HOW I WENT FROM CHARGING £37.50 TO £400 PER PLATFORM AS A SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
In February 2017, I launched my business as a social media manager and a few weeks later, one of my friends got in touch about me launching and managing a Twitter and Pinterest account for her business.
In my excitement to have my first official paying client and wanting to give my friend a good deal (mates rates and all that), I charged just £75 a month to manage BOTH platforms.
What’s even worse than charging peanuts for a shit tonne of work is that I actually gave her a whole month FREE because imposter syndrome got in my head, telling me I hadn’t done enough.
The truth was, I’d found it so easy to set up and optimise both accounts, I didn’t feel like I could call it work. How could I charge for something that came so easy for me?
A few weeks later, I had another enquiry. By this point I realised that charging just £75 a month was not a sustainable way to live so this time, I charged £299 to manage two platforms - £149.50 per platform.
I was told I was too expensive.
Over the next 6 months, I managed to increase my rates to £200 per platform but I felt overworked, undervalued and was nearing burnout. Not only that, I had imposter syndrome telling me I wasn’t doing a good enough job.
I was determined to have a successful, thriving business that would support the life I wanted to live so I knew I had to get over my fears of rejection and start charging more.
Within 6 weeks, I’d confidently raised my rates from £200 per platform to £400 per platform per month. Here are the exact steps I took:
I got clear on my vision
I spent some time getting really clear on what I actually wanted my life and my business to look like. Was undercharging and needing to work with 25+ clients just to hit my income goal the life I wanted to live?
No, it most definitely wasn’t.
I wanted a life of freedom, a generous income that’d allow me to travel + not stress about my bills and to work with dreamy clients who valued me, appreciated the work I did and trusted that I knew what I was doing.
When I realised how far I was from my vision, I knew I needed to start charging more, despite how scary it felt.
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Reminded myself of my results
To combat the fear of rejection and feelings of not deserving to charge more because I was still only 6 months into my business, I started reading back through the positive feedback I’d received from my clients.
I looked at the results I was getting for them and read through the case studies I’d created so I could see the proof that I was doing a good job.
I was getting results for my clients so of course I deserved to be paid well for the work I was doing.
One of the things I now encourage my clients to do is to create a feedback folder full of messages, emails, comments on social posts and any other form of positive feedback that they can read through when they start doubting themselves.
Hired my first 1:1 coach
This was, without a doubt, the scariest but most important step. There was only so far getting clear on my vision and reading through feedback could get me.
By this point, I hadn’t raised my prices. Although I’d had new enquiries, I felt so uncomfortable charging more that I’d offer a discount or forget my new rates so say my lower prices.
The coach I hired helped me to get clear on my offers (which also meant I got rid of the services I hated offering), she helped me work out my income goal and create my prices based on that.
The game changer though was her encouraging me to take more time off to recharge and introducing me to mindset work. Instead of ‘hustling’, I structured my days so I’d have plenty of time off to have fun.
I also created a morning routine that consisted of activities like journaling and meditation.
By giving myself time off and working on actively feeling confident about myself and my services, my sense of self worth began to increase. I recognised how valuable I was and realised that I’d been undervaluing myself all along.
Invested time in developing my skills
As well as hiring a coach, I also spent time, energy and money on polishing up my skills as a social media manager.
I researched different strategies online, I signed up for social media specific courses, I studied the platforms and did a lot of trial/error testing so I knew what would/wouldn’t work.
Improving my skills gave me confidence which contributed to the feelings that I was worthy of charging more.
Within 6 weeks, I was confidently charging £400 per platform and had signed a dream client who paid me 3 months in advance for the work I was going to do. They saw how confident I was in myself and my services so they trusted that I’d do a good job for them. After 6 months working together, they offered me a year long contract.
When it comes to increasing your prices, it’s more than just putting a higher number next to your offers.
You need to work on three key areas:
• Self confidence
• Self belief
• Self worth
When you build more confidence, belief and self worth, you’ll find it easier to charge the higher price because you’ll understand how valuable you are to a business.