Hey everyone,
Today I’m going to tell you about the biggest mistake I made in my business. A mistake that made my business profitable beyond my wildest dreams, but was so out of alignment that I had to kill the whole thing and start all over again.
Before I get into it, though, a bit of context: One of the biggest motivators for me, from the first time I started blogging in 2002 to the first time I launched a paid product in 2013, was accessibility. Our industry is so incredibly white and classist to begin with and then you have writing courses that cost $300 just for basic stuff, and there’s literally no way for someone who’s just beginning to get the information they need without a substantial outlay of cash. This is especially true for writers who are not based in the US or Western Europe and, as a writer from India, it’s something that has always been at the back of my mind. The person who needs the information the most is often the person who is locked out of it.
I don’t ever forget this. Which is why when I first started selling courses, I priced them low. 30 Days, 30 Queries launched at $99. As I added more content, updated the lessons, and created bonus material, I raised the price. At the time, a bunch of people who took my course launched identical courses of their own and sold them for several times higher. I won’t lie. This created a conflict. Was I doing something wrong by charging so low?
Despite my low prices, or perhaps because of them, I attracted a lot of students. And, as my business grew, I brought in mentors. Each time, they’d be horrified at my prices, telling me I was charging too little, not valuing myself enough, and playing small because I was afraid (I wasn’t.)
Now listen, this is all stuff I teach. When I’m freelancing, I ask for the highest rate I can get and I’m known for asking for double of what the client has offered. My coaching prices are not low either. I’m putting in personal time and effort, and as my time has become more valuable, my prices have gone up (and will continue to).
The courses are where I had the conflict. Because I could price the courses whatever I wanted. That price is a random number that’s plucked out of thin air, no matter what anyone tells you about value. I hesitated raising my prices, but I didn’t know why. And so, when my mentors accused me of being afraid, I believed them.
That was the mistake. The biggest mistake I made.
Because I wasn’t afraid. I just didn’t trust myself enough to know it then.
So, I took their advice and raised my prices.
That’s not their fault, it’s mine. I had no clarity on why that advice didn’t resonate with me. I didn’t, at least at the time, have the tools to find that clarity. And I trusted their counsel over my own.
Which led to me breaking my business.
Financially, it was fine. Great, even. But I hated it. I didn’t want to be in it anymore. I started shutting things down, profitable things. I self sabotaged like a mofo. I walked away from everything. The business didn’t feel aligned anymore, and no matter how much I’ve ever tried, I’m not a person who can do something that isn’t in resonance, even if it once was.
But it took me a while to figure out what happened. And more importantly, why.
The mistake is not that I raised my prices. It’s that I didn’t realize how that conflicted with my primary reason for being in business—to provide accessible resources to writers.
It’s exactly why I went on to create Wordling Plus. I want writers from anywhere in the world to have access to world-class education and resources to build up their writing careers without having to spend tens of thousands of dollars. A place where both new and established writers can get skills trainings and courses that help them uplevel and reach the next level in their careers. A brand they can trust, with material that’s actionable.
I think of the writer I was in 2002 and the writer I became in 2022, and I asked myself how I could serve both those writers.
Wordling Plus was the answer.
Wordling Plus is still in its infancy. I haven’t even finished adding in all my own courses, but my vision for it is stronger than ever before: world-class writing resources and education for the lowest possible price. And over the next year, I’m planning on bringing in outside instructors so that the membership is not limited by my knowledge, but is actually a space where there is quality education from the best minds in the business.
(I created a brand new sales page to explain what we do better.)
Inclusivity is at the heart of what we do here at The Wordling. And for me, that starts with pricing.
And because I mean business, I’m doing a flash sale on Wordling Plus.
Sign up for an annual plan in the next 24 hours and get $100 off your first year (that’s in addition to the 7 free months!).
No reminders, no last call emails. Take it now or miss out.
Sign up here and use the coupon code FLASHSALE.
Cheers,
Natasha