Do you ever feel like you’re charging too little for your work? And, even though you know you’d like to raise your prices, it makes you feel scared to think about it?
Most artists I work with feel this way. It leaves them feeling stuck in not earning what their art and creations are truly worth. And this is heartbreaking if you want your art practice to also be your business.
A Solution!
One big thing that stops you from changing your art prices is this myth that we can only change our prices once a year. This it’s 100% wrong. Maybe this belief has crept into our collective consciousness by way of seeing how large corporations manage their pricing. Since we’re usually individuals or small businesses, this doesn't have to apply to us.
In fact, it’s a great idea to raise your prices little by little. Sometimes with every single sale until you’re confident you’re at a good price. And this might mean that you up your prices multiple times over the course of a year to get it to where you’re being paid a fair market value for your work.
You don’t have to set a price and keep it for a year. Let me repeat that, you do not need to set a price and keep it for a year before you change it again. You can increase your price with every single sale.
This is because when you raise your prices it can feel like a big thing to do. It can freak out your nervous system to change the prices you sell your art and offerings for, especially if you want to make a big price change.
Some people are able to make a big price jump all in one fell swoop, but most of us aren’t built that way.
Pricing Confidence
It comes down to your confidence in changing your prices.
For example, if you’ve done a ton of research and realized that you’re severely underpricing your art, you may be emboldened enough to make a big jump and raise your prices in a larger amount. Sometimes when you learn what the market rate is for your kind of art and offerings, this can light a fire to make changes quickly.
For the artists I work with, this isn’t how it actually shakes out.
Usually, artists have a feeling they’re underpricing their work. Then they do some homework and confirm their suspicions. If you want to take the first step in doing this kind of price validation process, click here to download a FREE guide to know the #1 Way to Confidently Price Your Art to Ensure You're Making Money.
After seeing the results of this, and learning more about where their art fits within the market, they decide to raise their prices but not all the way up to where they eventually want them to be.
Why Is This Smart?
This is because it allows your nervous system to catch up with your pricing. This means you won’t feel super freaked out to sell at a higher price.
It also allows your confidence to catch up with your selling. This means you get to practice selling at your new price and get used to it.
If You Can’t Say It, You Can’t Sell It
If you can’t say the price out loud for the art, workshop or whatever it is that you’re selling, it’s going to be hard to get that amount for it even if it’s worth far more than the price tag. So consider raising your prices incrementally.
This could mean you raise your prices a little with each sale.
Or it could mean that you decide to sell five pieces or a whole collection at $XYZ amount and then raise your price a little with the next series.
The result with this approach is that you get paid more, faster instead of waiting a whole year to raise your rates.
Train Your Brain
Let’s start getting your mind on board with your new prices! If you’re pretty sure you’re under-pricing your art or other offers, leave a comment and let me know how much you want to raise your prices by, even if you’re not sure about it. It’s going to help you step into charging more for your art.