One of the challenges I see so many coaches and solopreneurs struggle with is what they should charge for their services. Most do not know what they should charge. Many charge what they think they can get. Some charge whatever the next coach or practitioner charges. That is–”the going rate”. Many charge what they would be willing to pay themselves. Most charge less than they are worth–while improving the lives of others dramatically.

But why? And what are the solutions to this travesty of value?

We have already covered errors in philosophical grounding, lack of skill, and a failure of implementing a sustainable structure for your business–and for the scope of your clients’ needs.

What is next?

More nuts and bolts rather than philosophical grounding or mindset:

Mistake: Having only 1 stream of prospects

Most coaches and solo-preneurs rely on word of mouth. Word of mouth is critical. In the 21st Century marketplace there are hyper-empowered and talkative people. This is good for you. However, it is not enough. Make a decision now to take control–to be the locus of responsibility–for the success of your business. While word of mouth is critical, it is only one of at least three prospect streams the successful solo-preneur must establish for themselves. What are those three?

As I have written recently, there has been a shift in the marketplace. In the 20th Century marketplace sales people talked about “closing deals” at best. At worst they talked about “shooting their prospects down like they were ducks in a shooting gallery”. This is not exactly a metaphor we should be living into as we evolve as a culture–and not a metaphor the leading edge of the marketplace will any longer support in the profit centers of the global marketplace, or the Functioning Core, as Dr. Thomas Barnett would say.

Part 0: Introduction

“When people are free to act, they will always act in a way that they believe will maximize their utility, i.e., will raise them to the highest possible position on their value scale. Their utility ex ante will be maximized, provided we take care to interpret “utility” in an ordinal rather than a cardinal manner. Any action, any exchange that takes place on the free market or more broadly in the free society, occurs because of the expected benefit to each party concerned.” –Murray N. Rothbard, Power and Market

“We must not be afraid to be free.”–Justice Black

Human beings have an inexhaustible spirit. Through wars, pestilence, oppression, disasters, genocide and personal tragedy, human beings continue to express creativity and ingenuity to the very degree that they are allowed the liberties to do so. It is an unquenchable and inexhaustible Spirit. It is the best—the Divine—within each of us that makes it so. And while at times, we have varying degrees of access to the divine within us, and sometimes the light is dim and flickers, the fact remains that there is a god or goddess in all of us waiting to come out and play.

What if we could integrate our work and our play? Our spirit and our finances? Our economics and our purpose? Our job and our internal worship? The mundane and the divine?

My assertion is that not only is this possible…it is necessary…for the conscious evolution of the planet and for our survival and thrival as a species. Not to mention our personal happiness. As many of us our satisfied–that is we have all the nice stuff. Cars, houses, fine clothing, computers, iPods, great relationships, money…but we remain unfulfilled.