You Don’t Have a Pricing Problem…

You wanna raise your rates. I know you do. And you haven't done it.

So let me ask you something. Why not? Is it because you genuinely believe your price is fair? Or is it because you're terrified the clients you have will leave... and new ones won't say yes?

Because if it's the second one, you don't have a pricing problem. You've got a demand problem.

If you had 15 qualified leads sitting in your pipeline right now and you could only take eight of them... would you be scared to raise your rates? No. You'd raise 'em without blinking. You wouldn't even think about it. Because you've got people standing in line.

The fear of charging more is almost always a symptom of not having enough people who want what you sell. You're clinging to every client because you can't afford to lose even one. And when that's the math, of course you're not raising prices.

I worked with coach Erin Marcus a few years ago and she challenged me to identify 50 potential customers for a new program. Fifty. I thought she was out of her mind. But I went through my database, dug into old emails, started posting about the concept on social, and engaged with everyone who responded. By the time I had real demand-side pressure, raising the price felt obvious. Not scary. Obvious.

You don't need permission to charge more. You need a pipeline that makes "no" from one person feel like a shrug... not a crisis.

Quit charging too little. Build demand first.

Tweet of the week

What is the most valuable asset in your business and Life?

Speed is your unfair advantage

Americans have eliminated every possible wait from their lives. Streaming killed the video store. Chatbots killed hold music. Your home internet downloads a movie in 30 seconds.

And yet most of us are still delivering our work on the same timeline we did five years ago.

I connected two stories on the show this week. Airlines are literally begging the government to fix TSA wait times because customers are so fed up. And new research says the number one thing customers want isn't better quality. It's not lower prices. It's speed. Faster delivery of the same transformation.

I tested this in my own business. Two clients got massive amounts of work back in 48 hours...work that would've taken me a week before AI. Their reaction wasn't about the quality, which was great. It was the speed. That's what is helping me get closer to the deal. Speed.

So here's your challenge. Find one thing in your business that takes longer than it needs to in 2026 and fix it this week. One thing. Remove an unnecessary step. Automate something repeatable. Your clients might not be able to name why you're easier to work with...but I'm telling you, it’s not helping to make them wait.

2026 SBOC Conference Wait List - Now Live!

The 2026 SBOC Conference is coming in September 15-17, 2026, and this year we're doing things a little differently. Tickets go on sale to the public on May 13th at $399 (the lowest price we've ever offered), and that includes meals, swag, speakers, the welcome event, everything.

Here’s the problem…our conference holds 200 seats, but only 110 seats are available to the public — the rest are already spoken for by pre-registrations, VIPs, and sponsors.

Because of the growth of the SBOC we have also have 160 members standing by to grab tickets, too.

Here’s how the ticket sales will go:

• May 8 - VIP Tickets will go on sale

• May 11 - SBOC Members will get the opportunity to buy tickets

• May 12 - SBOC WAIT LIST members will get the opportunity to buy tickets

• May 13 - The tickets will go on sale to the general public (if any remain)

If you want to get a ticket to our 6th annual small business event, get on the waitlist now! No financial commitment, just your name and email. Last year, people walked away from this conference with joint ventures, new clients, and business-changing breakthroughs — and this year we're bringing our keynote speaker in person. Click here to get on the waitlist so you get a shot at your seat…we’re already deep in planning, it’s going to be a blockbuster year!

Now, GO SELL SOMETHING!

Pat