Hello guys, welcome to my weekly Facebook live plus a day. Um, I'm coming here, live on a Friday, which is not my normal day. Normally I see you and you see me on a Thursday, but, uh, the reason I wasn't here yesterday is, oh, this is a very loud airplane. Um, the reason I wasn't here is because I was finishing up my last day of training for, um, high performance coaching certification. So I'm now officially, uh, high performance coach I'm certified to teach in, um, coach in that methodology, which I'm so excited about. Let me know who's here and thank you for finding me on a Friday instead of yesterday. Um, I was really gonna try to sneak away and join, cuz I don't like to change my schedule. And if people are kind of planning on me showing up somewhere, um, I don't like to change it, but then hi, Serena happy belated looks like you had such a wonderful birthday.
Um, and I saw your note this morning, so thank you for that. Um, but yes, it was, uh, it was not, uh, possible to get certified if you were not there, um, the entire time. So they would like randomly take role and you had to be present the whole time. So not that it was a negative was fantastic. It just meant that I wasn't able to do this live and huge. Thank you to my team for the really quick audible to kind of shift everything that had already been planned. Um, hi Demetri. Nice to meet you. Welcome. Welcome. I'm trying to suits on your shirt. Pretty cool. Little graphic there. Um, but yes, I'm super excited and this is unlike, um, any of the other coaching that I'm doing in any of my programs. This is like high performance methodology. I trained with brand number chard if anybody knows who that is, but, um, it's a really interesting, um, sort of, uh, 12 step methodology that focuses on clarity, confidence, persuasion, or influence, um, your physiology, your psychology.
It's super cool. I'm like so excited to start implementing all of the things that I've learned and I'm really, really blown away by the caliber and the effectiveness of the tools that they give us to help support, um, the transformations of people who wanna work with us. So I'm really excited because, um, you know, a lot of members of my community like Serena and others, who've gone through all my programs and are kind of ready for that next something. This is, um, really, uh, a good alignment with my entire platform for, uh, generation academy and all of what we teach, which is to create a business and a life that is integrated. They all work together. I want you to work in your business towards creating the kind of life that you wanna have. And what I love about high performance coaching is that it takes every aspect of your life into consideration.
You obviously are prioritizing what your goals are. What's important to you. And these are proven processes, tools, and frameworks just like we have in our program, but all towards, um, you know, that sort of whatever high performance means to you just getting to that next level of, um, you know, connection. Uh, for me it's presence. It's very important to me, especially with my kids, just being really present when I'm with them and I'm with my partner and when I'm with my coaching community being present there. And you know, it's also a reason why I didn't wanna kind of split my time yesterday between, uh, jumping here for an hour or less being really distracted and then running back. So thank you all for being here. And I'm really excited for today's topic because, um, I love talking about making you guys more money and we have spent a lot of time supporting our community with their pricing strategies and the confidence that comes with pricing, your services or the confidence that, um, comes when you are appropriately pricing your services or the confidence you need to raise your prices.
So I wanna help you get paid more, always, always. Um, and the goal here is that we want you to be making more money without working more. Um, and I know this is like this sort of internet promise and get rich quick. This isn't that at all, like anyone who's in my program, Serena who's here and I'm sure there's others who are lurking. Tell me who's here. Um, know that, you know, we teach proven strategies, but none of it is like sign up and just make money without doing anything. It's all, um, strategies and systems and processes and sales tactics and things that work, but you still have to apply them and you still have to do the work. But my goal here and the point of this discussion is around, um, you know, PR agency owners, freelancers, or whatnot, making more money, hopefully working less or not more.
Um, oh, see, it's so weird. I just see Facebook user. Let's see if that comes on here. That's kind of weird. Um, I'm here and I'm in the program. I don't know who that is. I'm sure. Once you say your name I'll know, but it just, for me as like a blank person, for some reason, maybe you're logged in as a business or something, I don't know. Anyway. Um, so maybe you have a feeling you're not charging enough every time I bring it up, people are like, I need to raise my prices. Um, or maybe your structure right now is hourly or you're working towards projects also in my opinion, um, or based on deliverables. And certainly you should not be doing pay to play like Brittany. Oh, hi Brittany. Yay. Okay. For some reason I can't see you. I'm so happy you're here. Thank you for, um, clarifying that.
Definitely. We don't want you, um, so many discussions around that shady tactic and if, uh, um, client comes to you and says, well, I just wanna pay for placements, not for a retainer for effort. You better turn around and say, that's not how I run my business total, you know, not gonna ever support that. And it's very shady and it's against our code of ethics in PR, but that's a whole other discussion. Um, I think you know this by now and I'm gonna repeat it, but it is totally possible to make more money without adding more hours or additional deliverables or scope. Um, hi, nice to meet you. I just transitioned from my side hustle to my fulltime house and totally need to charge more for my existing clients. Nice to meet you all. Yeah. Am I saying you right? Um, Kessie, SSY surrounded. Sussy um, you'll have to tell me, is it a heart seat or a softy?
I'm thinking softy sounds like an S Sussy. Uh, yeah, and Charlotte, I was part of the Codery. Oh, yay. Um, and excited to be here. Sussy I had a feeling, um, and excited to be here, went, uh, freelance about a year ago after working for an agency in New York. Okay. Charlotte, I'm so glad you're here. Thank you so much for, um, she's mentioning Codery, which is part of PR couture and, um, PR couture of course, is now part of our company. Um, I recently announced that acquisition and we are currently working on, um, folding all of the wonderful aspects that we just love so much about PR couture into our business. And Charlotte, I just have to say thank you so much for coming over and, um, you know, giving us, uh, the benefit of the doubt, cuz it's gonna take a little while and it's gonna be messy.
I've never required a company before and completely folded it into my business, but we have big vision for what we are creating and continuing to do to serve this community. And, um, I am so glad that you're here because I want you to start to think about the possibility of switching your mindset from freelance to getting you in that agency head space, or at least give you that structure and those frameworks and, uh, a process for, um, you know, taking that freelance to the next level for you. Which for me, the goal is to give you, um, more revenue, more income without, like I said, increase of hours or scope or deliverables. Don't want you having to work more. And um, you know, if you wanna work with bigger clients, great, but that doesn't mean you should have to. So I'm gonna share some of my best tips for building your confidence when it comes to charging rates that reflect the quality of the work that you do.
And I think that, um, hi Kathy define agency. So you know what we talk about this in the agency accelerator, which is my program, we're actually gonna be opening enrollment next week. We have quite a few of you on the wait list. So I'm so excited. We're opening doors. So, um, agency, it's interesting Kathy, because, um, I feel like for me, even when it was just me, I came at it instead of saying Jen freelance publicist, I created a business generation and I always spoke about generation. Like it was we, and in the beginning it was just me. But I felt like because we were, uh, presenting like an agency, two clients, um, the rates tend to be a bit higher and knew I would grow into that pretty quickly did. So it is, um, where you are able to serve clients by having a team you're leveraging their time and expertise to benefit clients and to, um, increase your revenue without increasing additional work for yourself.
Um, actually executing the work. Um, you know, an agency has a, you know, we teach in the agency accelerator like a structure, like an org structure. And it doesn't mean that you need different people in all of those roles. Sometimes multiple people can serve, uh, or pardon me, one person can serve multiple roles in your business. So it's essentially clients coming in and you are, um, as an agency building the team, um, providing a team and structure to provide the services that you're looking for. And sometimes it's a simple shift Kathy from saying I'm a freelance publicist to I'm the founder of generation PR because when I started, when I left law and I started PR it was just me and I was doing all the work, all the client outreach, all the media outreach, all of the strategy, everything, but I approached it like we're an agency.
And, um, knew that if it got beyond my capabilities, which it cl quickly did that I could bring on either a full-time team or freelancers, um, you know, like, like Sessy, um, or Charlotte, uh, actually Cecily didn't tell me she was a freelancer. Charlotte did, but, um, it's, it's the ability to kind of, uh, staff a team come up with a strategy that is going to be the most effective overall approach for the client that's seeking, you know, one or many services. Um, and you know, it's like having the umbrella to be able to, um, you know, build in the right approach to support the client's needs. Um, I am an agency, but have been picking up freelance work for the sake of income. Totally understand that. Yeah. Awesome. Absolutely. I've also been following you for a while. Oh, good. I love that. It's all merging together.
Yay. This is a super helpful topic that I definitely need guidance on. Thanks for having me Charlotte. I'm so happy you're here. And I have to tell you, um, I appreciate you saying that you're, that you love that it's all merging together because to me it's very clear how, um, we can support this community and while, um, oh yeah. Crystal potential clients definitely take you more seriously as an agency owner versus a freelance publicist. It's absolutely that and you could charge more right. Crystal. Um, but yes, I am glad, uh, Charlotte, that you see the vision because to me it was really obvious and I was like, what if they don't get it? they're like, um, excuse me, what, but, um, there's definitely, um, a lot of efficiencies and, um, enhancements and things that come from all of us, you know, merging together with, uh, the PR couture content community, um, you know, website for visibility for our audience.
Um, Charlotte, I'd love to, um, feature you on that website if you wanted to write a guest article or anybody that's here of course, but, um, there's very good SEO to the parato website and it could drive some good visibility to your own, um, website, but I know you're, uh, freelance, but, um, let's get you set up for an agency start thinking about the agency accelerator, but okay. I'm gonna shift over to my seven, seven tips here and, and, uh, Nelson. Hi, I'm so happy you're here and no worries that you're late. I know I'm on and off day and time. So, um, you know, the number one thing which I hinted to is shifting to a retainer based pricing model, um, tends to be a little more challenging to, um, justify it or get to a higher rate when you position yourself as a freelancer.
Um, uh, yeah, Kathy, um, you should pay attention to our, um, launch next week of the agency accelerator and just give it a look because this is going to fast track. It is going to, it's like having the entire framework for how to transform what you're up to, into an agency and have all the processes and systems forms, um, structure and its training. I mean, it's, it's excellent. I, I'm very, very proud of it's very good. And I'm so excited. We're opening again. We just completely rerecorded the entire program. Um, and it's, chef's kiss. It's very, very good. So, um, okay, so you are promise me, raise your hand, right this minute, look into the camera, even though I can't see you, but I want you to see me and promise me you are going to stay away from hourly pricing and shift to a retainer based model.
I would love for you to also, uh, shift away from project based and deliverable based, but raise your hand and say, I Kathy, I, Charlotte, I crystal, I already know Nelson's on board with me, so he doesn't have to say anything cuz he's already there. Uh, crystal, thank you so much. She's all in pinky promise. Yes. Who has time to count out hours? That's right. Angela F forget that left that, um, I promise to stay away from dollars for hours. Promise me, um, Emily Reagan. I fall. Oh, cool. Um, oh, yay. Oh, great. Awesome. That's so great. Uh, is it okay to estimate retainer prices based on hourly estimates? Um, Sessy, I'm gonna, um, table that discussion because we actually talk about that. There's an entire, um, whole basically pillar inside the agency accelerator. That's all about how to price your services. Yes, Kathy, I love it.
I promise to stay away from hourly. Megan, you guys. I love it. Yeah, no, no, no, no, no. Uh, retainers only, yes. Promise promise. No one here should be doing hourly or projects Nelson saying it breach it. Um, sometimes it is. I don't love it. Honestly, when you estimate retainer prices, based on hourly, you are still getting paid for an hourly calculation. And I think Sussy the problem. There is that a lot of us that are very seasoned, um, can pick up a phone or send a quick email and land a great press feature. And it doesn't take that long. It's almost like you're being penalized by the efficiencies. You are able to implement in your business by having experience and contacts, connections like the better you get as you go along, the faster you are at getting results, um, would mean that you're estimating fewer hours and therefore making less on your retainer.
I think in a freelancer context, when you're building your team, they may come at you with a rough estimate of how many hours they might need to, um, be able to execute the work for you every month. But I don't want you paying them hourly. I want you to sort of figure out the rate and just keep it at that rate every month plus minus, um, you're not paying for my time. You are paying for my skill, my connections, my storytelling. Heck yeah. Crystal. That's exactly right. But the freelance hourly projects I've been getting have been so good. Some projects have high budgets. Awesome. That's great. Um, you know, that means that you're, uh, really asking for, you know, a good rate and what's you're worth, um, you know, we're gonna try to get you towards building your dream and your business and those clients that you're sort of white labeling your services for.
We want you to start securing clients like that too, because think about the projects you're getting freelance, someone else is making money on your time. So they've been really good budgets, but there's even more money there that the agency's getting that you're freelancing for, or that maybe it's directly for the client. I don't know. But, um, those should be your clients and they should be your total revenue for your agency. And that's what I want to get you towards. Okay. So we've already pinky promised. I love it. We're all on board. The goal of the retainer model is to help you generate and my whole framework, my path to profitability framework, I'll tell you the four pillars in a second consistent, predictable recurring retainer revenue every single month. That's the foundation of what I want your agency to provide to you. There's security in that there's predictability. um, crystal clarify, what am I speaking on? Tell me,
I feel like you and I crystal are like feeling it right now cuz I know you're like, yep, Jen, I'm right there with you. Um, but our four pillars that, um, my whole framework that I've developed is proprietary to me. I developed it. Um, it is the foundation of the entire way that you're gonna help set up consistent predictable. Um, yeah. Oh yeah. That's right. The client is charging. Um, or pardon me? The uh, so if you're a freelancer, I guess your client is the agency. The agency you're working for is charging that client more money than you're making, you're doing the work, but the agency is making money on your time. I want you to be the agency, right? Sassy. That's the goal and crystal Crystal's right there with me. So, um, but we have our four pillars strategy, sales service scale. I have all of the content, all of the frameworks, every bit of training you need to know to like master every piece of that.
But that is the foundation of consistent, predictable, recurring retainer revenue, basically building up an agency with happy clients, delivering results, having a solid pipeline of your perfect niche down clients that you are going to take amazing care of. They're gonna be so happy working with you. They're not gonna leave. And if they do leave, it happens, happens to all of us. You're not gonna freak out because first of all, it's not personal. We know that, but you still have other clients on retainer that you're, you know, billing every month and you know how much time's on their contracts. We also are gonna talk about rolling them into additional services for additional fees, which we just increased. One of our clients', um, monthly retainer by an additional 50% and locked them in for a year just by doing that. So I don't have to go and spend the time to do biz dev and find someone new as a new client.
We just go back to our existing clients and add more value, you know? So that's that. But um, these kinds of clients require a bigger team. You will get there. Yes. I mean, Sussy, I work from home. I have been for 17 years and I've had billion dollar clients that have so many moving parts. It is like a nightmare to kind of deal with them because they're, I mean the, you know, we're nimble, this is the benefit of a smaller agency. We're nimble. We're able to get things done very quickly. Um, the big daddy, you know, publicly traded companies, they are like steering a cruise ship. It is insane. And we're just like a speed boat, right? So, um, you can build the type of, um, team that's needed and do it so much faster and get results so much faster than a bigger agency or than the big billion dollar clients can do in house.
They just have too much bureaucracy. It's not possible. What type of niche Kathy's asking, what type of niche clients are a be fit for agency, um, public agencies, corporations, businesses, and nonprofits. Um, what's your area of expertise? You know, I think it's just, uh, I, uh, work with brands with physical products. So like, uh, beauty and cosmetics, baby and kids brands. That's my niche because that's what my area of expertise in. That's where all my results are. Um, I wouldn't know how to work with, uh, nonprofit, um, you know, but there are people who really specialize in that and nonprofit doesn't mean no budget. They do have budgets. It just depends on your, um, this is a huge part of the strategy pillar in the agency accelerator, Kathy, which you would love because we walk you through how to really leverage your expertise, your existing experience, the results you've gotten in, in your whole career.
Like, what's your story? How can we hone your craft so that you can narrow in, on a niche, um, and narrow in on a niche that is going to light you up. That's going to serve you very well for the duration of you running your business, that you'll be excited about those clients and that you have the results, the outcomes to leverage to, you know, case studies, testimonials, press wins, show those relationships that will leverage to bring in those types of clients, to you. So the niche is a huge part of the framework that we teach. It's like the very first pillar is all about strategy, which includes nicheing down. And we have an entire process we teach for how to do it. So I don't know that answer of just generally, like what types of clients are the best fit. It depends on you and your interest and your background and where you've worked and sassy.
I love that you love travel and beauty. Um, awesome. It's so fun. It's my favorite. I gotta talk. I love working with beauty brands. We have an L E D mask company right now. That's like the gold standard it's uh, FDA approved, um, research back. Um, okay, so Kathy, I'm so glad you're interested. I'm gonna give you a link right here to, um, this training series that you can register for. We're gonna kick off next week. Um, right now the, um, agency accelerator is a wait list. So if you go to the page, it's just a wait list, but this is the best way to learn more about it and get in on, um, you know, the information when we open enrollment, but it's fantastic. I promise you so proud of it. Okay. Oh my God. Still on number one, you guys, we got so much to cover.
So when you're aiming for your retainer contracts, I'm sorry, three months is a project. That's not really a retainer, it's a project. So I want you to aim for at least six months and you need enough runway to generate results. It's an industry standard PR is a long game. There's so much that we can, um, point to and tell the client to support that. But you know, telling your client PRS a long game, it's cumulative. It takes time to build momentum. They need to be educated on that because their expectations need to be reasonable and aligned with what they can expect with working with you. Um, you wanna explain to them that six months will get you that runway to do your strategy, build your list, send out your pitches and follow up and start to, um, generate and land those long lead features. And it will also give you a really good sense and give them a really good sense of what it's like to work with you, how responsive you are.
Um, the CR the create, uh, the creative nature of your pitches. Like how fun. I mean, honestly, we try to get in and like have fun with our clients. Like we have inside jokes and we make it really fun to work with us. Um, we, we become an extension of their team that takes time to build all of that and have it all working together. So what I also want you to do is I knew Nelson in house, something gonna say about this. And he totally, uh, uh, you know, said exactly what I was hoping he would. Everyone needs to do six month minimum contracts do not ever do three month contracts ever. Um, and Nelson, if you wanna expand on why no three months, I'll talk about it too. And I'll, I bet we'll come up with the same. Um, it's not enough time.
No, crystal. Yes. I'm telling you, we are like this today. Crystal. Learn my lesson the hard way. No more three months. No, no, no. That's a project which means there's gonna be scope creep. You're gonna start to irisy generate momentum. And then it's over three months is not enough time. You're building a strategy that takes time. You're gathering assets. You are building a media list. You're crafting pitches. You're following up. Oh three months is over. Wow. You didn't do anything for me. I paid you for three months and I got nothing and you're right Megan. Oh my God. Hi Megan. Um, and you're constantly having to look for clients exactly. You're on that hamster wheel of looking and looking and looking. And, um, the deal is that, um, we want your contracts locked in and that's why consistent, predictable recurring retainer. It's the only way it works is having, you know, six months minimum.
But the goal is to also tell your clients that most of your clients are the ones that see the most success go beyond that six month period because they have the best results because PR is cumulative and it's ongoing. And your goal is to keep your clients in the eyes of the media, fresh, consistently featured so that there is momentum. And there's a lot of interaction with consumers at their, you know, where they're getting their information or a lot of like touch points with consumers. And that's where a real traction happens for clients. It's a really common talking point, feel free to use it. That PR is cumulative. And if you go three months, you're not even getting the ball rolling. You know, you're just dusting off that ball and it's just sitting there and your client's gonna say what I pay you for. And it, and then you're gonna feel like, oh my God, I took their money.
I didn't get anything. So I'll just like work another month for free, you know? And it just does not work. It's a project. It's not a retainer. Call it what it is. And don't do it. Do not do three month contracts because there is not enough time to get anything done. And a client will be angry that they have no media hits, then you'll get fired. So it's, it's not a win-win you need six months to have a lot of runway to make stuff happen. That's exactly right. Uh, crystal, I was ready to toss my business out. You give me hope, Jen, we are so here for you, crystal. I mean, I can't even tell you, like, we can help you like troubleshoot and get you to a PLA. There is I'm, I've had so many people go through this and it works and it just, um, I'm so proud of it because it works like to come up with something that you can teach someone and say, just do these things and you'll have a business.
You enjoy more, you'll have clients that are more satisfied. You'll have, um, better clients that are willing to pay more in the door. Like that was my goal. And we have gotten there, it's been a major, um, you know, huge part of my life, the last five years building this, but it's so awesome. And having that mindset where you're done, you're like, I am so done with this. That's the perfect place for us to get started. Actually, the perfect place is if you're brand new so we could build it from scratch and we'll just be like perfectly optimized. Um, but, um, yeah. Okay. Sussy nice to meet you. Yeah. Yeah. We got you. We're gonna have fun. Um, six months is not always enough. That's right, Kathy. Absolutely. If you're, if you can walk in a, a year, great. Some clients are a little skittish.
Some clients who've maybe worked with you in the past are like, yeah. A year. Let's do it. Um, so it just depends, but a year would be ideal. Six month minimum is what I said. Right. And then the goal is to roll it into longer contracts. Um, okay. So number one, we swore no more hourly pricing. Um, number two, and you're telling clients, PR is cumulative. We need enough time, quote Nelson on all of the disappointment they're gonna fire you and be like, you did nothing for me and you're gonna feel terrible. And it was set up to fail from the beginning. So just keep that in mind, two is establish value with your potential client really early in the process. So I don't want you to talk about your work in terms of hours or outputs. I want you to talk about your work in terms of value, talk about the value that you provide and not the tasks that you're doing.
It's the value that you provide. It positions you as a premium provider, so that you're working command a pre a premium fee. You know, this isn't like, um, you know, well, I spend two hours building a media list and then I spend three hours writing a pitch, and then I spend six hours sending the pitch who cares? I don't care. KPIs. Yeah. So what are your key performance indicators? You can work with a client on that. We have an entire, um, tire, um, like reporting goal setting, uh, you know, we just rerecorded it, like I said, and we, we touched on that so that you can have metrics that matter and deliver, uh, results that hit these KPIs and really show the value of the work that you're doing. So I don't care what it takes to get a press hit. I don't care. Just do that work.
And they just want the value of these outcomes. Right. So provide that value immediately, even if you're in your first conversation. Um, you know, for me value means that I'm on that call and I'm talking to them as if they're already my client, I'm informing them of the way that things work. I'm asking them the right questions to understand, are they press ready? Are they going to be successful? Would we be successful working with them? And if they, if I can tell they're not super dialed into how PR works, what they need to be, um, uh, successful right outta the gate. Like if they don't know any, if they're a brand with physical products and they don't know about affiliate marketing, you've, you know, they have to get educated by me on that call. I will tell them. And I have had clients say that they got more value out of one conversation, you know, than they got trying to figure things out with their in-house team for a year and a half, one hour on the phone with me.
And they like solved this, you know, because it's, we're in the trenches doing it every day. We know how it works and they don't really always know how it works. Um, and Crystal's saying, you know, the strategy and consulting on calls is really valuable. And the key is I, it is not that you're giving away your strategy, your approach. You're not like giving them so much that they're like, wow, thank you so much, crystal. That was informative. We don't need you anymore. The thought. And I know, you know that, and the thought here is more like, wow, if I get this much information and value, just from this one conversation, imagine the value that we'll get from working with them. They know their stuff. They know this industry, every call I get off, they're like, I can tell you are just really dialed into the industry or, you know, these niches really well.
Like I don't question your expertise and you guys, I'm not pitching, I'm not the one. I have a team that pitches, I I'm checked into what they're up to. Hmm. Sometimes , I got a lot going on right now. Um, but I know, you know, even through the pitch lab and we are on top of like, what is happening in this industry? You know, what is, what moves the needle? How are editors working at the moment? What, you know, what gets their attention? Like we are all over that for the pitch lab. And well, we offer that all of that to you in that program. But we, um, you know, I get on the phone and I know I'm giving them so much information and you know, we're not giving away our secret sauce. You know, clients have to pay for that. That's the strategy.
That is the actual execution. You know, you're not like here's how I do it. It's, here's what, and then they pay you for the, how they pay you for the result that comes from implementing that, that only you can do or only you could do your way. Um, the other piece of it is that this is interesting, but you kind of activate this psychological principle of reciprocity. So when you're serving, you're giving, you're giving value, you do something nice for someone as humans, we're kind of hardwired to wanna do something nice in return, you know? Wow. That was really valuable, what you gave me. So they're on the phone thinking. Yeah. Like they just gave all this for free. Um, you know, let's, uh, let's kick it off and we'll give the business and they gave me something really great. And, and now I'm really like honored to, um, offer them a retainer, you know, offer them a contract or let them know that we want them to be the, the team.
So there is that piece there. Um, or honestly, sometimes I'll say my rate and they're like, okay, you know, we're a little far off. They will refer people and say, oh, so, and so talked to you. And they said, they were really bummed. They didn't have the budget to work with your agency, but they spoke so highly of you. Awesome. Great. Um, no, Angela, well, you know, you said you talk too much, girl, I'm 40 minutes into this and I'm only on number two. , it's like seven, I'll go faster, but you you're, uh, you have to strike this balance between demonstrating, you know, your stuff, giving, uh, sharing enough so that they know you're competent. You know, your industry, you're connected, you can get results. You're excited about them. You're excited about their business, their product, whatever it is you're talking to them about.
Um, you know, you believe in the company, the entrepreneur, whatever it is, that's worth gushing over on the phone, for sure. Um, but don't give it all away. Keep that secret sauce until they've signed that contract. I have to figure out like a little catchy catchy, like, um, um, until I get that signature, you don't get my secret sauce. I don't know something like that. Guys work let's workshop that. Um, anyway, so keep that in mind. Don't overshare all, don't give it all away all your strategy, but you can gush talk a lot about your know how in the industry, your contacts, your expertise, and how it can serve them, how excited you are and all of that. Definitely share your excitement. Don't ever like sign for the sauce. Boom. I say you have to pay for the aha moment. I love it. Candace love it. Don't give away that gold, Kathy, that's your secret sauce sign for the secret sauce. I love it. You get to sign for the secret sauce guys. Let's get t-shirts made that's uh, that's. That's how it is, right? Um, yeah, love you. I love it. Um, okay, so number three. Um, I am so thirsty. My guy guys. Oh my God.
T-shirts mugs hats, tote bags, let out. Um, okay. I don't want you as hard as it is. Don't share your prices before or during a discovery call. Okay. Hear me out Nelson. I'd love to know where you stand on this. Um, you wanna have a conversation with your potential clients about price so that you can align your expectations and make sure they're actually a good fit for you and vice versa. So I don't want you to give standard pricing before a call, cuz then you get on the phone with them. And they're like, we are launching 10 new products in the next three months. And um, you know, we want this service that da and you're like, well, that's not at all what I was envisioning. Or you put, um, prices on a website you're kind of locked to them. Do not. I mean, if you look at any big agency, any agency that's, you know, really, um, kind of established and would command a premium, they are not putting their pricing on their website.
And I don't want you to either and avoid giving that price before the call, cuz you're kind of pigeonholed. You haven't even talked to them. You don't know what their needs are. You don't know what their expectations are. You also don't know what a pain in the ass they're gonna be. I'm sorry. But sometimes if I'm on the phone and I'm like, wow, this company's gonna be a huge pain in the ass. I might honestly double my rate and if they go for it, great, they just paid a pain in the ass tax and I can staff it accordingly to not have to deal with their nonsense, you know, but, and there's also the other side of it as like, let me have a conversation. And if I'm like, oh my God, I really wanna work with this client. Like this would be so awesome for us would be pretty easy for our team.
They don't have a ton of products. You know, if you have your price on the website, you don't get to have that conversation. That's like, look, let's do this. Let's find a way to make it happen because I know we can do great things for you. And I'm really excited. Like I want to make it happen. And I don't want price to be the factor that knocks us out of contention in your decision. Honestly, sometimes we lower our rate to get, um, to get the, the ones that we have a really good feeling about and we know will, um, really bring in the right clients in our niche. Um, and also don't fall into that trap of being pressured on the call. They'll say, well, well what's your rate. You can, and you should take the time to craft a detailed proposal after the call with clear pricing or clear breakdown of your rate.
Um, not a breakdown in terms of hours or any of that. Um, uh, yeah, I do say that crystal. I said, you know, um, thank you for this information. I'd love to put together a comprehensive proposal based on what we discussed. Um, I, um, and I will ask them for their budget. It's usually like, whoa, what's your price? Well, what's your budget? Oh, what's your price? What's your budget. sometimes you're pleasantly surprised when you ask what's your budget and they tell you, and it's way more than you would've ever, ever like imagined or thought, you know, and if your price is on your website or you just bark out a price, the budget dance. Yeah. It's a little tango. Um, I was trying to think of something like RO tango, like retainer, tango. I don't know you are, um, gonna get pigeonholed if you do that.
So I, I love it. You know, let me, let me connect with the team and we'll, um, build out a strategy. You know, the, the proposal is not like your whole strategy. They don't get that again. That's the secret sauce. They don't even get that until, until you're retained, but they do get a proposal that is like a capabilities deck and like general overview of like how we're gonna approach working together. Here are the services, you know, that sort of a thing. Um, but you need to spend some time when you're not pressured and under the, you know, under the gun to basically come up with a number, um, and I'm sorry, you shouldn't have a standard rate. Not all clients are the same, not all clients' needs are the same, not all, um, team time, staffing allocations, launching a brand versus like a company that's been around a long time or like, you know, doing a product launch versus a whole brand launch or implementing certain services.
It's all factors. And Crystal's so guilty of feeling pressured and blurting at a low ball, right on the phone. And you later regret it. It's exactly what I want you to avoid. And again, I said, this discussion is about bumping up your right imposter syndrome. And we tackle imposter syndrome in the agency accelerator. It is the very first content that we tackle and it's, it's a big part of why I just, I, um, of why I just got certified as a high performance coach was to help my community even better to work through that because everybody has it every time you're growing, every time you're raising your rates, every time you're looking to work with new, new or bigger clients, I dunno if you guys knew, but I was really sick earlier this week and I still have like congestions. So we tackle that very first thing in the agency accelerator because it's a huge, um, it's a huge problem when it comes to pricing your services the right way.
And it is, um, something that most people face at some point mm-hmm, , it's not less work and nonprofits have budget, you know that? Mm, no, no, the works, the work, the outcomes are the outcomes, you know, anyway. Um, okay. So number four, set your PR prices based on value too. So don't quote a price based on what you'll do, you know, deliverables activities hours, when you price based on these things, it turns your work into a commodity which erases your unique value and it drives your fee down. So we don't base our fees on deliverables or activities or hours we price based on outcomes and value. And when the client talks about what they want you to do, reframe the conversation around those outcomes that they're looking for. And then you position your pricing around that. And it's the outcomes that your clients want.
And those tasks doesn't matter. They don't need to know that you built a list or you have a spreadsheet you're tracking and you know, like none of that matters. They want outcomes and those outcomes have value. And that is, you know, based on what you talk about with the client, um, what they're looking to accomplish, what are their goals? You know, you've gotta have those conversations around goals. So, you know, if you're gonna be successful, if you don't know what their goals are, how are you gonna be successful? You won't even know if you've met their goals. So when you do know their goals, the outcomes they're looking for, you can then reframe that discussion around, um, those outcomes. Okay. Wait, hold on. I have con construction situation. Oh, he's showing me faucets. How boring? Um, oh, I don't like that. Okay. Anyway, sorry.
I'm like in the middle of like two huge, uh, renovations right now, um, on a rental property and this guy's amazing. He's hustling. We gotta get this property on the market and I'm like, we got two weeks and he's like, I got you, miss Jen. He calls me miss Jen. And so now my husband calls me, miss Jen he's like, hi, miss Jen. Um, yeah. So keep that in mind, shift your mindset around pricing. This is gonna be number five. Um, you know, that's and I, and I appreciate crystal, you mentioning imposter syndrome and, um, I really appreciate you opening up to us over, you know, DM here, um, and sharing that because other people feel it too, and this is a mindset shift. And, um, you know, this is a huge part of leaping into PR and more importantly, shifting your role from in your mind that freelancer like a, you know, service provider, hourly service provider to an agency owner, it comes, it becomes necessary to shift your mindset.
So remember this you're not offering, you're asking, right? So, so many entrepreneurs and service providers and PR pros, they feel uncomfortable charging what they want, because it feels like they're asking for something you're asking for money for work that you're perform. Like, how dare you, how dare we ask for money for a service we're providing, right? It should be Kathy nonprofit should be non fee, right? Obviously, no, it feels like you're asking, you know, for something. Um, but you're offering and make that mindset shift. You're not asking for anything you're offering to bring tremendous value to your clients. You're not asking to be hired. You're not looking for a job you're providing your service and they're seeking your service. So that's a different mindset shift. It is. You're offering your services for the fee, just like your hairdresser cuts your hair for a fee. Um, is there a betting process to onboard new clients for PR agencies course.
Yeah, absolutely. Yes. And we have that in the agency accelerator. Um, so that's a couple of things that you're asking there, in my opinion. Yes. There's all clients, um, uh, filling your pipeline with the right clients, getting on sales calls. We talk about that. And then red flags, the vetting of the clients before you hire them. And then we have onboarding processes and like first, first month expectations and forms and, um, everything, uh, all of the things that you would need to like onboard new clients and, and make sure they're the right clients and run away from those red flag nightmare clients. Um, yeah. So keep that in mind. Does that feel good? Right? The difference between you're not looking for a job, you know, you're a service provider and the service that you provide, just cuz you provide that service doesn't mean every single person that calls you gets to work with you.
Right? And so what Kathy's asking about a vetting process, I will give you my 17 years of experience of red flag situations that maybe I've chosen to overlook for one reason or another. And it has always come to bite me in the butt, those red flags, those like feelings in your gut, you cannot overlook those as an owner of your agency, pay attention to that. That's your, your instincts, your gifts are there for you. You just have to hone it and pay attention to it. And as you're honing it and figuring it out, we tell you what to look for to run the other way. So not everybody gets to work with you. You are offering your services to clients. You are not asking them, you know, for anything you're not asking for, you know, money. Yeah. um, right. And Crystal's like, we gotta remember they come to us.
Yeah. Well sometimes, you know, we teach people it's okay to, to cold, um, outreach and, and all of that. But still, if they're interested, if you get them on the phone and you've done like a cold outreach, which is like, should not be beneath any of us, I have certainly done it to great success. I've done it to crickets and nobody's gotten back to me, but I've gotten a lot of my clients, especially in early days from cold cold outreach. Um, if they're interested in your services and you get on the phone and you like dazzle them and they wanna work together, you're still offering to, uh, provide your services for the fee that you get paid to provide those services. So keep that in mind and six practice building your confidence surrounding your prices. This came up in the high performance coaching around, um, you know, confidently telling somebody what something costs.
So you have to say it out loud, you gotta spit out that number. Um, it may sound silly, but it seriously works. And you can repeat your pricing yourself when you're on a walk folding laundry, you're in front of the mirror. You're just saying, um, you know, and you build confidence and poise in explaining your rates to potential clients, whether that's in a proposal or on like a follow up call when you're going over. Um, you know, and clients may say, Hey, is there any flexibility in your pricing and say, you know, sure, let's talk about it. And perhaps that means that they finally share that budget number with you. And you know, there's things in your Contra in your proposal, you can cut out or you can maybe finagle it a little bit, but, um, you are, it's not saying you're discounting your services.
It's more like discounting your services would be like, I charge 7,500 a month for our, you know, media outreach services. And the client goes, oh, well, our budget's only 2,500 a month. And you're like, uh, um, okay, that's discounting your services. If you say I charge $7,500 a month for media, um, outreach services. And they say, oh, you know, we really wanna work together, but we went over your proposal. And, um, it seems like there might be some stuff in there that maybe isn't necessary for us at the stage. And maybe after we work together for a little while, we can add in our budget's closer to, uh, 6,000 or 5,500. Is there any flexibility in pricing where we can arrive a little closer to our budget and then I'll trim some nonsense. That's not even, maybe I'll say, you know what, instead of us submitting for awards for you on your behalf, we're happy to keep our eye on any awards and ops you guys.
Um, we have developed an awards database that has taken years. My team, I had the idea and they're like, that's great idea. And I'm like, it's gonna be really hard. And they have been working on it for years. Um, I believe it's part of the agents acceler agency accelerator launch, I think. Um, but that for me is another service. You can provide award submission. We win awards for our clients all the time and we actually, oh my God, there's so much good stuff coming. We are going to teach you a process for effectively submitting your clients and your own agency for awards. I mean, look, once we started, you know, ink best in business, um, PR daily awards PR week, you know, mentor the year, Stevie award international competition, gold mentor of the year. Um, so there's a skill to it. Once we started having a strategy and we're gonna teach you, um, we started winning awards for clients and for our, our own agency.
um, but you know what, crystal, I had no awards, uh, not too long ago, I had nothing. And I was like, they don't just give them to you. You have to throw your hat in the ring. did you know that they're not finding you and going like, wow, we wanna give you an award. No, you have to pay a fee and you have to throw your hat in the ring and you better throw the best well rounded, you know, presentation to get the best chance of winning. Um, but we teach you that that's a service that you can charge extra for, or that could be one you sort of lo off of your proposal and take a lower retainer and still work with a client. That's awesome. And that difference is not, it's not a big deal, right? You're not like discounting your services for, you're not giving up something for nothing.
So keep that in mind, but you've gotta get confident, figure out your absolute minimum. Nothing like most people in our community are making five. You know, they come in there making like 500 or 12, 50 or 1500. I wanna get everybody up minimum to 2,500. I think that's extremely low. I would like to get you up closer to 5,000 a month per client minimum. But if 2,500 sounds like a lot, start there, put it on a post-it, you know, uh, on your mirror. My retainer fees are $2,500 per month, um, for a minimum of six months and put it on the mirror and just say it and get comfortable, get comfortable, just like spitting out that number. It's like no big deal. This is what it is. This is the value we provide. The value we provide to you is worth $2,500 a month for six months.
Um, so this poor guy is like, I'm at home Depot. What faucet do you want? Uh, well, I don't know how much these cost, man. Ooh, no, that's too much. Um, anyway, hold on. Let me see if I tell me how much this one is. I gotta just help this guy cuz he's there. Um, oh, that's Moen. Okay, cool. We've picked a faucet. I think I deserve a, a raise. I think you do too. And I'm gonna help you get it and give you the confidence to ask for it. We're almost done here. I am on, um, you know, I'm on number seven on the next one, but back to six, you build this poise, you build this confidence, you build this, um, certainty that you are worth, that rate. You've set it enough. Your proposal's gonna look awesome. Especially if you follow our, um, you know, lessons and stuff we tell you to put in your proposal, the template we give you the wording.
We like everything. It's just easy. I've had people take our proposal template, plop it into, can spend four hours one day making it their own, and then it's just done. And then you have this beautiful proposal capabilities deck. Um, yes, Megan, I don't even yes, absolutely. 100, 100%. Um, yes. Um, I asked, I think for my very first client for $3,500 a month. Um, and I had, I was an attorney and I was like, I wanna do your PR. And I was like, this is how much it is. Give me three months. This was before I knew it, but I was like, you'll see, I'm gonna hustle for you. And I ended up working with that client for 11 years. So yeah, I think, and that was, that was 17 years ago. So yes, I think so. Um, we're gonna, you know, if you jump into the agency accelerator, I am going to give you the entire discussion, the proposal.
Yeah. Let's get you there. Um, also, Megan, tell me a little bit about the kinds of clients you're looking to work with. Yep. That's right. That's exactly right. Crystal crystal. You're like my cohost today and I love you for it. Um, love it. Okay. You are gonna just crush it and just be like, this is what it costs. Yeah, sure. This is what it is. Love it. Get comfortable. Okay. And then here you have to step into this role as the agency owner, you're gonna build your skills. Um, there's this huge piece of anxiety that surrounds your pricing, your confidence, um, you know, it's that sort of employee or freelancer mindset. And when you step into this role as an agency owner, you build confidence. You start to shift that mindset towards building something, building an agency, um, that you can grow. You can scale if you want.
Um, you don't have to, not everybody needs to have a, you know, bigger, you know, I, I like the size of my business. I don't know that I want my agency to be any bigger, but I, I am really, um, loving the size we are right now. And the team is really awesome. Um, but you can shift away from that, um, employee freelancer mindset and start to step into the role as an agency owner and build your confidence. Start to shift your mindset towards growing, scaling, creating this predictable recurring retainer revenue in your business. And that means that you are making decisions as if you already have a business like that. You are making decisions, you are structuring it in a way right away, right out of the gate so that you have a buttoned up business with proven processes and systems and frameworks. And I have to tell you that shift by having a business, you know, is working really well by having a business that has a process for everything like finding new clients, onboarding new clients, what your proposal looks like, having a contract that's, um, ready to go for, uh, you know, clients, retainer clients, or a freelancer contract, um, an influencer contract.
So if your client wants to start working with influencers, you've got something that you can customize for that specific campaign, but at least it's there. And if clients like we want influencer partnerships, you aren't gonna go like, oh my God, I don't know how to do that. You're gonna say, oh yeah, like I've got the, you know, we have a contract we can use and customize and all that, that confidence that comes from having everything buttoned up, having everything in place, having a business that's super buttoned up, that's gonna come through in how you're presenting your services. That's gonna come through in demonstrating the value you're providing to your clients. That's a huge mindset shift. You have made that decision that you're going to create an agency on your terms with clients you love. You're not gonna take every single thing that comes your way, just because it's your cousin's coworker sister who has a candle shop on Etsy, or she's selling enamel pins on Etsy.
If you don't wanna work selling candle, you know, pro promoting businesses that sell candles or enamel pins, don't take that client as a favor. You're taking a step on a stepping stone in the wrong direction. These are the decisions you have to start making as an agency owner. And when you have the, a roadmap that's proven that tells you what to do and when how to fill your client pipeline, how to decide what kind of clients you wanna work with. Um, and my dream clients are not your dream clients. My background, my experience is not the same as yours, but having a framework that works means you can make it your own. You have these strategies, the resources, um, and then you have that insider expert guidance on how to grow and scale a dream business, meaning one that'll support the kind of life you wanna have.
One that makes you the kind of money that you wanna have replaces your income at another job, or even another career. I make more money in my agency than I ever made as an attorney, or that any of my peers are making now as an attorney. Actually I, yeah. I mean, I don't know anybody that's, um, really stuck around long enough to become partner and, you know, make that sort of partner level. And if they do, they're frigging miserable. So there's that, but this is what the agency accelerator is all about. Um, and it's exactly why I created it. It's my signature program. It is my heart and soul. I was showing my mom, um, the back end of my program, uh, a while back. And I'm like, do you realize you are looking at my life's work? This is my life's work mom .
And so I was like poking around and actually, um, next week, I'm gonna walk you guys through the back end and show you kind of what it looks like and all the resources that are there. Um, so it's awesome. It is so time saving. It is based on a framework. This isn't just like a bucket of like forms and I'm just like have fun with these forms. Uh, Angela, um, so not this go around, but next time, probably, I don't know when, um, our goal after this is going to be, uh, like folding PR couture into our business and finding, um, you know, relaunching a, a, a more improved, robust platform, um, or calling into rebrand. So it's gonna be like generation and UR, like merge superpower probably will be offering it, Angela. Um, but this will be a good time to get in the bonuses that we're offering next week are like, like ridiculous.
They're so, so, so good. Um, but this is why I created this program. I wanna give you guys just that confidence of having a buttoned up business. I want to give you the knowhow to just don't even worry about getting your business set up and structured the right way or, or training, you know, it's there for you or it's it's so, so good. It's more like, start to think about what you want that to look like for yourself. I'd love for you to start visualizing your business, you know, start visualizing your dream clients. How does it feel to work with them? You know, that's, um, you can't see my screen, but I have like a whole vision board up here. And it's funny, I've had it up here a while and like, some of the things on here have come true. Like there's a cover of ink magazine.
Um, and there's like a female founder on the cover. And it was just a reminder to me to start working towards more visibility for me and us and like randomly we won ink best in business. Well, I can't, I there me, um, in the advertising and marketing category, like I was blown away, like so, so excited. Um, crystal says, I think it's time I need to do this. Right. Or not at all. Yeah. I mean, it's gonna save you. Um, I don't know, Serena, are you still here? Um, Serena's done everything like all of our, our, all of our stuff, and it's just awesome to see her kind of working through everything. And she was on every single call. We did rerecording the entire program, which was awesome. And the coolest thing was I had a couple people that were actually implementing in real time and told me they used my template ready to evolve.
I'm ready to help you evolve Kathy it's it's so, so, so good. Like it's so good. I would not like, oh yeah. Well, lemme know your thoughts. There's a lot of people here considering it, but, um, it was really cool Serena and, um, Ricky, there was a couple, there were a couple people implementing what we were teaching in real time and having real results and impact, um, based on what we were discussing, you know, and Serena's had, you know, it's, there's ups and downs. Look, it's not a magic. Like it's going to be better than if you had to just figure this all out on your own and throw darts. And when I started my business, it was like, I worked in a vacuum for 12 years. I don't know truly the best investment. Thank you so so much. Um, I worked in a vacuum for 12 years.
Like no visibility to what anyone else was doing. Everybody was so close to the best. These are my secrets, you know, get away. I'm not gonna tell you, I'm not gonna tell you where to find clients. I'm not gonna show you my proposal. Why would I tell you how much I charge? Why, why does it have to be like that? Um, so grateful for the guidance and resources and the community's really, really awesome. Serena's in our, um, agency accelerator plus. So we do a monthly coaching call. Um, but I just knew that that had to change. I just knew that like, there's so much work to go around. There's so much opportunity. Like if I share what's working, it's just gonna help you have a business you love and get there faster. It's gonna help you find clients you love.
So let's do it. Let's all support each other. So that's why we put all this out there and it works and it's proven and it's awesome. And I'm so, so proud of it. And I love this program more than anything. Like I said to my mom, it is my life's work. It is my life's work. Um, and it's like, my purpose in life is to serve this community and find ways for us, you know, as women moms, as you know, we shouldn't have to choose, we should get to have it all. This is my framework for you to take it and run with it, make it your own. So you can have your version of having it all, whatever that looks like for you. Um, major gems today. Thank you. You're so welcome. Well, crystal, you're my co-host, you know, we're just reading each other's minds.
We didn't even like plan a script or anything, but we are fully aligned, which I love you guys. I'm so fired up my training. I just had the high performance training was so awesome. I'm gonna use my husband as a Guinea pig. Um, yes, I absolutely agree. We should be able to do it all. Oh my God. Yeah. Like, and I, and I look at that from the contrast of being an attorney, there were not women. I could look around and say like, okay, look at all these women that are moms and they're all respected and they're partners and they're making great money. Oh. And this woman just left to go to her kid's soccer game. And this one's room, mom did not exist. Yeah. There were women that were moms, but maybe they had a baby. They came back part-time and then they just like, poof disappeared, phased out.
Or they were promised, worked from home on Fridays. This was 17. I mean, this was a long time ago. And then they didn't get to do that. Or the days that they were in the office, they were there so long. And so late, their billable hours did not change. And it's kind of impossible in that. It's impossible in that setup to be the kind of mom I wanted to be, to be the kind of parent I wanted to be. I wanna be checked into my kids. I wanna know what they're doing. My son has all kinds of special, you know, stuff. We take him to, I left yesterday to take him to a new, um, psychiatrist. And it was middle of the day three o'clock. I got home at five. I can do that. If I was an attorney to be able to swing that I would have to come back to the office at five and keep going.
I mean, I did come home and picked up on a little work only because I had been in training for high performance coaching the entire week, full days, completely nonstop. That's why, um, Kathy, you are so welcome. Thank you for being here, crystal. Let's revamp. Um, yeah, you're gonna step into elevate your role as the leader of your company as the CEO, the visionary, um, I've talked about finders, minders and grinders. You're gonna be that finder role. You're gonna be that visionary role. You're gonna work on the strategy of your business, building out, you know, your, a pipeline of your dream clients, um, and get out of that day to day execution. You've always heard you can't work on the business. If you're working in the business, we will help you, you know, button up the inner workings of your business so that you can operate at that high level where you wanna be.
That's my goal. That is my passion. I'm gonna do anything I can to serve this community. We're spending money to acquire whole other businesses. So we have more resources to serve you and I'm training so that I can be the best coach and cheerleader to you. Um, and we work really hard on our resources and our, our programs and stuff. And I have Miranda and the team to think for that. So, um, we're here for you. I'm gonna give you this link again. This is going to be the, um, exact, uh, so here's this training series I have coming up, coming up, like coming up, coming up next week, um, path to profitability. I haven't taught it live in a long time. I'm excited about that, but this is the exact path to profitability framework. It is my framework. I developed it. It's freaking so good.
It's so, so good. And we restructured the program to teach to that framework. Exactly. Fitting in. It is like a little perfect puzzle that just fits so well. It makes me super happy. So I hope you join us in that training. It's gonna be really good. And for those of you who stuck around this long, um, thank you so much for being here. I love connecting with you guys so, so much. I will continue to bring great information. Usually it's answering questions that our community has asked. So ask your questions and we'll build content just for you. Thank you for being here. Yay. I will see you hopefully next week in our path to profitability. And if you have any questions about the agency accelerator, send us a DM, send me an email [email protected]. Um, and we will answer any questions you have get on the phone with you if you need all of that. So Megan you're so, so welcome. If you like this free stuff, just watch out. I mean, our programs are gold. They're so good. They are so, so good. Okay. I will see you guys soon. Have an awesome weekend. I get to say that cuz it's Friday. I really appreciate all of you so much. Thank you so much for being here and I'll see you guys next week in our path to profitability. Bye guys. Have a great weekend.
