When establishing price points for your products and services, you have to start by checking up on your competitors. However, for Youpreneurs there’s one quite strange, yet obvious truth.

When you build the ‘Business of You’, there are no ‘real’ competitors.

Here’s the reasoning behind this statement. You’re basing your business and marketing around you, your personality, your experience, and the people you want to help out and serve the most. Regardless of what industry or niche you’re in, there are no real competitors out there competing to be you, because you are unique in every way and no one else could possibly be you better than you can.

However, chances are there’re certainly other people out there that are competing for the attention of the same market you’re trying to attract, and doing it in a very similar fashion.

You’ll Always Have ‘Competition’ to Deal With!

Let’s say you’re someone helping people create online courses, for example. You’ve got a lot of experience in the educational field, you’ve been involved with universities in the past, helping them create curriculums and things like that, and now you have developed your own side hustle and are working on building up your own profile as a course creation ninja.

Here’s the problem, there are other people that are out there already doing that.      

In fact, actually, I’ll go out on a limb and say that there are probably people out there doing exactly what you’re doing in the same industry that you’re doing it in right now. And, they may have already been in that marketplace for quite some time.

But, they are not you; they don’t have your experience or your personality.

As a Youpreneur, you want to keep a keen eye on what they are doing. You’ve got to look at what they are offering, how they’re offering it, and what they are charging for access to those products or services. Obviously, you don’t want to start copying them, but look at what’s working for others so that you can develop your own ideas. You don’t have to be the originator all the time. If there is a proven method or standard already in place, it’s good to use that as a platform from which you launch your own efforts to a specific audience.

Don’t be concerned with looking similar to other people in your niche. You have something none of them do.

The secret weapon for a Youpreneur is simply just being you all the time.

That’s the differentiating factor. That’s the MVP part of your business. You are the most valuable player when it comes to keeping yourself ahead of the competition. So look for people trying to attract the same audience that you are. Watch and see what they are doing. Follow their lead as to what to offer, how to offer it, and how much to charge. Then implement the secret weapon by adding your flare into the mix.

The Simple Way to Develop a Pricing Strategy

Once you know what others in the space are doing, you can figure out how you’re going to build out your pricing options and structure on the products and the services you want to offer. These might include items from our Starting Five, such as coaching, online courses, a membership, even tickets to a live event.

Whatever you choose, you can now start to price your offerings in a way that shows the value of your expertise.

The overall focus when it comes to pricing is that you’ve got to charge what you’re worth, and as I have said before, don’t apologize for it.

So many people just don’t see the actual value they add and undercharge for their time as a coach or consultant, or undercharge for their courses. If you do this, you set a standard that you may not be able to recover from later.

I have been guilty of undercharging in the past. I’ve had friends, mentors, and coaches come to me and say, “Chris, what the hell are you doing? You are so undercutting your value here.” Sometimes it can be difficult for you to see your own worth, but trust me, you are more significant than you think you are.

I use a specific technique to help me avoid undercharging for access to my expertise. I double my pricing. That’s right, I will get the price point to where I think it needs to be, and then I will double it. That seems scary, I know, but when I do this, I sell more as a result of it.

Here’s the thing to remember when you start setting your prices. You can start high and decrease from there, if things don’t work out. However, it’s so much harder to start low and increase incrementally over time.

People will feel like they’re getting a raw deal – especially if you’re not adding anything more into the mix.

Charge What You’re Worth

It doesn’t get any more simpler than that, does it? And… it’s the single most important thing you can do.

What are you doing when you become a Youpreneur? You are selling your expertise. You’re selling your experience. People are going to pay for access to your knowledge.

Price your information accordingly, price access to you and your expertise equally accordingly… and make sure you prove the value!