I hope you enjoyed yesterday's video about how you can define a niche that's clear, concise, and communicates your value. Today's video is all about rates and charging for the full value that you bring so that you can hit your financial goals. Before I get into that, let's talk about some challenges you might have. Many people want to start off really small, or worse, they want to work for free. It's like joining a company full time and saying that you'll work for free for the first three months while you get up to speed.

This is due to one thing, it's a lack of confidence, and it's totally normal. But I'm going to assume, for the sake of this video, that you have that confidence, that you're willing and able to go out there and ask clients for the money that you deserve. And this part is key. This is not about your time. Over the last number of years, you pay for education. You've received feedback, you learned, you've grown, and you've experienced so much. A client is not just paying for your time. They're paying for all of those experiences that you've had. And that's the value that you can bring to that company.

This part is key. So many people think about hourly rates and immediately that's about time. And while we do need to come up with a way to charge our clients, it is not just about the time that we're giving. It is about the outcomes that we drive for that company. And I can't emphasize that enough. I'm going to say it again. It's about the outcomes that we drive for that company. 

The time we spend is actually irrelevant. And I'll give you an extreme example. If I spend 1 hour on your business, but I help you earn an extra $1 million, I want to get paid a hell of a lot more than just maybe a few hundred dollars. Going into this, you might think a few hundred dollars, let's say it's even $500 for an hour is a great rate, and maybe it is. But again, if I help you earn a million dollars in 1 hour, I want a hell of a lot more than $500 for that 1 hour. So I'll ask you, is $500 per hour a great rate in this scenario? I'd say absolutely not. And that's how we're going to think about our pricing.

The time we spend is actually irrelevant. And I'll give you an extreme example. If I spend 1 hour on your business, but I help you earn an extra $1 million, I want to get paid a hell of a lot more than just maybe a few hundred dollars. Going into this, you might think a few hundred dollars, let's say it's even $500 for an hour is a great rate, and maybe it is. But again, if I help you earn a million dollars in 1 hour, I want a hell of a lot more than $500 for that 1 hour. So I'll ask you, is $500 per hour a great rate in this scenario? I'd say absolutely not. And that's how we're going to think about our pricing. We're going to think about the value that we bring to our clients, the outputs that we drive, and then we're going to charge based on that. It is irrelevant of the amount of time that we put in.

As our Mylance members come up with their rates, we do give them a rate calculator to come up with a baseline, but it needs to be combined with the value that we drive to our clients and combine those into a comprehensive proposal that we're going to send to our customers. My first client paid me $25,000 per month to help them launch a food delivery marketplace for their business. To me, this felt like a ton of money, and at times, I actually felt guilty for how much they were paying me.

What we accomplished was launching this marketplace, which helped them raise their Series B round of funding. The Series B round of funding was $50 million. So all of a sudden, the 25k per month that they were paying to me felt like nothing, and it felt like an easily worthwhile investment on their part so that they could get access to that next round of fundraising. Now, does the 25k per month sounds like a lot of money? If it helped them raise $50 million, I bet that company would have paid me a lot more. They would have paid me 30, 40, 50k per month right? To get access to that kind of money for them was easily worth the investment. This is key number two for your consulting business. It's not about the time spent, it's about the value that you bring to a company. And that's how you're going to come up with your rates.

Tune in tomorrow to discuss one of my favorite topics ever, Imposter Syndrome. Everyone's got it. And it's crucial to overcome as a new consultant. By the way, Mylance is a vetted exclusive community of talented professionals, all pushing the boundaries of work. Apply to join, and we're happy to review your application. I'll see you tomorrow.