Should you list your prices on your website?
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When I first started my side-hustle, I was terrified to list my prices.
I was also confused as to how I could possibly ever display pricing in any universe, because I was a generalist. I basically took whatever work came my way whether it lit me up or not, from helping recreate & reformat an already designed logo (from Photoshop to Illustrator –yikes!) for that client's trademark process, to branding, to graphic design for t-shirts. 😳
Of course that was hard to list! Every project I took was different and so was every client.
I was also so green that I had no idea what my hourly rate was, so I just charged something higher than what my 9-5 paid me (because at least I knew I deserved more than that). 😂
So I'm with ya. I get this struggle, SO hard! It's real. 1,000%! I have been there myself; I didn’t want to list my prices either & even when I did, I didn't know HOW.
It felt embarrassing and scary.
It caused imposter syndrome.
It changed too much from client to client depending on the scope of what they needed.
Maybe it was because I knew my prices were too low, …and later when I raised them, I thought they were too high. 😏
Whatever the reason you’re holding back, here's why I think you SHOULD add them to your website, and STAT.
Why you should list your prices on your website
❶ The unknown is scary – it’s a deterrent.
My biggest point of contention with this is what I’ve experienced myself as a potential customer on someone else’s website that didn’t display prices:
We’re afraid of what we don’t know. And if what I don’t know is your pricing? I’m not going to ask. I’m going to assume your prices are so far out of my league that it’s laughable for me to inquire.
Or, I’m going to assume your services are so booked out our exclusive that you don’t have availability.
Neither of those things might be true, but if I don’t know (without asking someone at your company) I’ll move on to the next website that does display prices, because at least then I don’t have to have the embarrassing conversation of saying,
‘Well you sound great, truly, but your prices are quadruple my budget for this project; sorry for wasting your time!’
These types of people who hate asking about prices are usually researching this service/product at multiple places. They want the right price, with the right person, etc. and if your site can’t provide that info for them without them making contact first, then you’re absolutely, 100%, losing people.
That basically means there are people out there who already want to work with you, but passed because they thought they couldn't afford you –and you never got the chance to tell them otherwise.
Especially busy people. If they have a finite amount of time to find a person for this thing, they are not going to reach out & wait for your reply.
❷ Displaying your prices can filter out the price-hagglers.
Having prices on your website will also inevitably weed out the clients who don’t fit your budget.
If your kneejerk reaction to that was, “–BUT I need the money! I can’t turn people away!”
I’ve been there & I get it. Hell, I AM there now. This business is my sole income now, so driving people away who might pay me could definitely be unsettling if I let it! However…
We both know you don’t need to be nickel-and-dime invoicing for a thousand clients a month just to hit your financial goals. Right?
You don’t want to send an invoice to Jane for $80 and an invoice to Barb for $300 and an invoice to Cathy for $500, followed by an invoice to Susan for $120, –just to hit your goal for the week. No.
Please note: I’m not saying you can’t help people with budgets like this, but they can’t be making up the main source of your income. It’s just too much work in the long-term for 1 person. If you do this, burning out is not an IF, –it’s a WHEN.
You want to send a single invoice, for a single client, for a single project per allotted time you have set aside for client work, –in most cases.
Why?
Because it’s less work for you. It’s more time to devote to helping them, paying attention to them, and making their experience working with you, superb.
Also because if you do take on bite-size projects like that, you still have to onboard all of those people –and there's admin work for each one too:
You have a phone or video call with them, meaning time blocked in your calendar for each meeting.
You read their form submission and maybe reviewed it before the call.
You discuss the project scope with them, you may generate a proposal AND an invoice for reach one.
You (hopefully) generate a contract & get it signed for each one.
You have emails back and forth,
Maybe you also send them a quick training video on how to use your project management app with you,
and maybe you have 1 or more meetings during each of those projects too.
You’ve sent files,
followed up on your invoice with automated or manual reminders,
and you waited for that payment to clear your account.
My point here is: you’ve done A LOT more work for that low-level client than you got paid for because you didn't bill for the time it takes you to manage that project’s admin stuff.
For high-level clients, you're able to cover that extra time in your cost, because the price isn't just for the service, it's also for the experience you create for your client, which includes all the extra time & attention you give them.
You might also be forgetting that if you work with clients at a lower rate (like, a Fiverr rate):
(though not always) the cheapest clients tend to be pushy, irritating, arrogant, know-it-all-types, price-negotiators who are unappreciative of your time, experience or skill; they are NOT your dream clients
you have to work with A LOT more ‘cheap clients’ to make your monthly/weekly/yearly income goals, which means you are busy a lot more too, with their project work, the associated admin work, and leaving time for little else
it’s the best way to burn out, fast –and hate what you do
To work more efficiently, you have to be able to charge higher prices to cover the amount of time you KNOW you will be devoting to each client, and that leads me right into point numero tres.
❸ It wastes your time and theirs.
You’ve spent some time looking over their form submission or client application, maybe checking over their website or their social pages, reviewing again what they said they wanted/needed before the meeting, trying to get a feel for their “vibe” through their already established online presence, or re-reading their email to see if you can spot any potential red flags.
You’ve saved a spot in your calendar and a time to meet with this person 1:1, –only to find during the meeting or shortly afterward that you won’t be working with them after all, –not because they didn’t like you or your design style, but because they embarrassingly didn’t realize they couldn’t afford you until you told/sent them pricing on or after that call.
You’ve blocked time in your calendar to potentially help this person, but really all you’ve done is waste your time and theirs. To fix this? Just add some pricing details on your site.
This leads me into the next point, which is…
❹ It can feel uncomfortable or embarrassing to ask you this.
I have been on this side of things myself. Once, I reached out to an incredible copywriter who did not list prices on her site, but she was SO good I HAD to know if maybe I was wrong that she was probably way out of my league (and budget). So, I filled out an inquiry form and waited for the response.
Her team responded by asking to set up a discovery call, and me not wanting to waste anyone’s time, I replied with a comment that I’d love to meet with [her] but I really needed to know her basic pricing before we continued, so I knew if her services were in my budget or not.
To my surprise, they never dignified my comment with a response! NEVER. No one ever replied. That did 2 things: it made me feel like an idiot and it made me think of [her] differently, –because dude– that’s so rude… Are they so busy they couldn’t take the time to paste in a canned email response for that situation just to tell me baseline pricing & they understand if that’s outside my budget, –yadda yadda yadda? Geezus H. Roosevelt Christ…
So, if you put your clients or potential inquirers into that situation, a few things may happen/be happening:
it may cause the person to ghost you because they don’t want to tell you they wasted your time & can’t afford your prices, especially if they’re a fan, already liked you & wanted to work with you, specifically.
it may have made that person feel uncomfortable and/or embarrassed because they can’t afford your prices
it wasted your time pitching to someone who isn’t ready for that price point yet
❺ You’re hesitant because you’re afraid to put it out there.
I know this because I was. Not wanting to list my prices in the beginning of my side-hustle basically boiled down to me being afraid to show them.
What if they were too low? Too high? What if people laugh? Who do I think I am to be charging this much? This little? What if no one can afford this. What if they could afford more? What if it turns people away? What if I can’t pay my bills with this?
#beenthere
It’s OKAY TO BE AFRAID. In fact, it’s totally normal. You’re doing something you’ve never done before, most likely!
But this is YOUR business. You make the rules. You set the prices. You do the work. Did I say you make the rules? 😉
If you’re afraid to show your prices because you’re not sure HOW to price your services, then make sure you check out this post that will walk you through pricing your services step-by-step.
❻ You think you “can’t” because your packages are too custom…
This one is more common than you’d think, but that doesn’t mean it’s a road-block.
Introducing STARTING AT prices!!
All you have to do is find your baseline –where you can’t charge any lower– for each thing you offer, and list THAT with something like:
Packages start at $_____
Starting price at $_____
Most clients spend about $_____ on this service
Need more than you see here? Add-ons/upgrades/extras are available.
See what I mean? You don’t have to be so hard-lined.
It’s 100% okay to only list starting prices, in-fact you’d be wise to do so.
Starting prices give you a little wiggle room for custom quotes, but you also help people know if your services fit their budget by telling them the minimum investment required to work with you, –saving everyone what now? “Time and embarrassment!” You got it, dude!
❼ What if prices need to change & someone notices they went up/down?
So TF what? 😂
Just change them when they need to be changed. Don’t worry about what people will think!
If you get a repeat client that comes back after a price change, just tell them you’ve had to increase your prices.
If you’re scared to tell them they suddenly have to pay more, then you can choose to offer 1 more project at the old rate, and the new pricing would take effect going forward. That gives them a bit of a buffer, tells them you understand this might not be ideal for them (especially if they’re not a high-level client), and shows you care about not pricing them out.
If they choose to stay with you, they’re not staying because of your prices; they’re staying because of YOU (& how much they like working with you). You’d be surprised how many repeat clients I still have after changing my prices drastically over the last 6+ years.
Price hikes, as long as they’re within reason, are not going to deter people who want to work with you & only you. It will only deter people who can’t afford you anymore, and that is nothing personal! For you OR them. Would you rather hang onto clients that bring in less than others just to save face, even though they still take up the same time in your work week? Didn’t think so.
Need help setting your prices?
Make sure you check out this post too.
