creatives

Your prices have NOTHING to do with your worthiness

A lady working on her small creative business

When I speak with creative entrepreneurs, one thing I find so many seem to do is relate their pricing to their worthiness. This can lead to a number of problems, and one of the biggest challenges being that entrepreneurs deal with: undervaluing themselves. 

If you feel that your pricing is tied to your personal worth, you are likely to be doing this, which hinders both your personal and business growth.

What I need you to know is that your prices have nothing to do with your worthiness. 

It is not a reflection of your personal value in the slightest. 

Issues around pricing can mean: you have a hard time increasing prices (even when it’s necessary), experience stress and overwhelm choosing prices, and you might stop enjoying running your business.

Here’s my best pricing tip:

Your prices need to be based on your actual needs and your financial goals. 

Look at the numbers! The costs of providing a product or service, your financial goals of making, saving, debt pay off etc. as well as the expertise you bring to the table.

The value of what you're offering is subjective, but you need to decide the valid reasons you have for setting your prices. 

And if someone doesn't opt in for your offer, your art, whatever you're putting out there, that doesn't mean that they're saying you're not worthy or valuable. 

Customers make decisions based on a variety of different factors such as budget and personal preferences. It’s more about THEM, then you.

There are lots of pricing strategies out there, many that can work well for us creative business owners, but the main thing I want you to take from this is that your prices are not connected to your worthiness or personal value.  

If you feel like you need some more support with your money mindset, and you’re ready for a discussion about having intuitive business coaching, take a look at how we can work together then book a call! https://www.realworldcreatives.com/wealthworktogether

Creative Confession

Dear Creatives, 

      This is my confession. I fell in love with photography in an old dark room in my high school. I wasn't very good at first, lots of film went to waste. I wasn't sure I would ever be "that" good at it. I mostly took walks around my neighborhood and shot patterns in nature, occasionally trying to incorporate a friend into awkward portraits. Soon it was time to apply to college, to pick a school, a major, a future. Well, photography I decided was what I'd pursue. What would I do with it? No idea. I didn't feel like I could commit to an art-only college; I wasn't "artsy" enough, creative enough, messy enough, or honestly really sure that I wouldn't need a back up field of choice.

And even after graduating with my bachelor's in art(major in photography with a minor in art management) working in photo production, art galleries and archives, freelancing and making a living from my photography... I sometimes still feel like I'm not "artsy" enough. Somedays my work is put to shame (in my mind) by iPhone photos on instagram. It can be a real bitch being a creative these days. But then I remember that my creative is just as meaningful as anyone else's. I love doing photography because I think in photographs and making images gives ME joy. And I get to share those little moments of happiness with clients, friends, and even some strangers on the internet. (I mean I'm not giving up my frenemy instagram.) So no I don't have jeans covered in paint, I like making to-do lists like it's my job, and I probably haven't spent my weekend in museums. But I create, and it's worthwhile, and it will continue to be for as long as I see it that way. 

So if you're not sure where your art will take you, or you're struggling to find your niche, stop looking outward. You decide what your best creative life looks like, and you have the power to shape it to suite your wildest desires. Even if that includes having a beige couch. Even if you can't remember what Monet painted. Even if your creative life looks nothing like the ones you see on the internet. And if you need a boost of inspiration, resources and tools make sure to sign up for the newsletter! Once you do you get your free guide to my Top 25 Websites for Creatives!

“To live a creative life, we must loose the fear of being wrong.” – Joseph Chilton Pearce

So go forth my creatives, there is no "wrong" in art!

Peace, love & pixels,

Sonya