In this episode, we dive into how to determine your pricing and the steps you can take to confidently sell your products/services for the pricing you desire.

First things first, pricing is UP TO YOU!

Pricing is an IMPORTANT topic when running your own business. The hard truth of it is: IT’S UP TO YOU!  Right?  There are some helpful formulas that might set you out on the right foot, but ultimately YOU get to choose what makes sense for you and your business and that’s what makes pricing so challenging.

We are super excited today, because not only is this a topic we’ve been wanting to tackle for a while, but we actually received a voicemail question specifically about this challenge!  

It’s our first voicemail segment and we can’t wait.  Since we can’t meet in person for our podcast these days, we’ve decided to start taking your questions as voicemails. That way we can still help you tackle those challenges you’re facing in your day-to-day business life.  So let’s listen to our first voicemail message from Cyrinda….

Voicemail:

“My name is Cyrinda and I’ve been in business for about 3 years. I make handmade luxury, coconut soy wax candles as well as other organic body products. I’ve been doing a lot of custom projects lately where I’ll create signature scents for small businesses. I’ve been struggling with pricing and what I should be charging for these special, custom projects and also what I should charge for wholesale items, as well…”

Where do you start with pricing?

• Local Competitors – Make sure they are actually competitors in the same market
• How do you want to Position Yourself? Quality, Convenience, Price  
• Are you offering Quantity or Quality?

What do you base your pricing off of?

• Hard Costs per product/service
• Hard Costs of running your business
• Your TIME
• How much you need to make to stay in business vs How much you need to make to live a healthy lifestyle

Charge For Your Time

A huge mistake business owners make is not charging for their time. This happens because when we start out we often start with “sweat equity.” This is a great way to start your business without incurring a bunch of debt, however – it can’t last forever. You NEED to charge for your time because your time is valuable and you’ll never be able to grow without doing so. Plus, it’s too easy to start feeling run down and resent your own business if you aren’t getting paid for the time you put into it. It’s also pretty easy to charge TOO LITTLE when you don’t account for the time you spend.

Think about how much do you need to charge for your time so you can live your dream life, hire someone else, utilize software to make your job/life easier, etc.

Example: If you want to make $1000/week and only want to work 25 hours/week, then you need to charge at least $40/hour for your time.

Confidence In Selling Your Price

Once you have an idea of your costs, value, and time to figure out your price you’ll have more confidence in your pricing.

• Do the work to decide your prices and make a price list/sheet for yourself
• Possibly create packages
• Stick to your pricing
• Decide if and when you’ll offer discounts
• Put it on someone else to make it less uncomfortable
• Act like YOUR hourly rate is a hard cost – you wouldn’t mind paying someone else for their time, so treat your prices the same way
• Start where you are comfortable and grow from there

Your Pricing Should Change Over Time

• Start with introductory rates that help you build your confidence
• Note that it’s an early rate when you start out so you can easily raise prices later and avoiding having that bite you in the butt
• Change your pricing as you gain experience and confidence

The way I felt most comfortable raising my prices was:

1. Start by saying here is our “Introductory rate” so it’s clear this is special pricing for early customers
2. Give a heads up to existing clients that prices are changing and act now to save
3. Schedule a pricing review and plan to change pricing on an annual or bi-annual basis
4. Review your numbers regularly to make sure they are actually working for your business

Next 3 Steps:

1. Figure out your hard costs (both per products and as a business)
2. Determine your hourly rate and start charging for your time
3. Create a pricing sheet for yourself based on that info

STICK WITH IT! And feel confident in your sales pricing!

Recommended Resources

• Leave a voicemail HERE
• Learn more about Cyrinda’s Luxury Candles here: https://www.emandro.com/

The post How To Be Confident in Your Pricing appeared first on Learn It - Do It.

In this podcast episode, we break down the phrase “fake it ‘till you make it” and talk about the practical uses and the impractical side effects.

Our three main problems with the idea of “faking it till we make it.” 

1. It never ends because there is no quantifiable “making it” period. How do you know when you’ve made it?
2. It breeds the foundation for the Imposter Syndrome. Even if you’ve gained experience, this way of thinking will knock you down into believing that you’re not supposed to be here or that you’re no good at this.  
3. It doesn’t allow you to learn and grow, because you avoid vulnerability.  

We talk about the psychology of what happens to your long-term confidence and growth and what you can do to maintain a healthy confidence level.

“Faking it” breeds a long-term identity crisis. You become obsessed with your external image and you end up putting yourself in a lot of stressful situations.     

We share stories of things that we experienced when we launched a photo portrait studio in 2013 and how “faking it till we made it” affected our business starting out and as we grew.

The Next 3 Steps to keep “fake it until you make it” in check

1. Set a goal for when you’ve “made it”. It can be a monetary amount, a certain number of clients, your number of products sold, or even a time frame. It’s entirely up to you and your business goals. But the point is to set a tangible goal and allow yourself to say you’ve “made it” and can stop “faking it”.
2. Take daily action towards “making it”.  Stop spending time, money, and energy projecting that you’ve made it and just focus on actually doing the things that put you on course to your success.
3. Find other ways to build confidence. You can do things like taking courses, networking with peers, and getting client reviews.

Host Bio –  Rhi and Pete [Rhi-Pete – now you’ll remember] are a wife and husband team who have been in business together for over a decade.  They run a creative media agency [Do Something Different Media] that provides strategy and consulting, video production, website development, photography, graphic design, and content writing for small businesses.  

Recommended Resources

Leave a voicemail for an upcoming podcast: www.learnit-doit.com/podcast

The post The Problem With “Fake It Until You Make It” appeared first on Learn It - Do It.

Episode Summary 

When a potential client comes to your website, what do they see? Are you talking about you and all the things you know and offer? It’s so easy to talk about yourself too much. You feel the need to explain your services, your story, your background experience, etc.

But that’s not what people want to see or read when they land at your website or social media pages.  

We get it, as a business you feel like it’s your job to talk about yourself so others understand your credentials and why you could be a great fit for them…but the harsh truth is – no one cares!

What’s more important is getting down to the nitty-gritty psychology of your client. Address The Pains That Your Audience Is Experiencing instead of defining yourself and your services. Meaning, talk about the problems your potential client is having and how YOU can SOLVE those problems for them. Get emotional.

Describe a transformation: the solution to their problem from their perspective. That’s where you want to spend 80% of your efforts in your marketing.

• Think about yourself when you’re hiring someone or buying something.  
• What are your habits?
• What are you looking for in your research?
  • Immediate solutions, vetted opinions, testimony, brand value

Be a resource to nurture your audience. The only way to nurture a lead into a client is by engaging with them and providing value. You need to have something that your potential clients want. You might think that people want your product or service, but more often than not, what people really want is WHAT your product or service can provide them.

Landscaping Example:

People don’t wake up wanting to hire a landscaper, they wake up wanting a beautiful yard. Spend your time describing your client’s problem yard. Use your knowledge to become a trusted advisor on the topic of landscaping and how if they hire you they’ll spend more time with their family and less time mowing the lawn.

Wedding Example:

Brides don’t have the desire to hire a hairdresser, they just want to look good for the wedding.  

This kind of thinking is really powerful because oftentimes your potential clients don’t even know to look for your services.  They are just living their lives and find themselves needing a solution…market the SOLUTION, not a general list of what you offer.

So, think about the marketing and content you’ve been making and ask yourself…Am I just talking about myself here? If the answer is YES, it’s time to flip the script and re-work your marketing messaging.

These are the things you should be utilizing in your marketing to really connect and engage with your audience.  Think of how you can provide value for your potential clients and speak to the things they care about – themselves. 

We like to keep a Google Doc with these ideas on it so that whenever it’s time to write some marketing content, we can refer back and double-check that we aren’t just spending all our time talking about ourselves.  Hopefully this is something that you can all start to implement in your own marketing to make it a little more effective and a lot more engaging for your audience!

Quick-Wins

1. Start by listing the BENEFITS your potential clients would enjoy if they hired you or bought your product/service.  
2. List the CHALLENGES you help your clients solve.  
3. Think of the PAIN that causes your potential clients to look for your service. 
4. Think of what your potential clients might be SAYING or THINKING.

Host Bio –  Rhi and Pete [Rhi-Pete – now you’ll remember] are a wife and husband team who have been in business together for over a decade.  They run a creative media agency [Do Something Different Media] that provides strategy and consulting, video production, website development, photography, graphic design, and content writing for small businesses.  

Recommended Resources 

VIDEO: Why You Need A Brand Guide
BNI

The post Quick-Win Episode 8: Stop Talking About Yourself appeared first on Learn It - Do It.

Episode Summary 

I know what you’re thinking; “Never finish your To-Do list is bad advice.”  But hear us out!  You always need to have something on your list to keep you moving forward. If you have completed everything on your list and have nothing left to do, this means you aren’t working towards anything.

In order to be successful in your business, it’s extremely important to eliminate stress, be efficient, and make sure you are always moving towards your goals. We’ve noticed that things that generate a lot of stress for self-employed business owners are often related to their To-Do lists.  

Three common To DO list stressors business owners struggle with are:

1. Unrealistic To-Do lists
2. Not knowing what to do next
3. The “Getting Ahead” Myth

How to Overcome Stress from Unrealistic To-Do Lists

We’ve all been guilty of creating To-Do lists that go on forever and are impossible to complete. We think that writing everything down on an epic list is the perfect way to relieve the stress we have of keeping everything in our heads.  The reality is, these impossible To-Do lists end up adding to our stress because they are impossible to complete!  This means we end every day with a never-ending list of things we didn’t get done and it’s deflating.

The way to fix this problem is to focus on making different To-Do lists.  Your Daily To-Do list should only include tasks that you can actually complete that day.  Force yourself to really consider how long something will take you to complete and make sure you are breaking down your tasks into their smallest form so you can easily check things off as you go.  It’s not helpful to have giant tasks on your To-Do list that require multiple steps.  This means that as you complete each step you have nothing to check off so it never feels like you are making progress.  This can lead to stress!  After focusing on your daily To-Do lists, think about breaking things down into different categories and making different lists to work off of.

Tips on Making Different To-Do Lists:

• Weekly Tasks

These are things that have to be done no matter what, like housekeeping.  It’s not exciting but it’s got to be done.

• Client Tasks

These will constantly change as weeks go by, but if you’ve got a good client workflow process and a project management system in place, it should be simple to manage.

• Internal Business Tasks

Any time an idea pops into your head of something that you want to do or SHOULD do for your business, you need to write it down.  Not on a sticky note, but in an organized place for your business tasks.

How to Overcome Stress from Not Knowing What to Do Next

When you don’t know what you should be doing for your business or your current clients/projects this can be really stressful.  We use WRIKE to manage our projects and when we come up with things that need to be done, we create the task and keep it in a folder that we can pull from when we begin to make our next week’s agenda.  Think of this as your “Backlog” that you can pull from whenever you aren’t sure what to do next or you have extra time.  Believe me, when you properly plan a daily To-Do list, you’ll sometimes have “extra time” and this Backlog will come in really handy to keep things moving forward and avoid time-wasting.

If you have nothing on your list to do, it’s impossible to keep moving forward. For example, I like to always be reading a book so I keep a list of potential books that I can always pull from.  A few months ago, I finished the book I was reading and realized that I didn’t have any more books on my Reading Wish List, and before I knew it an entire week had gone by without me reading!

How to Overcome Stress from The “Getting Ahead” Myth

I used to work tirelessly in my business to try and get EVERYTHING done so I could get ahead and relax.  The reality is, it is impossible to “Get Ahead.”  Think about it,  if I ever actually finished EVERYTHING that needed to be done for our business, it would be the day we were no longer in business.  Finishing your To-Do list means you are out of business. 

There is always client work to do, bookkeeping, business development, organization, etc.  If you actually finished everything, it would be because you had no work and no money coming in and effectively, NO BUSINESS.

Quick-Wins:

1. Organize your To-Do lists into different categories
2. Make realistic daily To-Do lists
3. Create a “Backlog” list with tasks you can pull from when needed
4. Forget about trying to get ahead and focus on always moving forward

Host Bio –  Rhi and Pete [Rhi-Pete – now you’ll remember] are a wife and husband team who have been in business together for over a decade.  They run a creative media agency [Do Something Different Media] that provides strategy and consulting, video production, website development, photography, graphic design, and content writing for small businesses. 

Recommended Resources 

Wrike Project Management

The post Quick-Win Episode 7: Never Finish Your To-Do List appeared first on Learn It - Do It.

We are in unprecedented times right now amidst the COVID-19 public health crisis, and a lot of us self-employed business owners are finding ourselves forced out of work, or waiting for the economy to pick up and the customers to flood back in.

It’s important to take a minute, take a deep breath and focus on what you CAN do right now, while you are staying inside to #flattenthecurve. In this video, I talk about how you can take advantage of the extra time in your business right now and get productive while you prepare for after the dust settles from all this.

Here’s what we discuss in this video:

• Audit Your Marketing: Website, Social Media, Emails, etc.
• Audit Your Messaging for Audience Focus
• Organize your Database and Prepare Email Marketing
• Do a SWOT Analysis on Your Business
• Create Helpful Content for Your Audience

Take advantage of this extra time you’ve always been waiting for. The world is sort of in a state of “PAUSE” right now and you can talk this as an opportunity to get organize, re-evaluate, and create some amazing content to take your business forward! Stay safe and good luck!

HERE’S MORE CONTENT FROM LEARN IT – DO IT:

FREE MINI-COURSE “How To Present A Proposal” : https://learnitdoit.teachable.com/p/how-to-present-a-proposal

LEARN IT – DO IT PODCAST: https://learnit-doit.com/podcast/

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/learnit_doit/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/learnitdoitedu

The post What Should I Be Doing for My Business During COVID-19 Crisis? appeared first on Learn It - Do It.

In this video, I outline some content ideas you can be making right now, amidst all this COVID-19 chaos. Now is not necessarily the time to solicit business from your customers, but now is a great opportunity to build credibility, lend a helping hand, and stay memorable in the eyes of your clients.

Here’s what types of content we discuss in this video:

• DIY Video Content Ideas
• Email Content You Can Create
• Social Media Messaging

It’s important to avoid being tone-deaf and simply talking about yourself right now. Think of ways you can be helpful and inform or entertain your potential and current customers right now and you’ll stay top of mind in a positive way through this unprecedented time in our history. Stay in and Let’s DO IT!

HERE’S MORE CONTENT FROM LEARN IT – DO IT:

FREE MINI-COURSE “How To Present A Proposal” : https://learnitdoit.teachable.com/p/how-to-present-a-proposal

LEARN IT – DO IT PODCAST: https://learnit-doit.com/podcast/

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/learnit_doit/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/learnitdoitedu

The post Content You Should Be Making Right Now appeared first on Learn It - Do It.

In this video I describe what batching tasks is and I give you examples of how to apply batching to your daily routine in your small business. What exactly does “Batching Tasks” mean? It’s the act of organizing your tasks into categories to improve efficiency, production, and mental stability.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this video:

• How to breakdown and organize your tasks
• How to batch your client correspondence
• How to use batching to your advantage when creating your schedule

It’s important to batch all your tasks so you feel more in control of your daily schedule. By the end of this video you’ll understand why it’s important to batch tasks in your small business and how you can do it effectively.

HERE’S MORE CONTENT FROM LEARN IT – DO IT:

FREE MINI-COURSE “How To Present A Proposal” : https://learnitdoit.teachable.com/p/how-to-present-a-proposal

LEARN IT – DO IT PODCAST: https://learnit-doit.com/podcast/

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/learnit_doit/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/learnitdoitedu

The post Batching Tasks To Save You Time & Energy appeared first on Learn It - Do It.

Episode Summary 

Brand value is a very important thing to understand, especially when you’re a SEBO who is on your own. 

It’s also very important to the business owner who is looking to revamp themselves due to inefficiencies in their pricing, marketing, and overall brand image.

We assume that you’re awesome at what you do.  There’s a ton of people who are really awesome at a lot of stuff. But what’s going to get you into the conversation with bigger markets, clients, affiliates and frankly more overall business — is how legitimate people feel you are — based on your branded marketing materials.

You’ve been there.  Someone refers you the name of a company for a cleaning service and you immediately google them.  First, I check their website to see if they’re “legit”…and that’s the key thing. We’re all looking for legitimacy.

Then, I might head to see if they’re active on social, check online reviews and etc. 

Have you ever looked up a business and found they had no logo? Or their logo looks like your nephew made it?  When you see a low-quality brand it tells you that the business didn’t invest a lot of money into the way they look.  And if a company doesn’t care enough about how they look to invest in it…I assume they aren’t a very profitable business…which probably means they aren’t very good.

Think of it like hiring a new employee.  Potential Employee A sends in a typed resume with a nice photo of themselves and a portfolio of their work.  They show up to the interview dressed professionally and present themselves well. Potential Employee B scribbled their past experience on a napkin and shows up in pajamas.  They could both be equally qualified and skilled, but there is no doubt one of them has a higher perceived value and THAT person is getting the job.

Is your business wearing pajamas?

Perception is everything!

Quick-Wins

• How would a stranger value your brand? Audit your brand and see where you can find any deficiencies. 

Host Bio –  Rhi and Pete [Rhi-Pete – now you’ll remember] are a wife and husband team who have been in business together for over a decade.  They run a creative media agency [Do Something Different Media] that provides strategy and consulting, video production, website development, photography, graphic design, and content writing for small businesses.

The post Quick-Win Episode 5: What Is Brand Value? & Why Do I Care? appeared first on Learn It - Do It.

In this video, I go over 4 habits for you to implement to save you from wasting over a day each week on your phone so you can be more productive. We know cell phones can be time suckers, but I’m here to help you change the way you use it!

When Apple created the new screen time app, I was horrified to learn how much time a day I spent on my phone. That’s when I implemented these tips on myself and now I want to share them with you!

For all you people who think there’s not enough time in the day, I’m going to help you save 10-20 hours each week with these tips. You’ll soon find that there is plenty of time in the day to be productive.

MY 4 TIPS FOR LESS SCREEN TIME & MORE PRODUCTIVITY

1. Set app restrictions using the apple screen time app.

2. Turn off unnecessary notifications.

3. Use “sleep mode” [do not disturb]

4. Schedule a window of time for “productive phone time”

By the end of this video you’ll have learned 4 ways to be more productive and spend less time on your phone. So the next time you think there’s not enough time in the day to get all the things done, remember this! Share this video with your procrastinator friends!

FOR MORE CONTENT FROM LEARN IT – DO IT FREE MINI-COURSE

“How To Present A Proposal” : https://learnitdoit.teachable.com/p/how-to-present-a-proposal

LEARN IT – DO IT PODCAST: https://learnit-doit.com/podcast/

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/learnit_doit/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/LearnitDoitEdu/

The post 4 Ways To Use Your Phone To Be More Productive appeared first on Learn It - Do It.

Then we found out that we were expecting a baby girl and that slowed my progress a bit and it definitely changed the content of what I’d be reading.  Despite all the excitement, I was still able to read more books than I have any previous year, including a few pre-baby titles. And with every book, comes a whole lot of lessons to put into practice…

My Top 4 Must-Reads from 2019

1. A New Earth – Eckhart Tolle
2. How to be an Imperfectionist – Stephen Guise
3. Declutter Your Mind – S.J. Scott
4. Everybody Writes – Ann Handley

My number one must read from 2019 was A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, in fact, we are only a few days into January and I just finished re-reading the book.  This is the kind of book that you can keep coming back to and get something out of every time. I think that’s something I really enjoy about personal development books; the lessons you learn while reading them are really dependent upon the moment you are in and what is going on for you personally at the time.

How to Be an Imperfectionist was one of the last books I read last year and it really hit home.  If you suffer from perfectionism and find yourself not finishing things – or worse, not starting things –  because you are waiting for perfection, then this is a MUST READ. This book details the root of perfectionism, how it manifests itself in your life, and step-by-step habits to put into practice so you can “become an imperfectionist.”

For the self-marketers out there, I think Everybody Writes is a must-read.  And in reading the book, you’ll realize that these days, we are ALL writers whether we consider ourselves writers or not.  This book is full of tips, concepts, and insights that will make you a better writer. As someone who is constantly creating content and marketing materials for my audience to consume, this book was incredibly insightful and immediately applicable.

Declutter Your Mind was another book with immediately applicable concepts.  If you are looking for a book to read to kick off the new year with a bang, this book is an easy read and loaded with advice and activities you can start to implement right away that will improve your productivity and peace of mind.  I read this at the start of 2019 and you’ll find that we talk about a ton of these concepts in our blogs and podcasts because they are super helpful for the self-employed business owner.

In Summation…

These books definitely taught me a lot of lessons to implement in the new year and I look forward to diving into my 2020 reading goals.  This year, I’m sticking with the 30 book challenge because I really want to hit it and know that I can make it happen if I put my mind to it.  I may have a few re-reads on my list, like “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” a classic that I try to read every couple of years to refresh myself on the age-old concepts that book shares on relationships and success in life. 

For those of you who’ve been meaning to read more, challenge yourself to read a certain number of books this year and let’s hold each other accountable.  The key to getting your reading done is to make time for it regularly and to have a list of books that you want to read so that you always are a few books ahead of yourself on what is coming next.  There were a few times this year when I finished a book and a few weeks would go by before I realized I didn’t have another book on deck to read. So I recommend planning a few books ahead and always looking for new books to add to the list.  Reading is a great way to take a break throughout the day, clear your thoughts, learn and grow. Let’s make it happen in 2020!

And I’m also always looking for recommendations and would love to hear what personal development and business books you might recommend. Share in the comments your favorites and I will be sure to check them out! And as always, I’ll be sure to share my book reviews throughout the year as I find titles that really speak to me which I think you might enjoy.

Happy reading, DOers!!

The post A Year Of Reading In Review – 2019 appeared first on Learn It - Do It.