Public Pricing for Consulting Work?

I don't. Because I adjust what I do to client's need. What I do for one client might be too much or too little for another one.

I've been debating whether to add the description and prices for client's I've already done work for, like...

I have helped people with various needs, from creating a mobile site ($647) to writing sales copy, creating online marketing campaigns, etc., for $6,200 upfront and $1,470 a month (6 month minimum commitment).

But I have done nothing but debate.

I used to run certain promos with pricing when I first started out. I have been at this now since 2001 so what I push now is "I make my clients more than I cost them". Of course that works for me because I don't just sell a web site or fanpage etc...

The clients I attract are looking for comprehensive solutions to marketing problems and price can vary.

Having said all of that I was never a big fan of leading with price. Instead educate, discuss and then quote.

I would never list my prices on my website. Not in a million years, not for what I sell anyway.

I don't want my prospects knowing the investment amount until they fully understand the VALUE of what they're investing in.

If people see or hear about prices before they see how the product/service will help them, all they are thinking about is the price.

However if you flip the equation, and explain the value before the price, they will justify the price to themselves.

I consider it a fight, and whoever lands the first punch wins. Will it be value or price?

I don't. I charge more for a company which can pay more and charge less for smaller companies with limited resources. It all balances out in the end. The only price I mention in the sales copy is the price of my leading service or foot in the door product or trip wire product (as they now call it). Usually this is very low cost service that both small and larger companies can afford.

I've been on both sides of the fence. I used to be against posting any sort of pricing on the website (adjusting to customers needs/difficulty of project/etc).

That style works pretty well when you are the primary sales person for the company, but once you grow to a bigger sales staff it gets pretty convoluted.

Now, I like sticking to a set pricing structure, easier for me, easier for my clients, and easier for my sales guys to follow.

I've done both... and when comparing both, listing the prices allows you to convert about the same amount of leads through a form, but the conversion from lead to customer is a lot higher than NOT listing your prices.

If you're doing inbound marketing of any kind, you're counting on catching people into your funnel who are simply in the research phase. If a prospect is in the research phase, they're comparing features, value offered, notes when talking to the person on the phone, etc. as well as cost. If you don't list prices, you are often overlooked, or even wasting time talking to people who can't afford you.

Listing prices = more qualified leads that contact you.

I would rather shoot myself than waste time showing value to people who don't care about value, and only care about cost.

Easy way to STILL get leads that are on the fence cost wise... have a strong call to action on your pricing page to call for special pricing/promotions/whatever. You'll get people that are JUST short of what you are asking for price wise, and you can either show the value and get them to pony up, or if they really can't afford it then you can work with them on pricing or payments if that's what you want to do.

I can't think of a scenario that you don't want to list your prices unless it is astronomical and requires a lot of time on your part to figure out what you will charge. Many custom projects and custom work should never list an hourly rate, and it is okay to not list prices as the work will be custom. SEO and web design rarely require a lot of work to figure out what to charge unless it is a high end project with various levels of difficulty. A website for a roofer does not require a custom quote if you have a few packages for them to choose from.

This topic has been hammered to death in this forum. There's also been a lot of extensive testing and no one ever agrees on any strategy about this.

A friend of mine... on this forum, always believed in not displaying prices since all he does is SEO and a lot of projects require a custom quote. Once he took my advice in creating a pricing page explaining there are different package levels for different things, so if your business fits xyz, then you choose package A, B, or C... he saw an increase in clients. In fact, his pricing page in 2013 had organic traffic for the term SEO pricing, or some similar term that generated an additional 300 leads and over $380,000 in new business.

Adobe used to not list their prices, and after a big name consultant setup split testing to see which would be better converting.... they decided otherwise. However, that may be useless now since most of their products are part of the creative cloud thing they're doing for a monthly fee.