Lesson 1: Why it’s important to charge more, rather than less. Charge more? Yes, you heard right – you should charge MORE for your services.

You deserve it. People like Donald Trump and Richard Branson charge more for their services every single day, and there are many people out there who are willing to pay their outrageous fees, and why is that? Because the perception is, they charge more because they’re great at what they do.

When people get ready to buy something, they often buy out of emotion, not logic. No matter whether you are a contractor, a plumber, a realtor, or an architect, companies who charge more are generally considered to offer a higher quality of service, while those that undercut are perceived as being more likely to do a shoddy job.

Think about it: Would you rather do one job for $10,000 or ten jobs for $1,000?

That is the real key to charging more – sure, you’ll get more customers going elsewhere for their projects, but those that accept the higher rates will make up for that loss of income, and you will be doing LESS work.

In short, you will be working smarter instead of harder.

Of course, charging more does not mean you should swindle your customers, or get outrageous with your fees. If you plan to charge more, you must also offer more value for the customer's dollar. Offer them little things – small improvements in quality that they might not have expected, a little extra work beyond the brief, maybe even just a smile and a kind word when it would be easier to keep your head down and stick to the task at hand. Sure, it’s extra effort, but it’s MINIMAL extra effort, considering you’re bumping your rates up considerably in return.

When you decide to take the leap and increase your rates, try adding 15% to your usual fee for a month. At the end of the month, evaluate your profits and see whether you think you could raise your rates even further without losing work.

Remember though, you must offer the product you have promised at the price you have promised. Customers won't be back if you are not offering a top of the line product. Do not underestimate your customer's intelligence level. They will know if they are being taken and not receiving the product they should, but if you do give them what you said you would, at a high quality level, your customers, even your regulars, won't mind paying that extra cash for your great service. And in fact, they’ll probably tell their friends about you.

You work hard. Because you work so hard, you should dedicate yourself to becoming the best professional you can be. That means learning along the way. Taking the initiative to sign up for this short course shows that you would like to better yourself. The better a business professional you become, the more you can charge your customers, and if you step up to the gold standard, customers will not only pay a higher rate, but they’ll beat a path to your door.

The next lesson in this series will help you understand how to close the sale while charging more money. This quick two minute read can double your income instantly, so keep an eye out for it!

This article may be copied as long as it remains unchanged and the author (Kris Koonar) gets full credit and the link remains.

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Kris Koonar is President of an Internet Marketing Training system called the WebSite MBA.

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