a thing I see time and time again for healers just starting out in professional practice is the stumbling block of ‘how do I price my offerings?’
this is a normal part of the birthing process, everyone’s going to have an idea and ‘way that works for them,’ and you are going to find your own way.
note: this little article is just that – a little article and not a course or mentoring session. when we value our work and offerings, a lot of things are going to come up, and some of them will be better held in a skilled container with an experienced mentor who can help you find your way amidst inner and outer noise.
you might discover that ‘how do I price my offerings?’ is actually hunkered down in a thicket of emotions and programming about worth, energy exchange, being seen, injustice, access to resources, your own financial reality and energy reserves, and what healing really is anyhow.
yup.
that’s all totally normal. big warm heart hug if schtuff arises as you court this seemingly-simple question. I’m here if you need a hand, and for now let’s explore a simple exercise that helps most of my students and clients when they’re starting out.
you can do the process below in a few minutes – it’s easy and fun, and brings clarity.
the exercise:
1. you’ve got the offering. it’s a session, a series of sessions, a workshop, a course, a retreat, etc. congratulations! now, how do you price it? you put a lot of heart and work into it, and this is a tender question.
2. take a peek and see what other folks are offering in your area that is similar-ish to what you’re providing. not because you need to emulate them (nope) but because we’re looking for a possible range, and then you’re going to find your own tummy comfort within it.
3. let’s say (working example) you’re going to offer reiki sessions (hi, reiki!). in your area, *let’s pretend* going rate for in-person, individual reiki treatments is $120-$175 for the purposes of this article. you have a range(ish) to start to play with.
4. sit with your lived experience. have you done thousands of unpaid sessions before hanging your shingle and stepping into professional waters? have you taken one reiki course or fifteen? how much reiki have you received yourself, to live and learn it’s teachings? (we’re all going to start somewhere, please be loving with yourself and don’t ‘compare’ with others. you are a jewel. your experiences are valid, your gifts are real, you can do this). drop in. sit with your inner knowing and path so far.
5. here’s the fun part: ask yourself an outrageous question: ‘how do I feel about providing an hour-long reiki session for $5?’ (remember, that’s forward-facing, and doesn’t speak to the herculean cost, time, and effort inherent in holding sessions. you’ll have overhead like space rental, website, insurance, etc, and also time tending your clients outside of an actual session that factors in here). if you love the notion of $5 sessions, hop to! if you get grouchy, angry, upset, or triggered when you think of valuing your time, life-force and skill for $5 an hour, you’ve got some information. great job!
6. next, let’s swing to another outrageous question: ‘how do I feel about offering an hour-long reiki session for $10,000?’ did you blanch? gulp? stammer and blush? (I would). good! you’ve got another data point – your discomfort is helping you see where your truth is. this upper end of ‘wow, I could never charge that much, eesh!’ is more information. brava!
7. so, you’ve got two cheeky extremes. probably, you’re not going to charge $5 or $10,000 for an hour of reiki. so, start letting the pendulum swing in a more refined way, and get a little more precise. our conflated experience with ‘way too little + way too much’ helped you feel what your body and heart will do when you’re far from what feels good. if the going rate in your area for reiki (for example) is $120-$175, let’s get a little closer to that. what does your body do when you consider a session for $85? $220? those are still outside ‘going rate’ in your area, but they’re more realistic. what do your body and heart tell you in this range?
8. you’re close. start sauntering up to a number, going round by round and just noticing what your inner navigation system does with the numbers. maybe a next round is testing out $107 and $182. funny numbers help in this exercise, by the way, and set some of our unconscious programmed expectations aside. maybe an almost-final round is $132 and $166. you’re doing great.
9. by now, you’ll be pretty close to a number that feels good-ish. maybe you get to a pretty tight range, like $145-$153. awesome!
10. see what feels a little stretchy, like using a new muscle in the gym but also not breaking yourself, and go for that. if $151 for a session feels a little edgy but you also feel excited and proud, and you intuit this will help both you and your beautiful clients, you’ve done it. woot!
see the idea? research the landscape for a starting price range, sit with your current level of experience, play with funny extremes to learn your ‘grouchy no!’ and your ‘eegads never!’ and then start honing in until you find a number that honors you, your modality, and go with that.
the beauty of running your own practice is that you can always refine this later (and you probably will). most likely, you’ll have some test-runs that soar, and some that go kerplonk. just like life. okey dokey.
you won’t know unless you try.
if you need a helping hand – in finding price points that feel good for you, understanding what overhead is actually involved in running a business, or developing and presenting your offerings – we can work on that in sessions if you like.
sometimes, I offer group workshops where we play with these ideas, and you can always email to see what’s cooking behind the scenes that may not be online yet. it’s fun to connect with other healers, and explore ideas and growing edges like this one.
I’m an email away, love helping healers find their way in their body of work, and I’m here and cheering you on.
our world needs what you have to offer. you can do this!
love,
anna
ps – do you know one or two folks who would benefit from receiving the dreaming otter articles? if yes, please encourage them to subscribe to the email list here. I would be so grateful – thanks, and may that kindness return to you a thousandfold.