Welcome back to Little Leadership Lessons, my newsletter highlighting short but powerful insights to help you lead with confidence and create lasting results. These lessons come directly from my research, interviews, and coaching work with six- and seven-figure creator-founders.
I’m fired up this week after getting back from a week in Boise at Craft + Commerce. If you haven’t been before, it’s one of the best events for professional creators in the world.
Back when I was COO at Kit, I was the curator and emcee for the event. It was fun to be back as an attendee + speaker this year. The best part? My whole family got to tag along!
I gave a fireside chat to Jay Clouse’s The Lab community, delivered a workshop at a private mastermind for the speakers, and hosted a meetup with my friend Shawn Blanc.
One of the things that became clear while I was there: I’ve managed to build a unique position in this market of creators and entrepreneurs with a high degree of trust and demand for my 1:1 coaching.
Out of that, I realized that my unfair advantage is that I do 30+ hours of coaching with some of the world’s top creators every month. But I’m not translating the value from that coaching to you. What a waste!
So I’m reformatting the content of this newsletter to deliver even more value to you. Every coaching session I do has a universal lesson in it. And every newsletter edition should take one of those lessons and make it accessible to you.
Think of each newsletter as a free virtual coaching session. This is something my clients pay thousands of dollars for and now you’ll get to share in the wisdom of that work.
Just like a coaching session, I’ll share:
- The situation
- The emotional blocker
- The coaching reframe
- Coaching questions to help you apply it to your own business
As always, we’ll still start with a photo of nature to center your body and mind (much like the check-in I do at the beginning of each coaching session with clients).
Let’s get to it!
A Beautiful Photo to Quiet Your Body and Mind
The Situation
You’re a service provider and you’ve built your business to six figures by being one of the best at what you do. You believe in the quality of your work. You know what your rates should be, but you’ve still been quoting rates you’ve outgrown and it’s keeping you trapped at your current stage of growth.
So you commit to quoting a higher price on your next sales call.
The sales call comes along. It’s a warm lead from a close friend who has the exact need you know you can deliver on. You have a great conversation. Then the client asks “This is all sounding good to me. How much is this going to cost me?”
Instead of saying the price you had already determined in your head and that you know is justified based on ROI… you find yourself rambling. You revisit every point of the conversation. You outline everything you’re going to deliver. And then you fumble the bag, quoting a few dollars higher than what you’ve been charging.
What is happening here!?
The Emotional Blocker
If it’s not fear of hearing “no” and facing the accompanying rejection, then it’s the pressure of hearing “yes.” And in this particular client situation, it was the pressure of hearing yes.
Because if someone says yes to $5,000—or $20,000, or $42,000—now you feel a crushing weight to deliver. What if I can’t? What if they regret it? What if I’m not actually worth it?
When you start charging more money than you’ve ever charged before… and perhaps earning more than you’ve ever earned before as a result… it literally breaks your brain.
Your brain is used to operating with a certain amount of resource, but now you’re charging an amount that allows you to operate from a place of abundance.
This fear doesn’t come from an inability to do the work. You’ve already established that you’re great at what you do (right?). The fear comes from caring deeply. You want to deliver real results that make the spend worthwhile for your client.
And that desire, ironically, becomes the very thing that blocks you from charging what your work is worth.
The Coaching Reframe
There’s no world in which your price is justified without return. So don’t root your confidence in the number. Root it in the results you produce.
Here’s a three-part framework for building the confidence to charge what you’re worth:
1) Only work with people who can get a return.
If a client can’t get a 10x return—either in revenue or in something they deeply value—then it doesn’t matter how great you are. The engagement won’t make sense.
But if they have leverage—if they can take what you build together and multiply it—then your work becomes undeniably valuable.
Sometimes the return is financial. Other times, it’s emotional, relational, or psychological. But either way, your confidence starts with knowing you’re helping the right kind of person.
2) Train like a professional
Do you know what separates the best professional athletes in the world from the ones that have raw talent and potential they never fulfill? Training.
You can’t be the best by accident. You have to train like you’re trying to be the best. That’s true for athletes and it’s true you.
That means investing in coaching, mentorship, training, and books. It means constantly learning what works and how to apply it. It means building a community of fellow practitioners and learning how they operate.
You don’t need to do it all at once. But over time, those layers of learning compound.
And one day, you’ll realize: Nobody else is training and applying the learning like I am. That’s why I can charge what I charge.
3) Proactively show the value of your work
Don’t make your clients guess if it’s working. Don’t wait for them to ask. Show them.
Create a running doc with metrics, anecdata, and insights. Make your growth visible so they don’t have to wonder whether they’re getting their money’s worth.
Send a monthly or weekly update with information like:
“Here’s how your following has grown.” “Here’s what I’ve been learning and applying.” “Here’s what’s working and what we’re testing next.” “Here’s what I need more of from you so we can get even better results.”
People who hire the best (you), want information pushed to them. They don’t want to have to chase it. So don’t make them. Give them what they need so they’re consistently affirmed that they’re making a good investment.
If you do that consistently, your clients won’t question your price—they’ll wonder if they’re paying you enough.
Coaching Questions to Apply This to Your Business
- What kind of client is best positioned to get a 10x return from working with you?
- What would it look like to train and study like a professional in your field?
- How can you help your clients clearly see the value you’re creating?
- Are you getting real results that produce ROI for your clients? How do you know?
- Where are you assuming responsibility for results you can’t fully control? How can you reposition what you do away from these external factors?
On your next sales call, quote a higher price. But back it up with these three things: Work with people who can get ROI. Train like a professional. And prove the results.
Much love and respect,
