Why Some Business Owners Must Raise Prices

Oh! Hey folks, it’s Q & A Tuesday!

‍

Well, today September writes: Q: “Hello Marie, I absolutely love your Q & A Tuesday. Thank you for your generosity every week and it makes a big difference in peoples’ lives.”

‍

You are welcome September!

‍

“Here is my question, my business has taken off to a point where it’s overwhelming. I’m a painter so I can only outsource to a certain degree. I’m treading water keeping all that I have going afloat. I love what I do so my work is enjoyable but I also evolve as an artist and want and avoid burnout. What are your thoughts?”

‍

A: Well September, I do have a few. So you want advice in outsourcing because no one else can do what you can do which is a very common problem for anyone who is creative and consider himself as an artist. But I want to tell you September, this puts you in a great position because it does mean that no one else can do what you do so no one else can get your stuff from anyone else. Here is a simple strategy that will solve your problem.

‍

Raise your prices woman. Now I can hear what you are saying right now. “Oh! Wait Marie if I raise my prices, everyone is gonna say: I can’t afford it, I can’t buy your stuff, it’s too expensive”. Is that what you are thinking? Well, September, here is a nice surprise. It’s usually just the opposite. You raise your prices and your customers will buy even more. There is a great study about how higher prices increase sales. In fact, Robert Cialdini sites it in his fantastic book Influence Science and Practice. 

‍

He tells a story of an Arizona jewelry store owner who at the height of tourist season found that no one was buying turquoise jewelry in her shop. It was really good stuff but it wasn’t moving. Before going on a business trip, she left a note for a head sales person which said: Everything in these display cases: x1/2. And sure enough, when she came back, everything in that display case had sold. But here is the twist, the sales person misread that little note and instead of selling everything in half, she sold it at double the price. There is a deeply held belief in our society that you get what you pay for.

‍

Sometimes it’s true, sometimes it’s not but generally speaking, people assume that if something costs more, it’s better. It’s also a shortcut that we humans, use to make quick decisions between products. The more expensive thing automatically gets categorized in our heads as better, more valuable, and of course more desirable. I know every time I raise my prices, more people want to work with me. It’s as though they said, “Damn! she charges that much, she must be good.” And I am. I can’t think of any field where this is more true than art. 

‍

I mean think about it, art prices can be so arbitrary. The higher an artist’s prices are, the more collectible they become and of course, the more people want a piece of them. Here’s the thing September, people already want a piece of you so that puts you in an awesome position to command more dollar bills girl.

‍

Even if half your clients leave, think about it. You are still gonna earn the same amount of money, you are just going to have more time off. But what will likely happen is you’ll increase your prices and you are going to get more demand for your work, you are going to get better clients and of course, you are going to have more time off so you will not burn out. So raise those prices girl and let the stampede begin!

‍

That is my A to your Q September when you take this advice, please let me know how it goes because I love me some follow-up. Here is what I want you to do now: I want your feedback and even more important than a comment, I want a video response.

‍

Of course, if you like this video like it, share it with your friends all around the social media interwebs, and of course, if you dig what we do here, come on over to marieforleo.com and in the upper-right hand corner of the website, put your name and email address and get on the newsletter so you’ll never miss an episode of MarieTV. Thank you so much for watching and catch you next time.