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Is it a good idea to tell people up front what they can expect to pay for your services?
It really depends on where you’re at in your business, so let’s first start with when you should not put your prices on your website:
When you’re just starting your business
Whenever our Advisori Insiders Pro members ask me if they should list their prices on their websites, I always say no.
When you’re first starting a business, you really aren’t sure how you’re going to price your services and that price probably changes from client to client.
In the beginning, you shouldn’t be wrapped up in how much you’re charging and getting your pricing perfect — what you should be focused on is landing clients.
I charged my very first client $800 per month. I literally had no reasoning for that amount of money.
I tried to figure out how many hours I thought I’d be working for that client and what I thought I wanted to earn hourly, but there wasn’t a lot of strategy or reasoning behind that price.
That’s how it goes for most people when they start a business.
So when you’re just starting out, don’t put your prices on your website — and remember that your goal is to land clients, get experience, build case studies, figure out what you like to work on, who you like to work with, and what people want.
In the beginning, you shouldn’t be wrapped up in how much you’re charging and getting your pricing perfect — what you should be focused on is landing clients.
If you charge an hourly rate
To be honest, I’m not a fan of hourly rates. I don’t think they work very well if you’re trying to scale your service business, but some people still choose to offer project-based services at an hourly rate.
Even if you’re charging by the hour, I still don’t love the idea of putting rates on your website.
You don’t want potential clients to not even get on a call with you because you’re more expensive than someone else they’re considering hiring — and that hourly rate isn’t going to really help you in any way.
So if you’re pricing your services at an hourly rate, I don’t recommend putting that on your website.
When you’re charging your clients different rates
You don’t want one client to see that you’re charging other clients less for the exact same thing!
Like I mentioned before, when you’re first starting your business, your prices are likely going to be all over the place because you’re figuring out what people want, the value of your offer, and who you want to work with.
On top of that, you’re probably working with a variety of clients too.
When I started my business, I worked with restaurants, boutiques, e-commerce stores, candle companies, healthcare providers, and an ophthalmologist — I was all over the place and I charged every single one of those clients something different!
So if you’re charging your clients different rates because you haven’t defined exactly who you want to work with, what you want to offer, and the packages you want to build out, then you definitely shouldn’t put your prices on your website.
Now all that being said, there are a few instances when you should put your prices on your website:
When you’re completely booked out
A really good example of this is high-end wedding photographers.
If you look at different wedding photographers’ websites, you’ll have those who say “inquire for rates” and then you’ll have other people who flat out say their base price is $5,000.
That’s a really good thing to have on your website if you don’t want to waste your time talking to people who are trying to get a wedding photographer for $200.
So if you’re totally booked out or close to being booked out, and you only want to talk to people who see your value and won’t bat an eye at your rates, then it might be a good idea to put them on your website.
You have established clear, defined offerings
If you’ve established your business, know what services are in high demand by your ideal clients, have reasoning and strategy behind your pricing, and can show your value through things like portfolios or case studies…
Then this might be a really good time to start putting your rates on your website. Doing so helps you avoid the people who are just looking to work with the cheapest person possible.
You’re ready to stop giving a shit about your competitors and own your greatness
I know that’s kind of a bold statement, but it’s so true.
So many service providers base their rates on what their competitors are charging, which is such a crappy idea because you have no idea how profitable your competitors are or how much money they’re actually making. You just see their rates, when in reality, they might not actually be making a lot of money in the end.
So if you’re ready to stop giving a shit about your competitors and start owning your greatness, it might be a good time to put your prices on your website.
Now I do want to add a little side note of something to think about:
If you do make the decision to list your prices on your website, that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to put your exact packages and your exact prices for every single service you offer.
Putting your prices on your website could be as simple as just providing your starting rate.
For example, on Advisori Marketing’s website, it states that our done for you services start at $2,500 per month.
This is a really great way to weed out those people who are looking for the cheapest rate possible but also gives you some room to increase your prices based on what your potential clients need.
If you want help strategically pricing your services and building the confidence to put your prices on your website, check out Successful Solopreneur School!
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