3+ Reasons to Stop “Being More Affordable” in Your Online Business (& 2 alternatives)
I literally can't even fathom how many times I've said it and I've heard it from other people:
“I want to make sure that my work is accessible.”
And usually what we mean is “affordable.”
But that’s not what accessibility is.
And that’s not the way to be equitable in your work.
Let’s talk about what accessibility actually means, why affordability isn’t the way to go in order to be equitable in your business OR to grow your business, and let’s reframe how we think about affordability so we can go about this the right way.
What is “accessibility”?
Accessibility actually has nothing to do with pricing.
“Accessibility is offering information in different ways for different types of folks who may have obstacles to consuming the information.”
So I'll give a personal example.
Right now, my VA and I are going through the process of creating transcripts for every single episode of my podcast, and we’re working with a content strategist to turn them into fully formatted blog posts (like this one!)
Since my podcast is obviously an audio format, anyone who is deaf or hard of hearing can't listen.
So I want to ensure that it is accessible -- aka it costs the same as my podcast (it’s free) and it can be experienced in multiple forms. That is important to me and my values.
But usually, when I hear people say “accessible,” they are thinking about money and thinking about affordability.
And this can be a real issue for a few reasons.
White Saviorism and Affordability
Generally, the folks who say this to me are white. They say “But what about all the marginalized people? How can they access my work?”
But this is White Saviorism.
We think that the best way to “save” these other people is with discounts. Right?
Not good.
My friends who are black, indigenous, and people of color have actually pushed back on this and said, “Hey, you know, when you put out something like ‘If you're BIPOC, you can get it for this lower price,’ that actually feels really insulting because it implies that we view all marginalized people as poor.”
And while income disparity is a very real thing and is very problematic, we shouldn’t assume that if someone is non-white, disabled, queer, trans, etc., they don’t have money.
Yes, the income disparity exists for those populations but it doesn't mean that everyone in those populations needs--or wants--your financial assistance.
When Ilana Burke was on the “Sell It Sister” podcast, she talked about her sliding scale model.
She allows some of her clients to pay extra; she keeps that extra and puts it into a pool for people who cannot pay as much.
Seeking Equity doesn't mean that you have to artificially keep all of your prices low. There are other ways to be equitable in your business without doing that.
But Won’t More People Buy It If It’s Cheaper?
So the Myth of Affordability says, “If we just keep the price lower, more people will access it.”
Walmart vs a bougie boutique, right?
But Walmart works at scale and volume.
They have to sell a lot to make ends meet.
Whereas in a small boutique, those items cost more but cover more of the expenses per item.
They can sell fewer and still have the same revenue.
There's so much difference that goes beyond the price when you're talking about various businesses and various brands.
The reality is that the moment you attach a price to anything, it is going to become not-affordable to someone.
I've had times in my life where I was putting gas and groceries on a credit card and trying to make it through to the next payday.
I had to be a lot more conscientious about what I was spending my money on and I didn't have a lot of disposable income. I wouldn’t have bought something no matter how “affordable” it was.
So again, anytime you charge anything, even if it's a nickel, automatically there's going to be somebody who can't afford it.
3 More Reasons “Being Affordable” Isn’t Necessarily Better
Now that we’ve clarified the “accessibility” piece, let’s talk about some other reasons it’s not necessarily better to be more affordable
1. Capacity Has A Price
Whether you're doing one-to-one work or selling products, you're always going to have some capacity for what you could do.
If you're selling physical products, bottomline is you need to be compensated for at least the materials. Even if you're not charging for your time, you need to be compensated at least for the materials.
And if you're doing one-to-one work, your time is the thing they are buying. And you do not have unlimited time.
There is always a capacity cap.
So if you're like, “Well, you know, my coaching is really good. It's important; it's helped a lot of people. I want to make it more affordable so more people can take advantage of it,” here’s what I want you to think about:
Realistically, if you're doing one hour coaching sessions, how many of those can you do in a week, or in a day, before you burn out? Even if you had them at $50 a pop, what would that look like on the deliverability side for you?
Probably not great.
I cannot imagine that many people would be able to do any helping practice for $50 an hour, being booked solid 40 hours a week, and who would be fresh and giving their best to their end-of-week clients.
No matter what, you could have the biggest heart, but at the end of the day, you still have a limited capacity.
2. A Thriving Wage and Eager Clients
Toi Marie coined the phrase “a thriving wage” and I really love this.
It’s important to pay ourselves. And if we have contractors or employees, it’s about paying them a wage where it supports their costs of operating and costs of living.
A thriving wage is keeping you healthy mentally, emotionally, physically.
So what’s your actual capacity? And what would a thriving wage for you look like? And then break it down from there.
What do you actually need to be charging for your capacity, so that you can have a thriving wage?
There will always be people who can afford what you charge, who want to pay that rate, who will happily pay for your skills.
3. Over Delivering Leads to Resentment
If you feel like you are overdelivering for free and not being compensated, or if you’re over-delivering for too low of a price, you’ll become resentful.
I know because it’s happened to me!
This is a hard one because it's a lesson that we hear and we often don't pay attention to it. And then before we know it, we're like, “Oh crap! They were right! This is why I shouldn't undercharge because it feels terrible! And now I'm annoyed at myself for doing this to myself.”
And trust me, I'm speaking about myself here too.
A client and I were having this conversation the other day, where she told me that she had stopped being in her Insta stories altogether because she was teaching and teaching and teaching and teaching. And then nothing was actually coming of it.
She even put a course on pay-what-you-can during the first part of COVID. But people were still choosing to get it for free and not even completing it, letting it sit in their digital graveyard.
And she realized that, “Oh yeah, it feels really crappy” when you know that you’re giving a ton of good value, that you have something you've worked really hard on, that you’re an expert, you’re worthy of being compensated, it really sucks when you're not.
This is a lesson that we don't learn until we experience it for ourselves.
Alternative to “being affordable” #1: The TOMS Model
If you still want to do something to be more affordable for other people, you could have some program where you're like, “Hey, I do this other sliding scale thing!” or “Once a month, I do a free coaching call!” or “Part of your amount that you pay me goes to help support a worthy cause or subsidize another client!”
I call this the Toms Model.
Toms are not the cheapest shoes for what they are, but we like to buy them even though there are knockoffs available for cheaper because we like their mission. We like that when we spend $65 on a pair of canvas shoes, somebody else who needs them gets a free pair.
So you can let your clients know that your rate pays you a thriving wage and, if you go the sliding scale route, helps subsidize the fee for others.
Alternative to “being affordable” #2: Give Generously in your Free Content
People can still get value from you for free in various ways, which means you don't have to keep your prices artificially low and harm yourself in order to help them.
“Free content” is a way to give generously to your people because free content isn’t “free” to make, only to consume.
My podcast is not free for me to produce because I have to pay for hosting of the audio. I have to pay for hosting of my website. I have to pay my virtual assistant.
It's not free for me to produce--but it's free for you to listen.
And because I'm very intentional about what I put out, I believe that it's of high value; you can take it and put it into action right away to help your business grow.
Money Isn’t the Problem
I'm hoping that you've been around my world for long enough to know that I always show up with integrity and I'm not an evil, horrible, capitalistic monster that believes “Poor people be damned! Make as much money as possible and screw the people who can't afford you!”
Nope, not the place that I’m coming from at all.
But what we have to understand is: not only do we need to be able to support ourselves with our businesses, first and foremost, but we need to put our own oxygen mask first (it’s super corny but it’s true).
The world we live in means we need money, right?
We need money to pay for the essentials, the necessities of life, so we need to be fairly compensated for our work.
And also, we energetically show up better for our clients when we feel like we’re being fairly compensated.
If you feel like you are showing up to coach someone, and you have way undercharged for it, it’s not a good feeling in your body.
It’s hard when you're a helper and a good person.
And when we listen to that, when we honor that, it doesn't mean that we don't show up for our clients and complete the contract and give them the value promised.
What it means is we can listen to that voice and go, “This rate no longer feels good or aligned. So the next time that I offer this, I'm raising the price.”
At the end of the day, “affordability” is going to always set you back in your business.
It will just keep you stuck; it will keep you frustrated; it will keep you resentful.
If you try to accommodate the people who say they can’t afford you, if you create an offering for them, and they still don’t jump at it, you’re going to be like, “What the fuck? I don’t get it!”
It doesn't mean that that person is evil and is trying to harm you or that something is wrong with them, because that's their budget.
I mean, I get it! I think the first course I ever bought was like $147 or so. This was years ago. And I was like, “Oh my god, I feel like that's a lot of money!”
So I get it, I'm not judging them, but I'm just saying, you don't have to do that.
Or if you want to keep things low cost with digital downloads and digital programs, you just need to work on volume.
But that comes with its own host of challenges.
But if you're offering low cost, you need to take your own personal time out of it more and you need to work on volume to sell it.
Striving for “affordability” is a trap.
It will lead you to undervalue your time and expertise for the sake of trying to be a better helper, even though it’s actually harmful for you.
And the more you harm yourself, the less helpful you can be.
