Entrepreneurship newsletter
I started a new mailing list recently, another newsletter for an unrelated niche. I've sent out 4 emails so far, and the open rates are hovering around 54%, which is pretty damn good for a brand-new newsletter. (Just so you know: if you can get the majority of recipients to open your emails, I think you're on to something.) After sending out my 4th email, someone replied and asked: "Do you do paid consultations? I have a personal situation that I need your advice on." I was excited. Finally, someone wanted to pay for the insights I'd been sharing for free. But then I made my first mistake right out of the gate, I told him: "Nobody has asked me for a consultation before, but sure, what's your issue?" I thought I was being casual and helpful. The conversation continued. We discussed his situation (to see if I can reliably help him), then rates came up. I quoted him $350/hr, feeling confident about my expertise. "Would you do $200 instead?" he shot back immediately. "Sure," I said, without thinking. I told him that payment is due upfront, and then we'll do the call. I gave him my personal number as a show of good faith. I could feel it, I'm closing this bitch. He then called immediately, which was not the deal (the deal was payment first, then call). So I let it go to voicemail. He texted, "Would you be willing to do a 10-minute discovery call?" Okay, that took the wind out of my sails... a bit. Even though I was completely new to coaching, I said: "No, payment is due upfront, we've done more than enough discovery through email. You have access to my cornucopia of work on X and through my email newsletters, you know the level of insight/experience you're dealing with." He responded, "Yeah, but a short call just so you can pitch me is normal." Yeah nahhh, now that really rubbed me the wrong way. I must pitch to you? I must convince you to let me help you? Why am I qualifying to you when you're the one who approached me first!? It's not like I went around ramming my coaching services down other people's throats. So I texted back, "Yeah, that's not going to happen. I think we're at an impasse, so I wish you the best of luck." The damage was done. In a few exchanges, I'd destroyed my credibility and shown I had zero justification for my initial pricing, plus I allowed him to control the frame of interaction. This guy was a goner. What went wrong Mistake #1: I volunteered my inexperience That one sentence killed all credibility and justified every boundary test that followed. Why would someone pay premium rates to be your guinea pig? Mistake #2: I caved on pricing immediately Dropping 43% without negotiation signaled my rates were arbitrary and I had zero confidence in my value. Mistake #3: I almost wanted to "pitch" for free When he asked for a 10-minute free call to hear my pitch, I almost agreed instead of setting professional boundaries around my time and expertise. Almost. Mistake #4: I gave away my personal number No booking system, no professional boundaries -- just "here's my cell phone" like I was his friend. Madness. Mistake #5: I ignored obvious red flags Immediate price negotiation + demands for free time + boundary testing = problem client I should have known, but of course I was totally inexperienced with this. The real lesson Your expertise has value regardless of the format you're delivering it in. So be confident in it, don't bend just because the client proposed something or tried to push your boundaries. Price confidence comes from knowing your worth (and you have credentials and/or a body of work to back up your claims), not from client count. If you can truly solve their problem, you have to charge accordingly. Professional boundaries aren't mean -- they attract better clients and repel time-wasters. And this is even more critical when you're selling your time as a coach or consultant; every minute counts. The recovery I walked away from that prospect and immediately set up a TidyCal page for people interested in consultations/coaching to book me for my time. And I built proper systems: a booking platform, packages to choose from, a systematized discovery process, payment upfront, clear refund policies. Right now, the plan is to soft-launch through this newsletter's footer to test demand properly. Sometimes the best business decision is recognizing which opportunities to avoid. The funny thing? As of today, he's still texting me about "wanting to work together." I just redirected him to my booking page and told him to book if he's serious. So far... nothing. That tells you everything you need to know.
With thanks,
Jay
What I've built: Zylvie - High-converting cart software to sell your digital products and subscriptions Zlappo - Automate your tweets across all your Twitter/X accounts to get sales on auto-pilot | 