I can’t remember how I came to Blake Snow’s blog, Smooth Harold. While taking some time to read and comment on some blogs on my watch list, I noticed a few great recent posts by Blake.
The first is about pricing. Without making pricing a separate and required field on the "Edit Profile" form, something I’ve chosen to stay away from for various reasons, I cannot urge enough how important listing your service price is on your profile. In Blake’s words:
Tip: How to close more business off your website
Answer: prominently list your service fees on your home page to weed out unfitting clients.
I had the pleasure of beginning my shopping life in the Internet era. Until college, my sweet mommy took care of all clothing and other shopping for me. When I started shopping for myself in 1998, I already had great online sites and tools to help me find the best items and best prices. Besides doing some clothing shopping in bargain stores in the US, I research and conduct all electronics and similar purchases online, and price plays a huge part. Once I know what I’m looking for, I compare prices and find the best one.
Granted, services have varying qualities that cannot be compared to items from the same manufacturer listed on different sites with different prices. Nevertheless, when I narrow down my service-provider options, I won’t even consider ones without a price. If I need a photographer, and I’ve found 3 options, first I’ll remove the ones without pricing, then I’ll consider the remaining options in terms of their suspected quality/price ratio. No matter how much you market your services to increase your perceived quality, if you don’t list a price, you’re worthless in my eyes.
Yes! List your prices on your profile. Don’t let people assume that you consider yourself to be worth more than you are. Disclose your prices and experience right away! No one will contact you without knowing that you’re close to their price range for their needs. If you offer introductory prices, say so. If you want to raise your prices soon, list present and future prices, or modify your price list when your prices change. Even if you price on a scale, list approximate prices so clients know what to expect.
I’ll, bli neder, discuss the other post tomorrow. I went a little long on this topic, but I feel it’s important and cannot be stressed enough.
Confirming your advice…[and validating your experiences]
Having once placed a newspaper ad for the sale of a used car and getting no responses to my ad I called the paper to complain.
They put me in touch with a professional in the classified ad dept.I was advised to run the ad again (gratis) ,this tme to include the price. It worked . Lots of calls .The car sold.