In my last article, I shared with you my observation that a common strategy for small businesses is to undercut the competition by charging lower prices.

And I explained in detail why that’s a terrible strategy…

In a nutshell, you work your rear end off for very little pay. You never get ahead financially. Your customers think you are worth as little as you charge them.

I suggested that your pricing should be high…and fall in the middle of the top third.

Which means that if the lower third of service firms in your trade charge $50 to $100 an hour, the middle range charges $100 to $150 and the highest-paid charge $150 to $200, you should aim for $175 an hour.

“But how can I command such a premium fee?” you ask. “Why should clients pay me up to three times or more the fees my competitors charge?”

Good question. And here’s the answer…

Specifically, there are at least 5 strategies I can think of that can enable you to get the premium pricing you want to command.

1. SELL A DOLLAR FOR A QUARTER.

Superstar marketing consultant Jay Abraham likes to ask prospects, “If I give you a dollar, will you give me a quarter?”

In other words, prospects have no problem paying the price you ask…as long as your product or service saves or makes them money many times in excess of your fee.

Therefore, if you can demonstrate a huge return on investment (ROI) from your service, you can command a huge price.

2. WORK AN UNDER-SERVED MARKET NICHE.

There are some markets everyone selling your product or service is going after.

Consequently, these prospects can pick and choose which vendors they work with…and to a large extent, the price they agree to pay.

My friend DW is a copywriter.

But unlike most of the copywriters you hear about who work for the big direct marketers—newsletter publishers, nutritional supplement makers—DW works a niche where there is virtually no competition: construction companies in New England.

Despite an oversupply of copywriters in other markets, DW’s prospects are thrilled when they discover a copywriter specializing in their trade…and gladly pay hefty fees to DW for his marketing assistance.

3. BECOME A RECOGNIZED GURU IN YOUR FIELD.

Most management speakers get around $3,000—and often less—for a one-hour speech.

Tom Peters gets something like $30,000 or more.

Does he get paid 10 times more than other management speakers because he knows 10 times more about managing a company or because his advice makes his clients 10 times more money?

I doubt it.

His fee is 10 times higher because he is a recognized guru in management…largely because of “In Search of Excellence” and his other best-selling books.

Want to get paid top dollar?

Become a recognized guru in your field.

3 ways to get started: start writing your book…write a magazine or newspaper article…publish a content-rich Website.

I have an audio program that can show you many other ways to quickly establish yourself as a guru in your field.

4. ADD VALUE

My friend DH is a top copywriter selling information products.

He gets huge fees to write direct mail packages.

But after DH writes your DM package, you get something else most other copywriters don’t give you—an extensive memo outlining other marketing strategies you can use to sell even more of your product.

If you were to pay DH separately for this consulting advice, it would cost thousands of dollars.

But he gives it to you free when you hire him to write for you.

People don’t mind paying more—as long as they get more.

DH gives them more.

5. SHIFT SUPPLY AND DEMAND IN YOUR FAVOR

The #1 reason why businesspeople charge too little is that they need the business.

The secret to overcoming this?

Keep your pipeline of leads full—at all times.

Generate twice as many leads as you think you need…and you’ll always have more work than you could ever hope to handle.

There are many ways to generate leads: classified ads, small display ads, Yellow Pages, cold calls, direct mail, pay-per-click advertising, organic search etc.

To discover more ways you can produce a flood of sales leads all year long, click here now.

Bob Bly is the author of “World’s Best Copywriting Secrets” and has written copy for more than 100 companies including IBM, Boardroom, Medical Economics and AT&T. He is the author of more than 75 books and a columnist for Target Marketing, Early To Rise and The Writer. McGraw-Hill calls him “America’s top copywriter”.

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