I didn’t know how to come up with pricing in a way that wasn’t just comparing to others, or taking my previous salary and turning it into an hourly rate.
Now I have a better sense of understanding that my pricing is directly tied to my overall wellbeing as person!
Calculating my internal/real hourly rates gave me a lot of clarity I didn’t have before.
Plus, learning about money in a relatable way from someone who isn’t your run-of-the-mill MBA white dude is always a golden opportunity!
Are you a service provider or coach?
Close your eyes and imagine a potential new coaching or freelance client smiling at you and saying,
“That sounds great! How much will a project like this cost?”
And instead of panicking…
…or lowballing yourself…
…or backpedaling when the client hesitates…
…and then kicking yourself in the face later when the project goes overtime…
…you confidently present a price that makes you feel excited to take on the project.
Imagine knowing how to calculate a project price that allows you to be creative and generous in your work.
Imagine knowing that your expenses and salary will be covered this month.
Imagine being able to hire a team member, do more pro bono work for causes that you care about, or just plain work less.
Now, open your eyes.
Everything you just imagined?
It’s possible.
How I Turned My Pricing Guilt Around and What It Means For You
When I started my first business back in 2011, I refused to look at my numbers. (Not least because I felt scared and guilty about walking away from my master’s degree and the security of employment that my immigrant parents had spent their whole life paying for.)
“There’s always a cost to starting a business,” I told myself. “I’ve got a part-time job to float that cost, I told myself.
Turns out I was actually paying to take pictures of people. Needless to say, that business model didn’t last.
Fast forward to 2016 when I became a parent and left my teaching career to start freelancing. My time wasn’t just mine anymore, and it literally cost me money in the form of child care to be able to work at all. Which meant I had just 3 hours a day of work time, and I couldn’t get more time even if I wanted to. I had to make sure my time was profitable.
Fortunately, I’ve always been pretty good at math.
It wasn’t hard to figure out how much I needed to charge if I wanted to make X dollars while working Y hours a week.
The hard part was actually bringing myself to say, “This project will cost $1,500.” And then $1,750. And then $2,000.
(Did I just hear you start wheezing in terror? Don’t worry, it gets better!)
After crying for a few months minutes, I Auntied myself out of my sneaky hate spiral. (With a good bit of help from years of therapy work that taught me the connection between actions, feelings, and thoughts!)
I learned how to take my emotions (namely fear, guilt, and resentment) out of the driver’s seat of my business. They’re still along for the ride, but they’re just passengers.
My values are the driver, with data riding shotgun.
I value time with my family, so I set my prices in such a way that lets me work only while my kid is in school. No evenings, no weekends, because that’s family time.
I value efficiency, so I build the cost of tools and contractors into my business expenses which I then factor into my pricing. (And I know these numbers because I collect the data!)
I value creativity, so I structure my project pricing and schedules in a way that gives me time to innovate and take some risks.
Quit waiting until you “feel” like charging more. It’s time to let your values take the wheel.
Presenting…
Hope You Get Rich
a total pricing overhaul that will help you address your money hang-ups and start pricing yourself professionally once and for all
By the end of the course, you’ll know:
- How to identify the money misbeliefs that are fueling your tendency to lowball and discount your rates
- How to reimagine your limiting beliefs so you don’t back off from fear when raising your prices
- How to properly track your time across the 5 major areas of your business so you know where the HELL all your time goes and how much you’re actually making for every billable hour (hint: it’s less than you think!)
- How to identify your internal & external hourly rate so you know the BARE MINIMUM you need to be charging to run a profitable business
- How to convert your internal hourly rates to project rates without undercharging and shooting yourself in the foot
- How to incorporate different pricing models into your business in a way that feels right for YOU
- How to bust through imposter syndrome when that emotional shit inevitably flares up
What’s in the workbook & videos:
- Money misbelief worksheet
- Business expense tracker
- Cost of living expense tracker
- Hourly rate calculator and conversion formulas
- Time tracking worksheet
- Printable money manifesto and affirmation worksheets
- Instructions for converting hourly rates to project rates
- Explanation of different pricing models
- Pep talks and practical steps for overcoming imposter syndrome
If you apply everything you learn in this class, it should easily pay for itself with your next project, no matter how much you’re charging now.
I talk about money a lot and people seem to find it helpful…
I even convince my own contractors to charge me more!
Auntie’s Promise
These proven pricing methods have been developed and tested over the last four years in my own business and in my clients’ businesses. They work and they’ll help you breathe easier about money, no matter where your prices are at now.
I guarantee you’ll be satisfied with your results if you do the work. This training is for action-driven business owners who are committed to implementation. What I don’t want this to be is another piece of information to collect dust on your digital bookshelf. (I can’t promise I won’t chase you down and nag you until you start…)
Hope You Get Rich is meant to be revisited as your business grows and changes. My goal is to show you how be more in control of your business finances with this training, and for you to know how to value your own time and expertise and convey that value to clients.
This class is for…
Service Providers
Coaches
Speakers & Consultants
…especially if:
- You’re sick of that sinking feeling any time someone asks, “So how much do you charge?”
- You think you should be earning more money for the amount of time you spend working and aren’t sure why you’re not
- You’re ready to spend less time working and more time with your family, creative work, or good old self care
- You want to know if you can make your business your main source of income
- You struggle with finding new projects, working too many hours, or wrangling fussy clients (yup, adjusting your prices can help with this!)
But you don’t have to take my word for it!
A little about me:
For those who don’t know me, my name is Jennifer Duann Fultz, frequently known as JDF, because who has time for my whole legal name? I’m a serial auntiepreneur on a mission to make space in the world for creative and unconventional Asian Americans and other people of color.
I’ve tried my hand at a wide variety of creative services in my time, including but not limited to:
- Wedding and portrait photography
- Content marketing
- Copywriting
- Article/blog writing
- Email marketing
- Document design
- Branding
- Web design
- …and several ill-fated forays into direct sales
It took me about five years to get truly profitable. Now I work part-time by choice and average about $200/hour on most projects.
If you’re ready to set profitable prices for your work and meet your income and lifestyle goals, this course is for you!
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Hope You Get Rich for?
HYGR is for service providers, coaches, consultants & speakers who want an actionable system to determine their prices and support dealing with all the emotional shit that money tends to trigger (like guilt, shame, and fear).
Specifically, HYGR is perfect for you if:
- You’re sick of that sinking feeling any time someone asks, “So how much do you charge?”
- You think you should be earning more money for the amount of time you spend working and aren’t sure why you’re not
- You’re ready to spend less time working and more time with your family, creative work, or good old self care
- You struggle with finding new projects, working too many hours, or wrangling fussy clients
Will this help me if I run a product-based business?
HYGR will teach you how to track your time, list out your expenses, and work out your internal hourly rate ― all exercises which could help you determine if you’re spending your time profitably. But if you’re looking for help setting a price for your physical products, this won’t be the best resource for you.
How about pricing a digital product?
Also no! I created HYGR specifically for service providers to price their services because it’s the area I have the most experience in. Pricing digital products is a whole other ball park, so you’re best off looking for a different resource.
“You talk a lot about internal & external hourly rate...but what if I don’t want to charge by the hour?”
Great question. I don’t recommend charging hourly either!
But I spend a lot of time talking about internal hourly rate because this is the best way to determine if you’re spending your time profitably. It’s also the best way for you to calculate how much you need to charge to meet your income goals based on the amount of hours you want to work.
When you know your internal hourly rate, you’ll know the absolute bare minimum you need to be charging. And once you know this, you’ll be able to confidently present your prices to clients, without being tempted to give them a huge discount.
Once you’ve calculated your internal hourly rate, you’ll also learn how to convert that figure to price larger (not time-based) projects and how to adapt a variety of other pricing models into your business, like retainers, consultations, etc.
Here’s what Jasmine had to say after calculating her internal rate:
“I didn’t know how to come up with pricing in a way that wasn’t just comparing to others, or taking my previous salary and turning it into an hourly rate.
Now I have a better sense of understanding that my pricing is directly tied to my overall wellbeing as person!
Calculating my internal/real hourly rates gave me a lot of clarity I didn’t have before.
Plus, learning about money in a relatable way from someone who isn’t your run-of-the-mill MBA white dude is always a golden opportunity!”
Even though you won’t charge hourly, calculating your internal hourly rate will give you clarity overall to see if you need to adjust and raise your project rates (hint: you probably do).
How long will this course take me?
HYGR is a self-paced, on-demand course, meaning you can take it any time you want.
The videos are roughly 45 minutes in total, and the worksheets can take you as long or as short as you want it to.
Some exercises, like reimagining beliefs, may take you longer (because behavioral change isn’t something that happens overnight). But the time tracking worksheets and calculating your expenses can be completed as soon as you get your hands on my course.
I designed the whole thing to be actionable and easy-to-implement so you can start raising your prices immediately (starting with the proposal that’s been sitting on your desktop).
The best part? You have access to HYGR for as long as I’m in business (which I’m anticipating will be for a long time), so you can revisit it every time you create a new offer, or if your life and business circumstances change (like if you’re expecting a new baby).
Do we get 1:1 support in HYGR?
Since this isn’t a live round of HYGR, 1:1 support doesn’t come included.
BUT if you want extra Auntie support to help you work through your money misbeliefs or look through your pricing menu, you can purchase a 30-min consulting call with me. These usually cost $100, but if you purchase Auntie support with your purchase of HYGR, it’s yours for only $39. (Yep, seriously).
Will you offer Hope You Get Rich again?
Probably! It’s one of my favorite courses to teach. But if the last 2+ years of *waves vaguely at everything* have taught me anything, it’s that I can’t take anything for granted. So if you’re looking to raise your prices for the new year, I would hop on this now. (Or ask someone to get it for you as a gift!)
