Academy › Courses › Describe your business
My business doesn't have a set price list: how do I describe it
Knows how to write the description for a business that never charges the same price twice: what to show instead of a flat price, how to narrow a range without scaring people off, and how the description itself filters out the wrong customer before they ever call or message.
Every job costs you something different, and you know it, but the listing only lets you put one number or none. If you post a flat price, you lose jobs that were worth a lot more. If you post "call for pricing" or "free quote," a lot of people never reach out: not many folks want to ask about a price you're not willing to say out loud. And the ones who do reach out often show up looking to haggle, because they figure that silence is hiding a markup.
The course follows a clear order. First you find the variable that actually drives your price and give it a real name, not a vague euphemism. Next you find your yardstick, the number the customer already knows about themselves without you having to ask. With both in hand, you pick the format that best covers your range: starting at $X, between $X and $Y, or price by the yardstick. If no range works even then, you learn how to show your most typical job instead, backed by real invoice numbers. You finish with a condition that rules out the client you could never take on, and the questions that get you a real number the same day.
This is for anyone who charges for custom, made-to-order work and isn't sure what to put in the price field. It's not for someone who sells the exact same product or service every time, with a real flat price.
- Name the exact factor in your listing that makes your price go up or down, instead of writing "free, no-obligation quote"
- Choose between price by the yard, starting at $X, or between $X and $Y, depending on how much your yardstick varies from job to job
- Replace a range that just won't work with your most typical job, backed by real invoice numbers
- Write the one condition that rules out the wrong client before they ever reach out, and the list of details you ask for before quoting a price
Keep your recent invoices or quotes handy; you'll need them for lesson 4.
The 6 lessons
In the order it makes the most sense to read them.
- 1
The variable that moves your price, not "free, no-obligation quote"
By the end, you'll know which variable makes your price go up or down, and how to name it on your listing instead of writing "free, no-obligation quote."
5 min - 2
The yardstick you measure by, not the list of things that affect it
You'll know what your business's yardstick is: the number your customer already knows from their own situation, the one that lets them place themselves in your pricing without having to ask you.
6 min - 3
Starting at $X, between $X and $Y, or by the yard: the format that decides your range
You'll know whether to use pricing by the yard, "starting at $X," or "between $X and $Y" by looking at one thing: how much your yardstick moves from job to job, and whether that variation has a ceiling.
7 min - 4
The real-world example you show when even a range doesn't work
You'll know how to swap an impossible range for the most typical job on your schedule, backed by invoice numbers instead of adjectives.
7 min - 5
The condition you put in writing so the wrong client never reaches out
Learn to write, right alongside your price range or your example job, the one-number condition that rules out a client you could never take on before they ever get in touch.
7 min - 6
What you ask for before quoting a number, so you don't have to haggle later
You'll know which two or three details to ask for in that first message, so you can give a real number the same day, no back-and-forth.
7 min