boss.
Boundaries are essential for protecting your time, energy, and sanity, and yet so many people struggle with setting and enforcing them. They are essential to showing up as a real business owner and making others aware of your worth & expertise.
This is something I think people of all levels of business struggle with, but especially if you often like to please people, then you will probably find it extra hard to stick to those boundaries.
Remember, you're allowed to not respond immediately, you're allowed to have time off, you're allowed to have boundaries. Just because it's urgent to someone else, doesn't mean it needs to stress you out or throw off your whole day.
Putting boundaries in your contract (things like revisions, editing or turnaround time, communication hours etc) is what legitimate business owners do, and you’re allowed to enforce them as needed! People might try to overstep those boundaries, but if you're clear and holding to them, then you're more likely to have them respected by other people.
Reason 5: Holding back your magic
The final way you may be discounting your expertise is not sharing the full extent of how you can help someone. You might be holding back on your magic, your knowledge, and your wisdom.
I see this a lot when people feel like they need to niche way down, or fit their offer into a certain format, into some box that other people have invented. The truth is we all bring a lot of wisdom and expertise to the table, and if you’re not willing to share the full expanse of what you can offer, you are discounting your expertise.
Don't be afraid to create your own offer structure, offer something that is dynamic & powerful! It doesn't mean it is messy and overwhelming, it can be well put together, but unique to your genius.
You don’t have to offer everything, but make sure you don't hold back if you can do more for the client and create an even better experience/result for them.
Are you guilty of these?
(Been there!!)
If you can stop discounting your expertise and show up as a confident business owner I guarantee you'll not only receive more money & opportunities but experience more respect & appreciation & JOY in your business!