This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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How do you talk about pricing when it feels impolite or awkward? Some people inherit the belief that discussing money is just kind of difficult or can be greedy or it signals disrespect. And so when you start a service business, you're gonna have to talk about pricing one way or another. And that conditioning collides with reality because if you can't quote a price confidently, then the client assumes the value is uncertain or they're just not sure what to do. And you never want your client or customer to be confused.
You always want them to know exactly what they need to do, what the price is, what they're gonna get, what the process is and so on. So what do you do in this situation? The solution I think isn't to change your personality. It is to move pricing out of improvisation mode or you just kind of have to like think about it each time and into a system to where you never really ask, you simply present. So let's talk about that as it applies to our caller and perhaps some other folks out there as well.
Always wanna present questions that represent our broad community, people out there trying to start a side hustle, trying to make extra money without quitting their job or just build something for themselves. So that's our topic of the day. How do you talk about pricing when it's a little bit awkward or it seems impolite? Detailed question and my answer coming right up. [Music]
Hello, I'm Zakira from Toronto, Canada.
I grew up in a culture where discussing prices or negotiating feels rude. Money talk is something you keep private. Now I'm offering one-on-one language tutoring sessions online and I freeze when it's time to quote my rates. I either underprice or I mumble through the pitch. How do you get comfortable asking for fair payment when every instinct says it's impolite?
I really appreciate you bringing up this question. I imagine this is something that a lot of other people have thought about or experienced or maybe they don't think about it until they're in this situation and they realize, oh, this is a challenge, this is a block. So I think what you do is, first of all, you externalize the price. Like you publish a simple rate sheet on your site. And so it's like there's no, you don't need to talk about it because it's right there on your website.
Your standard package is eight sessions for $400, for example, when anybody asks, you just say, well, here's the website with information. That way you can avoid a lot of awkward situations up front. And then if you do need to verbally explain it, you can maybe practice using a bridge. Like a bridge is like this block of content, like a sentence, a paragraph that you kind of prepare. And so you kind of practice just saying that.
For new students, I recommend the eight session starter plan. This is gonna really help you to build confidence. The plan is $400, we meet twice a week. I can send you a booking link. So that way it's just quick, calm, no justification.
Then after you say it, you just kind of pause for a moment and let people respond. And if the silence feels uncomfortable, that's just part of it. That's that place where you used to kind of discount or feel like you needed to say more. So don't say more during that time. Maybe also reframe the payment as commitment.
Like you're not extracting money, you're just creating a structure that helps them reach their language goals faster. So ultimately people are coming to you because you have something that's going to help them. And just kind of tell that to yourself. Remind yourself maybe write a little note and put it on your monitor. Charging clearly allows me to prepare well and show up at my best.
So that's just kind of a reminder for yourself. And I honestly think as you do this, you're just gonna get better at it. It will get easier with time. But probably the most important thing is the first thing where it's like just have it written out somewhere and it's easy to refer to and you don't have to discuss it necessarily all the time. Best of all, I'm glad you're moving forward with the language lessons.
I'm sure it's gonna help folks. And I hope it is helpful to you as well. Listeners, I hope the show is helpful to you. That's how we make it. 3,200 plus episodes and counting.
You can access them all for free. Download or stream at sidehustleschool.com or subscribe, follow wherever you get your shows for new episodes. My name is Chris Guillebeau. You're listening to Side Hustle School. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
