6.1 When, and by how much

Three signs it’s time to raise your price. You only need one of them.

One. You’re booked a month ahead. Demand is ahead of supply, and the price is the only thing you can change that doesn’t cost you more hours.

Two. You’re saying yes to everybody who asks. Nobody’s been put off by the price, which means some of them would have paid more.

Three. It’s been a year since the last rise. Your costs went up. Your price stayed. That’s a pay cut nobody told you about.

So how much? Here’s a way to think about it that takes the fear out.

Say you go from $180 to $200. That’s 11%. You could lose 9% of your clients and earn exactly the same, for fewer hours. Ten sessions at the old price earn what nine earn at the new one. The tenth hour is yours back.

Most people lose far fewer than that. Usually nobody.

Round to a number you can say out loud. Two hundred is easier to say than one ninety-seven, and easier for a client to repeat to a friend.

Then, the order. Tell your existing clients first, one at a time, in writing, a month or more before it applies to them. Anything they’ve booked or paid for stays at the old price. On the date, change the page for everybody.

The next lesson is that month, week by week.