If you’ve ever worked with a copywriting coach…
…you’ll know the first thing they tell you is…
Raise your fees!
In fact, it’s often their primary piece of advice.
Raise your fees raise your fees raise your fees.
Get as much money as possible for every job you do.
Take the client for everything they have.
All you have to do is charge more and your problems are solved.
These so called experts usually have a number of reasons to justify this.
They tell you things like:
“Increasing your fees increases your perceived value…”
“Increasing your perceived value increases demand…”
“You get what you pay for…”
“Know your worth…”
But is this actually good advice?
The answer is yes and no.
What most people don’t understand is that there’s a catch to this.
First of all, charging more doesn’t automatically make your more attractive to clients.
What’s more, it can actually have the opposite effect.
You may actually chase away good clients who would hire you.
You see, not everyone is prepared to pay whatever fee or price you quote.
This is especially true if you don’t provide good reasons to justify those fees.
These reasons should include:
- You’re the best at what you do
- You’re better than other people providing the same service
- You deliver faster than others providing the same service
- You’re easier to deal with than other people
- Your service is desperately needed
- You’re recognized as a top expert in your field
- You’re seen as trustworthy
- You have a unique advantage over the competition
On the other hand, if there’s no clear difference between you and other copywriters…
…and no perceived advantage to hiring you vs. the other guy…
…then you’re not going to get anywhere by simply raising your fees.
Now this isn’t always the case.
You could argue that a higher price triggers the perception that your service is superior
And in many cases this is actually true.
The problem is that in overcrowded market places it becomes less and less true.
Clients, rather than blindly assuming that more expensive means better, now want you to prove your superiority.
And the more proof you have the more deals you’ll close.
Bottom line:
Raising your prices isn’t always the key to success.
It doesn’t always help you gain a competitive advantage…
…and may actually work against you.
Here’s a better strategy:
Actually increase the quality and value of your services.
Doing this will trigger increased demand and build your reputation as a go-to provider.
Only at that point should you consider raising your fees.
Got it?
Alastair Walton