One way to feel good about charging your full fee: Give Back!

I was talking about my toolkit on rate-setting, when a colleague said to me, I don’t know about all of that. I don’t feel right charging as much money as possible—what about people who truly need help but can’t afford a lot?”

First of all, I’m not saying we should all charge as much money as humanly possible. But so many women feel uncomfortable charging people for helping them that charging “a lot” really pushes their buttons. So let’s look at this. If you want to make more money, you need to work with a target audience who can afford to pay you what you need. There simply isn’t any other way to say it.

I am very passionate about my work. And I want to help the world as well. So I make sure I charge my full fee and make great money. Otherwise, I have no time and I feel resentful. If I didn’t make enough money, I would eventually have to close my practice and take a full time position somewhere. And before I got to that point, I would experience a lot of deprivation and frustration with how little money I was earning. I doubt I would be in the best frame of mind to really do my best work. Being under financial stress is incredibly draining.

I charge my full fee. Then, to “give back”, I do a certain amount of pro bono work that I feel really helps the world. I donate some of my time to causes that help women get on their feet and re-enter the workforce and other causes that help women in poverty.

Years ago I heard about the rule of the “Three F’s”. Do your work for your full fee, do it for free, or flee. Don’t discount! So one way to feel like you are giving back is to do just that—give back. Charge your full fee and decide to donate a certain percentage of your time to a cause that could benefit from your work. It is a much cleaner way of doing business.

Doing a certain amount of pro-bono work can be very satisfying. Many powerful business women become strong pillars in their respective communities because they do give back some of their time to causes and charities they feel strongly about.

Some business women give back a certain percentage of their income to charity. In my “Virtual Earn Your Worth program” I will give 5% of the gross income to a charity that focuses on women and business. I can’t tell you how good I feel about this!

When you make good money, you will find ways to consciously give back to the world in many wonderful ways. But when you are feeling financially deprived, nothing good can come of this. You are worth your full fee. Don’t discount. Instead, consciously give back.

Thoughtful Questions:
If I were to charge my full fee, is there some way I could “give back” that would feel good to me? How can I give back and still make sure I am earning what I’m really worth?

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