Making the Jump from Free to Paid

Have you been getting the common questions of “Can I pick your brain?”

Or, “Can you speak at this event for free?”

I have been there — traveling across London and changing my calendar for free activities.

When I first started out as a startup consultant, delivering educational workshops, consulting, and one to one coaching, I was just so thrilled to get experience, and get my foot inside the door, that I didn’t even think about charging. I was in this stage where I was developing myself as a founder as well as developing my business offering, before my business was even formalized.

But, then I had one of those moments, I think all founders, especially service providers have: I need to be charging for this.

I know it can be awkward when you first start charging for your services, especially to clients and customers who have had this value for free.

But, to encourage you, I have outlined it as there are three key reasons you should be charging for your services.

#1. You are offering value.

As a service provider, whether that’s through technical services, consulting, creative services, you are delivering something of value. You’re saving your client or customer time, energy, money. That is important because that value has a monetary price to it.

So, whenever you’re thinking and getting those shivers of “is this the right price?”, put your pricing in that the email.

Share what your price packages are, and the value you are offering.

Because, come on now, anything in this world that has value has a cost.

#2. You have experience.

Oftentimes when I work with service providers in the early days, they immediately discount or underprice their services. They do not think their experience is “worthy” of that price.

And I’m telling you that is an absolute falsehood. You have experience, professional and/or lived, that provides a richness and depth to your offering. (If you need a case and point, look at the pay scale of hair stylists in boutique salons!)

Do not forget that your experience, once again, has a price.

#3. You are running a business.

If this was a hobby, we would be talking completely differently. But businesses are here to make money. (Even if you are a social impact business — to provide the impact you want to have, you need to be able to keep a roof over your head.)

So, when you’re thinking about demystifying that ‘ick’ of charging, remember that you are offering value, you are sharing your expertise. And you are building a business.

Now, I’m not saying that you need to leave all of your free clients, free speaking engagements, workshops, services, by the wayside.

There are times as a business owner, you can have the freedom to take on free coaching, free mentoring, free services, if it is worth it and in line with your business strategy.

Here are the questions I ask myself to decide:

Is the offering is a cause I truly care about?

One thing I’m really really passionate about is increasing entrepreneurship education for women founders and diverse founders across the globe.

I understand that different parts of the world, like the different universities, community centres, etc., come with their own constraints and their own privileges.

If the opportunity is a charity, a cause, or an event that I feel like lights my personal and professional fire, and I can see the impact I’m going to make, then yes, I will do it even if it is a free event.

Is this an event I can exchange for something that will build your business credibility?

“Free” can mean bartered.

Think of things like intangible benefits like PR, social media sharing, blog posts and SEO, footage, especially if you’re speaking or getting some b reel for your website.

This can also be an exchange of not physical things. For example, I ask for things like connections, referrals, and testimonials. I will take the free opportunity as well, if it can refer me to five more clients in that industry because a word-of-mouth it can really build up trust and credibility.

Is this worth it is if I am still building my craft?

So like I mentioned in the example earlier, when I was going through my business mentor certification, one thing I had to do was work with coaching clients for free.

To get that certification, I needed to build a portfolio show that I was able to put these coaching frameworks into practice.

When you are building a craft, whether that is through your creative portfolio, your business certifications, your coaching client testimonials, or when you are building up your repertoire, you may need to do something at a discounted or free price.

Now, making that transition from free to paid is not always easy.

I’ve been there, I know what it’s like to lose a client lose the deal, because you have suddenly started charging or increasing your prices.

But I am also telling you, when you understand the value provide, the expertise you have, and the voice of authority you bring to this sector of business, the price is worth the cost.

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