Are you pricing your worth?

Are you pricing your worth?

Author: The Happy Startup School November 2, 2021 Duration: 1:16:03

Pricing for serviced based businesses is such a dark art and many agency owners, coaches and consultants have had to learn it the hard way.

But why should it be so hard?

There should be more courses about this stuff out there teaching things like:

  • What is a good price?
  • How do you know what your competition is charging?
  • Do you charge by day, by the person or by value?
  • How do you write/build a proposal?
  • What split is there between services and product? Premium and mass market?
  • How does that work across territories?
  • Do you charge differently online vs offline?

These are the words of David McQueen, executive coach and public speaker, that he shared on LinkedIn over the summer.

We thought it would be a great opportunity to talk about what such a course could do for people like him and what is it that might be stopping people from seeking out this kind of help.

David McQueen is a speaker, coach and advisor who is passionate about leadership. Over the last thirty years he has honed his experience in leadership. This includes leading teams in his early career, starting his own companies, sitting on the advisory board of companies across all sectors and his work with organizations across the private, public and third sector.

David is the host of Leadership Decoded, a podcast focusing on leadership communication,  and is also writing his first book on the power of leadership coaching.


For freelancers and founders who believe their work has genuine purpose, the conversation around money can feel like the most awkward part of the job. The Happy Pricing Podcast, from The Happy Startup School, steps directly into that discomfort. It operates from a simple, radical premise: pricing shouldn't be a silent calculation of fear or greed, but a clear, confident dialogue about shared value. This isn't about racing to the bottom to please clients or inflating rates to exploit them. Instead, each episode focuses on building the practical capability to have those necessary, often avoided, financial conversations. You'll hear real strategies for articulating your worth in a way that feels authentic, ensuring the exchange is equitable and that you are properly compensated for the impact you create. The discussions move beyond theory into the nuanced reality of running a purpose-driven business, exploring how to structure fees, negotiate with clarity, and ultimately create arrangements where both you and your clients feel good about the investment. Tuning into this podcast means re-framing pricing from a transactional headache into a core component of your professional integrity and happiness. It's for those ready to move past anxiety and into a practice where everyone truly shares in the value being delivered.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 75

The Happy Pricing Podcast
Podcast Episodes
How to price a retreat [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:43
In November Matthew Matheson is hosting a retreat to help people re-connect with their authentic selves.It's an idea that he developed during his time on the Vision 20/20 program.Carlos and Ben talk with Matthew about th…
How to help customers decide... to buy from you [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:38
Ben and Carlos try to interpret an email from Seth Godin to see how it relates to pricing and selling.How do we help our customers make a decision (to buy from us)? And how do we do that with integrity and not feel slimy…
Proposals and pricing [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:29
Proposal shouldn't contain any surprises – particularly not the price.The role of a proposal is to replay everything you've already spoken to your client about.In the previous episode, Carlos and Ben were joined by Hazel…
Pricing by value, not time [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:04
Beccie D'Cuhna is the founder of CourageLab and empowers leaders and teams to have courageous conversations, through mediation, training and coaching.She took part in our first Happy Pricing course and says her business…
More income, less effort [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:49
Jim Ralley helps with the design and strategy of learning experiences for NGOs, governments and corporate clients. Last year he tried to find the right balance between work, parenting and time for himself… and failed.Thi…
Personal brand and pricing [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:56
What’s the value of a personal brand? When building your reputation, what would this reputation do for you? What financial value does it have? What’s it worth to get on the radar of the people that you’d love to collabor…
"I'm nearly doubling my prices" [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:33
If you want to increase your prices, it has to start with an understanding of your value. Not just the mechanical tasks you perform, but the trust, familiarity, and unique value you bring to your clients. This can lead t…
The purpose of being polarising [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:05
Being polarising in your pricing and your offering is way more impactful than trying to appeal to the masses. But it means being clear about who you want to work with and focusing tightly on them.This not only helps attr…
Selling what you do differently [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:02
Changing the way you present your product can greatly affect how people see its value and price. When you’re faced with a sticky patch, lowering prices or costs might not be the right thing to do. So instead, what might…
How do you sell a book for €560? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:03
Pricing expertise is not determined by traditional models. It’s about understanding the value and aligning incentives with the customer. By challenging conventional pricing logic and considering factors like value and sk…