{"id":169,"date":"2017-03-23T15:59:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-23T19:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/?p=169"},"modified":"2021-10-25T19:30:23","modified_gmt":"2021-10-25T23:30:23","slug":"put-pricing-website","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/put-pricing-website\/","title":{"rendered":"Should You Put Pricing On Your Website"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Should-you-put-pricing-on-your-website-PINTEREST-683x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-170\" srcset=\"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Should-you-put-pricing-on-your-website-PINTEREST-683x1024.png 683w, https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Should-you-put-pricing-on-your-website-PINTEREST-200x300.png 200w, https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Should-you-put-pricing-on-your-website-PINTEREST.png 735w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The debate rages on \u2014 to display your prices up-front or not,&nbsp;<em>that<\/em>&nbsp;is the question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it\u2019s a question that plagues freelancers All. The. Time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like any good debate, there are strong arguments for and against. Me, I\u2019ve always been firmly in the \u201cfor\u201d camp. But nothing convinced me (and will convince&nbsp;<em><strong>you<\/strong><\/em>) as much as what I\u2019m about to tell you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First off, let\u2019s clear the air:&nbsp;<strong>YES<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2014 you absolutely, positively, need to display your prices on your website, right up front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Freelance To Freedom \u2013 Should you put your prices on your website\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rNpOQc-5dWc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A lot of great freelancers left money on the table<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Why? Because they weren\u2019t even at the table!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Okay, let\u2019s back up here. One fine day, I was looking to hire a freelancer for my own business. I had really specific needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>They had to be a copywriter or someone who had previous experience writing copy<\/li><li>They had to be reliable<\/li><li>I wanted someone who understood the Freelance to Freedom Community and audience<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Besides this, I had a really&nbsp;<strong>specific budget and it was non-negotiable.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I knew exactly what I was looking for. So I put out the call to the community and a couple of Facebook groups. Having too much talent is a great \u201cproblem\u201d to have. Not being able to sort through tons of websites super fast was&nbsp;<em>not<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I had a million tabs open, sorting through everyone\u2019s work, going through their projects and testimonials. Do you know how many I exited?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Almost all.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s the thing: there\u2019s one of me and tons of great copywriters and content creators out there. I need to sort through everyone of the great people who actually responded to my call&nbsp;<strong>fast.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The websites I left either encouraged me to \u201cbook a discovery call\u201d with them or contact them for more info on prices.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In other words, none of their pricing info was listed right up front and\u2026well, nobody has time for that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because I had such a specific budget, I knew exactly what I was willing to pay. And I knew I was&nbsp;<em>not<\/em>&nbsp;willing to sit through a thousand hours of \u201cdiscovery calls\u201d, only to find out that they were either:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Wayyyy outta my budget<\/li><li>Wayyyy under my budget (which is Greek for \u201cless experience\u201d)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Luckily, for me, this meant a relatively small shortlist of people to choose from \u2014 those who&nbsp;<em>had<\/em>&nbsp;put their pricing on their websites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unluckily for the very talented freelancers who threw their hat into the ring\u2026they left money on the table because, for me, the information was incomplete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why this likely stops potential clients from reaching out<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s what you should take away from my hiring experience:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>I was deterred because I knew my budget: it was specific and non-negotiable<\/li><li>So many options, so little time, as it is, to go through everyone\u2019s sites<\/li><li>I simply didn\u2019t have time to go through the process of a discovery call (and the follow-up that comes along with it)<\/li><li>I moved on (I had to).<\/li><li>I created a shortlist of candidates from a really small pool of people who&nbsp;<em>did<\/em>&nbsp;have pricing info.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In other words\u2026they showed up to the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">SOMETHING THINGS NEVER CHANGE: ARGUMENTS AGAINST PUTTING PRICING ON YOUR WEBSITE<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve heard it all before. But hearing is not believing \u2014 not in this case. Many \u201cgurus\u201d will tell you to be coy with pricing because:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Then you can \u201ccustom quote\u201d \u2014 offer a tailor-made price point that accounts for everything they\u2019re looking for (minus everything they\u2019re not)<\/li><li>You can \u201cplay it by ear\u201d \u2014 or, rather, a freelancer can quote based on the client\u2019s budget (which, obviously, you can only figure out when you talk face-to-face with them)<\/li><li>With a discovery call, you\u2019re not committed or locked into a single price<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>To which, obviously, I have several counters:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>You can\u00a0<strong>always<\/strong>\u00a0custom quote,\u00a0<strong>based on an intake form<\/strong>\u00a0(I talk about that extensively in my\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/school.freelancetofreedomproject.com\/stress-less-impress\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Stress Less &amp; Impress<\/a>\u00a0module on the \u201cHire Me\u201d form when getting started)<\/li><li>Sorry folks, but freelancing is not settlement poker, where one side tries to get the other side to reveal their \u201cbottom line\u201d \u2014 this makes the client-freelancer relationship feel way too adversarial, setting us off on the wrong foot\u2026<\/li><li>You can use the contract to lay out everything that is included in the price, what\u2019s\u00a0<strong>not<\/strong>\u00a0included and how much those extra pieces will be \u2014 so, technically, you\u2019re not\u00a0<em>really<\/em>\u00a0locked in. No one\u2019s putting a ring on it.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">THE IDEAL CLIENT EXPERIENCE IS NOT ABOUT YOU<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Are you sensing a pattern here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Every one of these arguments \u201cagainst\u201d pricing on websites&nbsp;<strong>comes from the perspective of the freelancer.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Who benefits from a custom quote? Who\u2019s worried about being \u201clocked in\u201d? Who wants to try and quote based on budget?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The freelancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s&nbsp;<em><strong>my<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;bottom line (this is a poker-free zone):&nbsp;<strong>client services are not about you.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your ideal and potential client\u2019s experience should be about them: their needs, their wants, their benefits earned. In my case, my needs were about time. For others, it might be a question of transparency, for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes, all freelancers have a stake in their work and they&nbsp;<em>should<\/em>&nbsp;expect clients to appreciate and respect that. But the way to do that is to anticipate what your client needs and respond to it before they even know they need it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Empathy works. Always, and especially when it comes to the ideal client experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a freelancer, you can always convert a client from just \u201cclient\u201d to true-believer by simply putting yourself in their shoes. So if time is their issue, like it was for me, make it&nbsp;<strong>easy<\/strong>&nbsp;for them to say, \u201cYes!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, this means that, really, you\u2019re winning too. Right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">WHY UP-FRONT PRICING IS A STRATEGY THAT WORKS FOR BOTH<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you were kind of annoyed at that whole \u201cit\u2019s not about you\u201d thing, thinking \u201cLeahhhh, okay, but\u2026I\u2019ve got bills to pay and I have to be strategic!\u201d Hey, I get it. And I\u2019m here to prove to you that that\u2019s best for your client has a funny way of coming full circle, delivering benefits right to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why pricing on your website works:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Avoid the cheapos right away who are contacting you just to get a low-ball quote (ew)<\/li><li>Don\u2019t waste your time going through a proposal process with people who are just \u201cwindow shopping\u201d \u2014 you don\u2019t want to be one of the many<\/li><li>Don\u2019t turn away those who think that, \u201cDiscovery Call\u201d is Latin for \u201cSales call where I try and sell you on my exorbitant prices\u201d \u2014 i.e. they may think you\u2019re wayyy outta their budget<\/li><li>People who love transparency and time-savings will love you forever (me)<\/li><li>You\u2019ll actually get people who are in the range of what you want to be making, who will justify your quote based on their project<\/li><li>Your pricing will tell them about your value: so if you quote high and have the testimonials or portfolio pieces to back it up, they know they\u2019ll be getting quality<\/li><li>They\u2019ll appreciate you, in the long run, so much more<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A word to the wise:<\/strong>&nbsp;if you\u2019ve never given up-front pricing a try, think about this. How crazy would it be if you walked into a Levi\u2019s store, tried to buy a product and you were told you have to schedule a \u201cfitting appointment\u201d where they ask you about your budget, measure you, custom quote you and then, in the end, it fit\u2026but it didn\u2019t make your butt look all nice?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I encourage you to do some A\/B testing. Run your site as is, for a month, and then see what happens to the quality and profile of potential clients who come knocking when you put pricing up front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The difference will be as obvious as your pricing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">JOIN THE CONVERSATION!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019re talking about this topic in the FTF Community Facebook group\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/ftfpcommunity\/permalink\/1169684333153803\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">right here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"80\" height=\"50\" src=\"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Leah-Signature.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-106\"\/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The debate rages on \u2014 to display your prices up-front or not,&nbsp;that&nbsp;is the question. And it\u2019s a question that plagues freelancers All. The. Time. Like any good debate, there are strong arguments for and against. Me, I\u2019ve always been firmly in the \u201cfor\u201d camp. But nothing convinced me (and will convince&nbsp;you) as much as what &#8230; <a title=\"Should You Put Pricing On Your Website\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/put-pricing-website\/\" aria-label=\"More on Should You Put Pricing On Your Website\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}