Offline Business Builders Series: "It's Okay To Start Cheap..Just Remember To Raise Your Fees ASAP!"
Hey Offliners,
One of the things that aggravates me the most is when I meet with a prospect that thinks because they've been getting low-ball offers for $150 down and $99 per month to perform a certain marketing task, that I should be only be charging that much.
Now, granted this doesn't happen that much these days, there are still times when I'm trying to upsell an existing client and they try to use some low-ball offer to haggle me down.
In all honesty, depending on how I'm feeling at the time and how well I know and like the client, I may respond with a witty little comeback like..."Well, go with them then."
However, the few times that it has happened serves as blaringly obvious reminder that I might have screwed up my postioning somewhere along the way.
But, in most cases it's an example of a well-intentioned offline marketer actually implementing a pretty decent follow-up marketing system.
Except they neglected the part of the marketing class that talked about how lowest price leaders don't last that long because some other nitwit is always willing to go lower on his price so that eventually both each other out of business because neither one is actually making a profit.
The funny thing is if I'm able to get my hands on the emails or marketing pieces that the offline consultant is sending out to the prospect, I'm usually able to tell who's camp they came from and the offline guru's they're following.
So, I don't want to be like some offliners and talk bad about another offliner who is charging a crazy low fee for quality work...
But...
...I will say that it's business suicide if a offliner continues to build their little offline empire on the backs of these types of clients.
It took me several months of banging my head against the wall by targeting the worst type of clients before I realized that there's a market at almost every price point, including the higher ones.
I just needed to test and find a sweet spot that allowed me to make a good profit AND make my fees a relative non-issue with the clients that I wanted to work with.
So, if you're one of those offliners who is literally giving away the farm for dirt-cheap prices, I get it.
Just try to start raising your fees in a way that doesn't take food off your table, but also doesn't ruin your chances of actually building a sustainable business.
Hope this helps,
Chris
One of the things that aggravates me the most is when I meet with a prospect that thinks because they've been getting low-ball offers for $150 down and $99 per month to perform a certain marketing task, that I should be only be charging that much.
Now, granted this doesn't happen that much these days, there are still times when I'm trying to upsell an existing client and they try to use some low-ball offer to haggle me down.
In all honesty, depending on how I'm feeling at the time and how well I know and like the client, I may respond with a witty little comeback like..."Well, go with them then."
However, the few times that it has happened serves as blaringly obvious reminder that I might have screwed up my postioning somewhere along the way.
But, in most cases it's an example of a well-intentioned offline marketer actually implementing a pretty decent follow-up marketing system.
Except they neglected the part of the marketing class that talked about how lowest price leaders don't last that long because some other nitwit is always willing to go lower on his price so that eventually both each other out of business because neither one is actually making a profit.
The funny thing is if I'm able to get my hands on the emails or marketing pieces that the offline consultant is sending out to the prospect, I'm usually able to tell who's camp they came from and the offline guru's they're following.
So, I don't want to be like some offliners and talk bad about another offliner who is charging a crazy low fee for quality work...
But...
...I will say that it's business suicide if a offliner continues to build their little offline empire on the backs of these types of clients.
It took me several months of banging my head against the wall by targeting the worst type of clients before I realized that there's a market at almost every price point, including the higher ones.
I just needed to test and find a sweet spot that allowed me to make a good profit AND make my fees a relative non-issue with the clients that I wanted to work with.
So, if you're one of those offliners who is literally giving away the farm for dirt-cheap prices, I get it.
Just try to start raising your fees in a way that doesn't take food off your table, but also doesn't ruin your chances of actually building a sustainable business.
Hope this helps,
Chris
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