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“How do I discuss pricing in a proposal for a travel content marketing writing client?”

Give three choices doing different amounts of work for different prices: a small, medium, and large. (Yep, Goldilocks style!)

The reason that we pick three is that it creates a bit of psychological movement, you want them to look at the lower one, and the price, and say, “oh yeah, I think we can afford this,” but then look at all of the other things that they could get at a higher package.

They may look at the price of the higher package and say “hmm, I don’t think we would do the highest level package, but it does sound really great! Maybe we can do the middle one, for now”.

Also, this way, even if they only have the budget for something low on the totem pole, you want to let them see what they can upgrade to down the line.

You could say, “Estimated fees for the first deliverables option would be this much, option two would be this much, and option three would be this much,” rather than giving them one price.

When I create these different deliverable proposals I typically give them a name, and I make it a name that is evocative.

For instance, if we are doing blog posts and it’s the difference between doing one blog post a week, two blog posts a week, or three blog posts a week, I might call them:

  • the lower one –> Consistent Content Marketing
  • the middle –> Sustained Content Marketing
  • the higher –> Staying Top of Mind for Clients

I want to give them all names because I don’t want them to be just a number for the client, I want them to be an experience.

Then when you’re talking to the client, you are not saying the $500 package or the $2000 package, and constantly reminding them of the money (out of their pocket) part of  you are providing.

You’re focusing on the benefits saying “Let’s talk about how we can work on the Sustained Content Marketing package.”

It keeps the scary numbers from not appearing in the conversation so much and makes the conversation about collaboration rather than cost.

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