Is This Major Mindset Block Holding You Back?

The other day, I spoke to a woman named Mariah. Mariah runs a wedding planning service, and she was looking for someone to write blog articles incorporating SEO so she could bring in new clients. I scrolled through her website as we talked, admiring the stunning photos of laughing brides and grinning grooms.

If I’m being honest, I was a little jealous. My own wedding had been scheduled for June 2020… I’ll let you guess how that went.

Then I got to Mariah’s packages, and my jaw just about hit the floor.

“Are these seriously your prices?”

Hesitation, fear, and a little defensiveness filled her voice. “Do you think they’re too high?”

“I think they’re too low!”

Mariah was silent. I could almost hear the internal battle she was going through. Finally, she spoke. Her voice trembled. “I can’t imagine people would pay any more than that. It doesn’t take me very long to put everything together. You could do it yourself, if you wanted. I don’t want to lose clients by making my prices too high.”

Do You Feel Guilty Charging For a Skill or Talent?

This is a trap that so many of us business owners fall into, especially women. We think that just because something is easy or fun for us it’s not worth much to others. This is absolutely not true. Just because you have a talent or a passion for something doesn’t mean you should give it away for free.

Here’s the thing. Mariah loves to plan and organize. She has worked in the wedding industry for years and has established contacts. She could get on the phone with a caterer and work out the entire reception schedule in ten minutes flat. She is a boss babe in her industry with real talent and a love for what she does!

You know what I hate to do? Organize and talk on the phone. I look at a timeline and get flustered and confused. I much prefer just being told where to be and when to be there. And I will gladly pay to have someone do that for me.

This is the thing we forget when it comes to charging for our skills and talents. We can even feel guilty for wanting money in return for doing what we love and are good at! But other people don’t have the same skills and talents, and they may actually hate doing the things we love. When we help people by using our talents to take something off their plate, we are providing a valuable service.

Charge What You’re Worth

If you have a talent for something, and you’ve built up all the required skills around it, then you should actually be charging more for your work because you are not a two bit hack. And yet, many of us still hesitate to raise our prices because we assume that if it’s easy for us, it must be easy for everyone else.

This is a type of projection that we do, assuming that just because we can do something everyone can. The thing we forget is that not everyone can do it at the same level. More importantly, not everyone wants to.

I’m a damn good writer, always have been. Words come easy to me, and I don’t often make mistakes (unless they’re on purpose, for effect). This means that I’m fast and I can have a quick turnaround because I don’t have many grammar or typo issues to fix.

And yet, writing that last paragraph made me cringe because it felt so much like I was bragging and my statements were unjustified.

It’s something I see again and again with creative entrepreneurs. We undercharge because we don’t recognize the worth of our creativity and talent. We don’t think we should earn a living from something that comes so easily to us and is actually fun.

But the truth is that we should be earning more from our talents. It’s like with athletes. When a high school student shows immense talent and skill in a sport, they are recruited. If they’re lucky, eventually they’ll go on to play the game they love at the pro level and they’ll make a ton of money from their talent and skill.

Do we think this road is easy for athletes? Heck no! They work all the time to improve their skills and stay on top of their game. They face injury, grueling hours, excessive expectations to perform… and they are rewarded for that effort with respect and a big fat check.

Start thinking of yourself like a pro athlete.

You're Worth It!

You are an expert in your craft and you have a natural talent. You’ve spent years developing that talent so you can provide something of the highest quality. The whole reason you’ve been able to focus on this talent is because you enjoy it.

Having guilt over charging a premium for a skill you enjoy using is a major mindset block that can have a dramatic effect on the upward momentum of your small business. It can prevent you from scaling and charging what you’re actually worth.

Here’s the thing to remember: You are the expert. You are good at what you do. You deserve to be compensated (and compensated well!) for your talents.

All that being said, you can’t be good at everything. There will be gaps in your knowledge and areas where you need support. This is where you need to lean on your team or bring in people who can help you.

My talent is writing, and I’m going to own that. As a copywriter, I save you time and energy so you can spend your most priceless resources on the things that really matter to you. The things you are truly passionate about like your family or your creative work.

Ready to take the next step to reach more clients and save your time? I have a package just for you to support your business and help you get to the next level with your content. Send an email to nikki@nikkiolsoncopywriting.com and start saving the time and energy you need to fully focus on your talents and skills.

School's Out: The 7 Steps I Took to Escape the Classroom is now available on Amazon.