Pricing is one of the biggest challenges that creative entrepreneurs come to me needing support with. There are a lot of different theories out there on how to price yourself, many specific for the fine art industry, but less for creative or spiritual businesses, which I believe is different to other services and products.
What is a money story?
A Money Story is a combination of your conscious and subconscious thoughts and feelings and experiences around money. You likely have a variety of influences in your life, as well as your own experiences around money, that have all impacted how you view and relate to and use money now; as well as your lens of how you view yourself, how you view the world, how you view doing business, and basically any way that money is used in your life.
Pricing and Boundaries for Creative Entrepreneurs
As a creative entrepreneur, setting prices that suit you and putting boundaries in place is essential to running a successful business.
It can be tempting to ask yourself "Is this price reasonable for other people?" when determining your fees, but that’s the wrong question to ask!
The truth is, your prices are subjective and personal, and only you know your financial needs and goals. To ensure a sustainable business, it's crucial to determine prices that will serve you first and foremost.
Your prices need to cover not only business expenses but also personal expenses- health insurance, groceries, rent or mortgage, and other necessities of life.
So, the question I invite you to ask yourself is, “Are these prices realistic for me, and my needs and goals?”
It's important to figure out what your income goals are, as your financial needs and goals are something that only you know. Your audience, your clients, your customers have no idea what's going on with you.
And vice versa, you do not know all the ins and outs of other people's financial situations. We can't be running our business trying to judge other people's wallets and bank accounts. It's just impossible!
Remember: Every price range has an audience that can afford it.
And by determining prices that work for you, you can then speak to the people who can afford your offers and services, instead of trying to guess who will buy it.
A little story from my photographer days, where I learned the importance of setting boundaries and profitable pricing!
I took on a project for a start-up T-shirt company. Despite agreeing to a fee of $200 for a two-hour shoot, I ended up staying for six hours and taking hundreds of images!
I had overextended myself and underpriced my services.
The thing is I was so enthusiastic about the project! It was with people who were my age (most of my other clients were way older) and they were getting their business going. I was so pumped about getting to be part of it! However the issue was I really didn't have a good sense of my own boundaries, around my time, energy or prices.
So while I didn't regret doing the shoot, I certainly regretted giving it those extra hours, and for charging so little for so much work. Whether you're working in person or virtually, it's important to set boundaries around your time and energy otherwise it can become problematic and even lead to burn out.
It's a bit different when you're working on an art piece for example, when there's no set amount of time that you're going to give it, you're just going to work until it's complete. That's a different scenario, but still, you need to price appropriately for how much time you put in.
And I know, it can be really easy to just kind of slip up and let yourself go overboard or over give or go into perfectionist mode, right?
The thing is there’s a difference when you’re breaking your own boundaries and disregarding your needs, and when you’re choosing to make an exception to your rules.
I enjoy my clients so much that certainly sometimes we go over our allotted time, whether it's, you know, 5 or 10 minutes… But these days, that's always a conscious choice. I know exactly how to say, “Hey, we're wrapping up, what else do we need to cover?” Or, “Anything else you want to share before we finish?”. So I have those time boundaries clear, and now if I do go over them, it's a very intentional choice if I feel like I have the time, capacity, and energy.
(And it's not an imposition on me or them!)
So, setting your prices and boundaries as a creative or spiritual entrepreneur is a crucial aspect of running a successful business. By determining prices that serve your needs first and foremost, speaking to the audience that can afford them, and upholding your work boundaries you'll be able to build a sustainable business and avoid burnout.
If you are a creative, spiritually inclined entrepreneur who needs some help in bringing more joy, impact and well-being into your life and business, I’d love to hear from you!
Book in your free wealth consultation to see how I can support you! Wealth Coaching for Creative Entrepreneurs — Real World Creatives
Your prices have NOTHING to do with your worthiness
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