Is It Impossible for You to Raise Your Prices?

I Can’t Possibly Raise My Prices Faulty Logic #1: “If I can’t get people to buy my stuff for cheap, how can I expect people to pay a lot?”


The problem is that it’s like you’re trying to sell a diamond necklace at the thrift store.

The people at the thrift store won’t buy it, and the people who WILL buy it aren’t at the thrift store.

Raise your prices and the right people will start to find you.

HINT: in fact, those “right people” are right in front of you. Those good folks who can and will pay higher prices are ALREADY in your tribe – they are just waiting for you to offer something at a price-point that makes sense to them.

I Can’t Possibly Raise My Prices Faulty Logic #2: “Well, I wouldn’t pay that much for XYZ …so I can’t imagine anyone else would either.”

Honey, you are not your client.

You do not have the same problem that your client has.

For example, you may not have just bought a big condo in Miami and be desperate to fill up those big blank walls with some challenging new art that will WOW your friends.

Or you may not be invited to attend a black-tie holiday party and not be able to find a plus-size dress that doesn’t make you look like a cheap chandelier…

Or maybe you have never spent a sleepless night wondering if you’ll ever find the love of your life.

But your clients do. They don’t just want to buy big art and a custom evening gown and relationship/dating coaching — they NEED to.

So, of course you wouldn’t pay to solve a problem that you don’t have. But think about a problem that you DO have — would you invest top dollar to get help solving that problem once and for all?

Yep. I bet you would.

I Can’t Possibly Raise My Prices Faulty Logic #3: “I don’t want to work with snotty rich people.”

If you’ve got this thought in your head, then first of all, that’s just plain old discrimination, and you should take a good, long, compassionate look at your assumptions.

(And I’m guessing what you really mean is that you don’t want to work with ANY snotty people, which is fine – don’t. There are plenty of warm, sensitive, well-off people in the world. Just as there are plenty of snotty broke ones.)

Secondly, just because someone pays a premium price for a thing doesn’t mean they are rich.

It means they VALUE the thing, and have prioritized it in their life.

And that’s great news for you — you want to work with people who value what you do.

 

You need help learning how to charge what you’re worth and how to feel good about it, and since Bill’s a musician as well as a writer/teacher/coach/creative genius, he’s the perfect person to show you how to do this all and have it feel great in your body, mind and soul.

Read it and then let me know what you think, OK?

I’m curious to know how all this lands with you….

REMEMBER: The World Is Eager to Pay Good Money for Your Art.

P.S. I am a friend, a Big Fan and an affiliate for Bill, but honestly I think his work is so great I would share it with you no matter what.

And if you have a friend who is caught in the undercharging/underearning/overdelivering cycle, please share “Mystery Solved: Where To REALLY Find High Paying Clients” by Bill Baren with him or her, or use the social sharing buttons. Thanks! – S.

What’s a $500 painting worth?

What’s a $500 painting worth?

I was trying to talk one of my VIP clients into charging $500 + shipping for her painting.

She wrote back to me, “OMG, $500???? Really? They’re only 24″ X 24. You think?”

Yes.

Now, I have no idea where this imaginary correlation between the size of the work and the price of the work came from. I think it’s kinda crazy.

By that yardstick, muralists should be millionaires.

Here would be some examples of my criteria for deciding if my painting were worth $500 —

1) Is this painting more inspiring and transformational than $500 of therapy?

2) Does this painting raise my spirits more than $500 worth of wine?

3) If I look at this painting twice a day for 10 years, will it give me six cents worth of joy each time (365×2=730 x 10 = 7300; 500/7300 = .068 : )

4) How many compliments will I receive on this work once it’s hanging in my home or office? If I get one a week for ten years, is that worth a dime for every admiring remark?

5) $500 is one medium-sized car repair; it’s two haircut with highlights (at least in LA); it’s three or four college textbooks, it’s five nice-ish date nights out with the spouse… you see where I’m going with this?

It’s not about price, it’s about VALUE.

So….what’s the value your work brings?

Art by Elisabeth Hoffman, www.hoffmannfineart.com.