Before you can figure out what to charge for your product or service, you need to figure out which money land your prospective clients live in.

Money is different where ever you use it.  It has different value, different rules, and even different language.  There are all sorts of different ways of looking at money and its value.  Some have to do with geography – San Francisco is more expensive than Denver.  Some have to do with cars – BMW and Mercedes land vs SUV and Truck land.  Some have to do with social strata – purses, shoes, number of garages.  All different perspectives about the same thing – money.

And people in each of those perspectives have different views about what they can and can’t afford, what is cheap and what is expensive, what has value and what doesn’t. They all have the same worries and concerns, really – there just may be more zeros after their number than yours.

When you are looking at those great marketing questions like “Who is your ideal client?” make sure to include questions like “What are they willing to pay for this?” and even more importantly “What are they expecting to pay?”

It’s a challenge, I know.  It takes research, and sometimes constant “fussing”.  And if  you don’t charge enough, they may not value your product enough to engage or show up in the process, even if they do hire you.  They have to have skin in the game.  It has to be of value for them.  And as I have said before “it has to be more than lunch, for them”.

What would your wealthier client pay for lunch?  Are you charging more than that?  Is the culture and economics of where you live supportive of the fee you are charging?

If you aren’t getting business, one of the issues may be that you are charging to much, or maybe you are charging too little.   Hmmm….