Do Your Fees Do This For People?
In a recent conversation with a powerful leader, Megan Sillito, we talked about pricing and how our pricing makes us more visible or we shrink back and hide.
She said something that really impacted me “Do your fees cause people to look for a new place within themselves?”
Or do your fees support people in the exact place where they are stuck?
Recently I engaged in a thread of comments on Facebook that was exploring a sliding scale for their fees.
On one side people want to make themselves available for people who need their services but are having a hard time financially. On the other side, if we do that, we never give people the opportunity to create anything more than what they are currently experiencing.
Here are some things to consider about how to price your services and not over-give, over-deliver and not add to the cycle of scarcity that people want to get out of.
First – go where you are wanted, not where you are needed. Gina DeVee said this on an interview I did with her a couple of years ago.
I was asking her how she decided where she would travel next and women would meet her in different corners of the world. She said she only goes where she is wanted, not where she is needed.
We really only have a handful of needs: food, water, shelter when conditions are really bad. The truth is we can survive on very little.
What we WANT is what make manifesting exciting. We want the house, the car, the clients, etc.
People say they NEED help, but when they want it they make an empowered decision to get support.
In fact I had someone tell me last week that they NEEDED an Akashic Record reading because they weren’t sure how much longer their business would keep going. They bought the session and less than 24 hours later requested a refund, BEFORE we did the session. That was a first for me.
He NEEDED help, but he didn’t WANT it. So he created a way to remove himself from receiving support.
Where in your life or business are you doing that?
Are you in the trap of these common abundance blockers?
Barters and Trades
ONLY do a trade or barter for a service that you would be willing to buy. Otherwise the energy gets messy and it doesn’t work. Most trades are rooted in scarcity energy – one or both parties don’t have the cash to pay for a service. Again, if both parties would willingly pay for the other’s services, then it can work.
Sliding Scale
There are some healers and medical offices that use this fee structure. My chiropractor has a cash fee and if you pay through insurance, the visit is a higher price.
Where this gets sticky is when you have people coming to you telling you they can’t afford you so you lower your standards to accommodate them. No one wins in this situation.
I don’t recommend a sliding scale for healers or coaches, it complicates things too much.
A few years ago, a woman wanted my services and told me the many ways that she couldn’t afford them. She said she “would do anything.” I offered her a job. I never heard back from her.
People pay for what is important to them. Again, when people want you, not need you, the desperation energy that is often attached with “need” evaporates and the energy exchange is much cleaner.
Gifts and Scholarships
Set your fees and stick to them. When you feel inspired, give scholarships and gifts, but be wise if you truly feel inspired to give back, or if giving a gift to someone is a way that you discount yourself.
I occasionally have given people a scholarship to one of my longer programs and there has been ONE person who actually took it seriously. In the past, those large gift exchanges were more about me wanting to be important and help someone “in need” than holding people to a higher possibility and supporting them in being the kind of woman who could create the program investment if they really wanted it.
Needless to say I don’t do scholarships like that anymore.
When you feel inspired to give a gift to someone, ask yourself is it because you truly feel inspired or because you want to be important and your own ego is attached to the agenda?
Give Back
If you want to help people, here are a few options that you can serve more people who may not be willing to invest right now:
- Offer free teleclasses or webinars
- Volunteer at local schools, homeless shelters, senior citizen centers
- Host a free monthly training virtually or live
- Give people a partial scholarship to your programs so they can still know what it feels like to invest in themselves and put some skin in the game.
- Your newsletter is a great way people can get your free content. Your videos are another way. Don’t underestimate the value of that.
- Donate to causes you believe in. Having that outflow of energy, expands the gateway in which you can receive abundance. Giving to a cause especially when you feel that you can’t afford it, activates your faith in the universe to provide for you.
Here is part of the comment I posted on Facebook last week about the discussion of sliding scales:
If we believe in an abundant universe and we know the value of our work, and we also believe that others buy what is important to them AND we believe in their ability to create abundance for things that would serve their highest good, how would giving someone a discount serve them, the practitioner or the circulation of money flow?
Things that make you go hmmmm…
Recommended Resource: A Marketing Makeover can help you uncover the roots that are blocking abundance in your business and get you on a clear direction.
