Jim's Marketing Blog

Yesterday, a business owner asked me if I had any tips on how to get your fees right. That question is often asked by newsletter subscribers. So, I’m not only going to answer it today, I’m also going to show you how to earn more than you’ve ever earned before, from prospects who eagerly want to hire you.

Let’s start with a few questions.

• Do your clients pay you what you’re worth?
• Do your clients give you the freedom to produce your best work?
• Do your clients respect you?

Even if you found yourself answering ‘no’ to all three of those questions, you don’t have three challenges to overcome.

You only have one.

The news gets better, my friend. Because it’s an easy challenge to solve and the rewards are far, far greater than you might think.

Overcome the fee setting challenge

Here’s why this is an easy challenge to solve.

• You don’t need to figure out how to know in advance if a client will respect you.
• You don’t need to be able to tell ahead of time, if they will allow you the freedom to do your best work, either.

All you need to know is that you’ve set your fee correctly and they’re happy to pay you what you know you’re worth.

Here’s why.

When a client pays you what you’re worth, you don’t have to rush. Your time is being rewarded correctly, so you’re free to consistently provide your very best work, on schedule.

And clients who pay you what you’re worth, who rely on you for this consistently high-quality service, also respect your contribution.

They rely on the value you bring. They respect you for all that you do, to enrich them or their business.

All this was built on the fee you quoted and their decision to agree to your fee.

Why getting your fees right is essential to your success

When you set your fee, you set more than the financial return for your services. You set the whole framework for your relationship with the client.

And in turn, you set the profitability, on every level, of your business.

Here’s what happens.

You create a positive cycle. It’s a cycle where…

• You’re free to produce your best work.
• You’re regularly recommended by your delighted clients.
• You’re respected in your marketplace, because of what your clients say about you.
• You’re paid accordingly by new clients, who know about your excellent reputation.
• These new clients then start that cycle all over again.

Not sure how to set your fee? It’s really easy.

Decide exactly what your fees need to be, in order for you to provide your very best work, and smash your financial targets. Then, make your services so good that they’re worth at least twice as much as your fees. This makes your fees extremely attractive to prospective clients, as you’re charging them just half of what your services are worth.

When you’re already working hard to grow your business, and it’s not getting the results you need, working increasingly harder is a bad move. So, today I’m going to give you a much more effective alternative.

I’ve worked with some amazingly successful people over the years. In 2024 alone, this has included three business owners who took their small businesses from zero to over $10Million. None of them worked as hard as a hard-working, struggling business owner. And they certainly didn’t work longer hours.

So, what did they do?

Instead of over-working and working longer, the owners of successful businesses…

• Invested in expert help.
• Discovered how to do the right things correctly. Then got to work.
• Regularly monitored their progress and adjusted as required.
• Never made business decisions based on general advice.
• Always accepted responsibility for their results.

But they absolutely did not work harder than a struggling business owner.

Why?

Because NO ONE works harder than a struggling business owner.

Here’s what happens.

When a business owner isn’t getting the results they need, the tendency is to over-compensate by working increasingly harder, doing longer and longer hours. So, that’s what they do. If you’ve tried this for any period of time, you’ll know it doesn’t work. It can also effect your overall well-being.

That’s a very unproductive mix, which does nothing to improve the situation. It leads to ineffective decision-making, increased stress and reduced enthusiasm. What’s more, it’s something prospective clients or customers pick-up on instantly. 

The way forward

When a business isn’t heading in the right direction, the harder the owner works and the longer they work, the further away they become from where they want their business to be. It’s time to stop over-working, get guidance and then proceed in the right direction.

Stop over-working: Because your current activity is moving you away from your goals or targets, which is making your situation worse.

Get guidance: Because you need to know what to do and/or get the help to do what’s required.

Proceed in the right direction: Because your work will now be rewarded.

One of the fastest ways to increase your revenues, with profits of a hundred percent (or close), is also one of the easiest wins for your business.

Today, I’ll show you how I do this for my clients, based on 2 of my most recent examples.

An independent bookshop

My wife and I are passionate advocates of independent bookshops. These bookshops already offer a number of additional services, particularly events, such as author talks and book signings, etc.

They also have a 100% profit opportunity… that none of them take. They speak all day every day to people who still buy physical books. As you know, physical books need physical storage. Yes, bookshelves. In bookshops, I regularly hear fellow customers quip about how they’re running out of storage. Hold that image. Because it’s where I got my idea for this bookshop owner.

I suggested that the bookshop owner partnered with a trusted craftsperson who builds and fits bookcases. I then said that whenever she hears a customer quipping about a lack of shelf space, the customer is offered a helpful flyer, with details of the trusted craftsperson who will fit exactly what they need.

It’s a win, win, win.

• The customer gains extra space with their beautifully fitted bookcase.
• The bookshop owner has delighted a customer and received a referral fee.
• The craftsperson gains a new customer.

How often does that happen? Often enough for it to become a highly valuable income stream for the bookshop. An income stream that’s almost zero-effort and 100% profit.

A small, window cleaning company

I also helped the owner of a small window cleaning company. I asked him what additional products or services he provided to his customers. He said he didn’t provide any. Just window cleaning.

I recommended he partner with a trusted window replacement company. My idea was simple. When his window cleaners notice a damaged window or window surround, they simply mention it to the customer and offer them the business card of the trusted window company.

It’s another win, win, win.

• The homeowner gets the repair done before it becomes a bigger issue, as the window cleaner can see the exterior of the homeowner’s windows close-up and spot issues earlier.
• The window cleaning company has delighted a customer and receives a referral fee when the work is carried out.
• The window replacement company gets a new customer.

How often does that happen? The same as in the previous example. Often enough for it to become a highly valuable income stream for the window cleaning company. An income stream that’s almost zero-effort and 100% profit.

Finally

As you’ll have noticed, a massive benefit of this approach is that it scales beautifully. It requires few if any resources. It also works for everyone concerned. In fact, it has to work for everyone, or it won’t work for anyone.

Isn’t that wonderful… everyone’s happy. What a fantastic way to grow your business.

Here’s what we know for certain. There’s a huge difference between someone using a search engine to find your business by its name, and someone merely searching for a provider in your industry.

• If they’re searching for your business by its name, they’ll find you.
• If they’re searching for a provider in your industry, they’ll find countless pages of results. Even if they do manage to find the result for your business, unless you’re at the top of the results, or very close, the chances of them clicking through to your site is tiny. Because you’ll simply be competing with everyone else.

You could try to buy your way to the top of the search results, but it’s increasingly expensive, extremely risky and all the risk is on you.

Thankfully, there is a far better alternative for.

Searching for you by name

Here’s a vastly more effective marketing strategy. It’s the strategy I use myself, and it works in every industry regardless of the economy.

It’s simply this: You focus on making your business stand out from your competitors.
Note – This article gives you a proven way to stand out with 10 examples to get you started.

You do things worth talking about, which means your name and brand spreads from person to person. So, when someone needs whatever you provide, they go looking for you. You, the provider they’ve been hearing about, by name.

Your prospective clients or customers will use Google and other search engines, knowing who they want. No Google Ads, no auctions and no spiralling advertising costs.

By spending a little time and effort working on ways to differentiate your business from the pack, you can very significantly increase sales. Not only that, these sales will be more profitable as you’ll be able to eliminate your advertising spend.