Hi, and welcome to the Mindset Coach Academy podcast. Today, it is Mental Monday, and we are talking all about mindset, how to live it, how to teach it, and how to sell it.
Hi, guys, and welcome back to the Mindset Coach Academy podcast. It's been a while, at least since I've sat down. It's been so busy. Yeah, I went and worked with University of Georgia women's basketball team, and that was amazing. It was super fun, super rewarding. I mean, I got to teach them a mental game plan and use our new workbook that so many of our certified coaches are using and that we've been teaching off of, but to be able to get to do that live with the coaching staff, with elite athletes was just really, really fun.
And then we launched the certification. What else? There's a bunch of stuff that happened, I think, in my life, but I can't think about any of that, really. Yeah, it was just getting the kids back in school, all that, the holidays, but we also had our first ever Mindset Coach Academy retreat at beautiful Bainbridge Island, Washington, so I got to show off the Pacific Northwest, which was really fun. And we had 10 of our coaches come from all over the country to hang out with me and each other, and it was just amazing. I think I'm going to do a podcast all about the retreat because it was transformational.
It was, and not just for me, I just got some of the survey, retreat feedback surveys from people, and it was just amazing. It was just so much fun. It was so much vulnerability, so much coaching, so much high-level thinking.
And really noticing that we have this exponential growth and exponential reach now because so many people are taking mental performance training far and wide, and we're all just stronger together, and everybody has that mentality. So that was really awesome. It was just a lot of work to get it going and get it started with our first ever. So it was a little bit, I was telling them, it was a little bit like planning a wedding, but to a smaller degree, obviously, but just all the details, and especially when you haven't done it before, there's just the learning curve on that.
Yeah, that was amazing. So I want to today, though, I wanted to talk about making money as a mental performance coach, and in particular, I'm getting the question, what should I charge a lot? And I know we don't always talk specifics about business on the podcast because I don't know how many of you are actually mental performance coaches or want to be, but I do know that the economics of it are important. And so many of you are looking at the certification and the $6,000 investment, and like, well, how quickly could I make that money back?
How quickly can I start getting clients, and how much am I going to charge them, and how much will people pay? And so obviously, we talk a lot about it in the certification. We talk a lot about it in our Insider Mastermind, which is our follow-up program to it. We talked a lot about it at the retreat. Like, it is a topic of conversation in the rooms and the communities that I create and teach and coach, but we haven't talked about it a lot on the podcast. We do talk about it in our e-book, How to Become a Mental Performance Coach, and we'll put the link to that in the show notes. If you are interested in being a mental performance coach and you haven't seen that book, it's about 60 pages, and it answers a lot of the questions that you're going to have, which one of them is, how much money can I make? So we're going to be talking about that today, but there are some of the things that I'm going to talk about today that are in that e-book and much, much, much more other questions that are going to come up, like, should I get certified or do I need to get certified? So I highly recommend downloading that book.
It's totally for free if you are interested in becoming a mental performance coach. Okay. So today we are going to talk about pricing. And I mean, again, the overall question, I think, is how much money can I make? And then it would be like, how much can I charge as a mental performance coach? So let me talk to you about how I teach it.
The first thing that I think is really important is when we're talking about an exchange of money, meaning you have a client that is going to give you money for a service, what they are really paying for is the value of the result that you are offering. I think this is really important. This is how we teach it. We teach something called value-based pricing, because that is what people are paying for. They're not paying for an hour of your time. They are paying for what they think that hour will give them. It sounds maybe a little bit like splitting hairs, but it's actually really, really important from a sales and marketing standpoint, because it keeps your focus on the result that you can offer.
And that's going to come back in many of the points that I'm going to make today in our time together. So I have about six sort of sections I'm going to be talking about when it comes to pricing, how much, again, answering the question, how much should I charge as a mental performance coach? Okay.
So again, value, that is what they are paying for, and in particular, the results that you can offer. Okay. So the first thing to consider is, first of all, we always want to be talking about one person. So it doesn't mean it's a single sport, but it does mean you have an idea of who you would work with. And so it doesn't have to, if you've never been a mental performance coach, or you're just starting thinking about it, don't worry if that's not totally set and sound. That's part of what you'll learn in like the certification, for example, or you might learn it over time on your own.
It'll just be a really expensive learning that you really do need to focus on one type of person. So that might be a volleyball player. That might be a high school player struggling with confidence. That might be injured athletes. That might be coaches that, you know, anyway, you're going to pick a group of people that you are going to focus on. And you can kind of think that right now, even if you don't know for sure, like where would the first place you take mental performance be?
Okay. So thinking of those people, and in particular, you know, if you're working with youth athletes, you're also going to be wanting to think about their parents because they're the ones that are making the decision. So one of the ways to look at it is how much money are those people currently investing in trying to solve this problem?
So let me give you an example. So let's say the problem is little Jenny is a softball player and she is not hitting very well in competition. So her parents may be trying to solve the problem by getting her a hitting coach. They may, maybe she's doing strength and conditioning.
Maybe she got a new bat or new cleats. I don't know, right? Just kind of thinking of how much they are already spending trying to solve. Now you might say, well, those aren't going to solve the problem.
It doesn't really matter. That's what they think will solve the problem. So that is an indication of how much solving that problem is worth it to them. So again, you can think of, if you're talking about the results, so the result that they really want is they want Susie to perform better. So what is that worth for them to have her feel confident at the plate?
So again, this is back of the nap game. This isn't like a science, but just thinking of how much they're investing kind of gives you a picture of how big the problem is for them, how much they're willing to invest. And of course, they invest in other ways too, not just monetarily, right?
They may be driving her to the private hitting coach that's an hour away, right? So then you know that the problem is big for them. They really, really, really want to solve it. It's important to them to solve it. So you'll get an idea of how important it is to them by looking at that. Okay, the next thing, and this is, this might be number one, just because this is like so fundamental is can you deliver the result? Like that is so important, right?
And here's what's interesting about this question is it doesn't matter if you have letters behind your name. It doesn't matter if you're brand new to mental performance coaching or done it for a really long time. It just matters if you can deliver. That's it. That is what people want. And that is what you should want also.
And the pricing has to reflect that. In other words, you can't, I don't think, I don't think unless you're, I don't know, delusional or narcissistic, I don't think you can sell something that you don't believe that you can deliver. Okay, so you don't want to promise things that you can't deliver even crazy things like not that you are, but you don't want to promise that you can, that Suzy's going to play perfect or that she's going to kind of college scholarship. But you also don't want to promise if you're brand, brand new that you can deliver at this really high level and that she's going to be so confident in a couple months because if you don't feel that because you just started, then you're not going to adequately be able to stand behind that price and say it comp like your voice is going to crack or you're going to start negotiating with them or you're going to feel bad and you're not going to come across confident, you're not going to deliver at a really high level. And so it's really important to just be realistic, especially when you're first starting that you really want your price to reflect something that you know you can deliver on.
Okay, and I know that's vague because here's the thing nobody can tell you what pricing feels like for you and your body. I'll talk about that a little bit in a second. Well, actually, I'll talk about right now. Another sort of thing to think about. Okay, so you're thinking about what they're spending already to solve this problem, meaning the parents of Susie. You're thinking about can you actually deliver the results that you're promising? And that's why in the beginning you might not want to promise huge, huge, huge things and have huge, huge, huge prices. You want something you feel confident you can deliver. Like you want to hold up your end of the bargain.
Okay. And the third thing is does it feel good? Like when you, and now this is challenging, especially when you're first starting because the difference between hobby and getting paid in your brain is huge. I don't care if you're charging $25 a session.
$0 and $25 is a huge leap for your brain. So it's always going to feel a little bit uncomfortable in the beginning. So I don't mean that it's not going to feel uncomfortable.
It's going to. But again, does it feel like you can deliver at that price? And in particular, especially in the beginning, I want you to over deliver. I want you to have a price that when you say it, you're like, not in a braggie kind of way, but you're kind of like, these people are crazy if they don't take me up on this. Like I am going to help their daughter or their son so much. And I am so confident that I can deliver that this feels like I'm, like, I'm over delivering.
Like I'm giving them, it is such a win for them. That's how you should feel in the beginning. Now, at some point, that same price, when you get really good at delivering it is going to feel like it's too much. Like their, your clients are seeping from you and you might start feeling burnout or resentful.
So that's something to watch too. You don't want to under price so much that you start sort of feeling like, well, shit, like this is, this doesn't feel good for me anymore. So again, does it feel good, which is such a vague thing for me to say, I know that it is, I know you just want numbers, but nobody can give you that. I can just tell you how to think about it.
And I will give you some numbers here in a second. I'm going to tell you what some of our coaches are charging, but it does have to feel good. And that goes on both sides. It has to feel like you're over delivering and you have to watch for burnout and resentment.
You have to watch for being irritated at your clients, like you're giving too much away for too little money. That's a real thing. Okay. So that's number three. The fourth thing that I is kind of twofold. One is your pricing will change. So don't get all hung up on what it is on day one. It's going to change. You're going to reach the level where you feel burnout and resentful and you're like, I need to bump this up because now it doesn't feel equal.
And what I've said over and over again, but just worth reiterating is no one can make this decision for you. Okay, which is why I'm going to, I will tell you some pricing from some of our students, but these are actually a couple years old. But I am going to give you some examples, but these are also in that ebook that I mentioned at the beginning. But again, nobody can decide this for you because again, it goes back to like how you feel when you're saying it even.
Okay. So one coach, she charges 650 for a three session bundle, 1200 for a three month coaching package, and 2400 for a six month. Now, when you're talking about three or six months, they're either talking about weekly sessions or potentially eventually like bi-monthly sessions, just to give you an idea. Let's see, another coach is lower than that.
She is 450 for a three session bundle, 700 for a three month and 1200 for a six month. So that would be something that probably just started. Another coach, actually this is the same coach, but she bumped it up later. She went from 450 for the three session to 900.
She went from 700 on the three month to 1400 and she went from 1200 on the six month to 1650. Okay, so that just gives you an idea. I have some other coaches that don't do three session bundles.
They just do the three month, which are about 1500 for the three month and then six month, 2500. So again, I'm telling you that just to give you like a picture. Again, those are a couple of years old. Those are probably two years old. So those are probably 20, maybe even 2021. I don't think they've changed that much. I'll have to do another survey with my group, but just to give you an idea. Okay, so I've said this before, but I'm gonna say it again. Don't be afraid to undercharge, especially in the beginning. Where you are right now, like if you're just getting started, if you're getting your first couple of clients, the difference between zero and a little bit of money mentally is really, really big.
It doesn't really matter. You don't wanna make huge, huge jumps. It's just too much. It's really hard for your nervous system and for your self belief to go from, I don't make any money at all to I charge thousands of dollars.
People have done it, but most people don't. So don't be afraid to undercharge and over deliver because that's gonna feel really good in the beginning. Until of course it's not, but you're erring on the side of getting really great results, getting great testimonials, feeling like you're doing good work in the world. Like you're erring on that side versus like, I don't know if I can deliver at this level.
I hope I'm doing enough. And then you start sort of like grasping and they kind of feel that pressure too. And it's just not a good vibe.
So don't be afraid to undercharge. It's okay. You'll change it later. But here's what I will also tell you. And this is my sixth sort of top, my sixth sort of piece of advice when it comes to pricing and what you're gonna charge is, it's not the price. It's not because there are people charging $50 an hour and there are people charging $1,000 a month, literally. So it's not the price.
And I will say that, like, if you're in any of my programs, you will hear me say this like over and over and over again. Now I do think, again, you need to start low and build up, but most people think that if they just drop their price, they'll get more customers. And what I will tell you is I don't believe again, in starting high because you're not ready, but if you're at a price that you feel, quote unquote, good about, stay there. Because what it's going to force you to do is figure it out. And what I mean by figure it out is you're gonna figure out how to communicate the value of what you're doing, which is the skill set that every entrepreneur, especially what we do, needs to develop.
And here's when you don't develop that. If you keep just changing the price and changing the offer and dropping the price and negotiating and thinking that if the price changes, that their answer will change. And what I will tell you is it's not the price, it's the value, they don't see it.
So maybe they're the wrong person, maybe they don't see the value because the problem's not big enough, that might be it, but also you might not be explaining it well enough. You might not really be painting the picture of what it's going to mean for Susie to hit better, or at least feel more confident at the plate. You may not really be able to articulate how her parents are gonna feel in the stands when she is confident going in up to bat.
You may not be able to explain yet how much better it's going to be after games, how confident she's gonna be in all aspects of her life, how relaxed and calm her parents get to be watching her games or after the games, how much less stress they're gonna have in their house, because Susie now has a tool set that she can develop, that's not her parents' responsibility, and she has a coach that's helping her develop a lifelong skill set about self-efficacy, self-confidence, developing mental toughness in herself. That's the value of what you're offering. It's not three sessions, it's not six sessions, it's the value. So no matter what you charge, if you can't explain that value to Susie's parents, they're gonna say no. So you can change the price all you want, you can double it, you can reduce it, you can bundle it up a different way. If you can't sell the value of what that means, both to Susie and to her parents, you're not gonna sell it. So we need to develop that, and you don't develop that skill by being all over the place with your pricing. And I'm telling you this with love because it is the quickest, it's your brain's quickest pseudo solution, right? If you hear no, you say, well, I just need to drop my price, and then they'll say yes.
But what happens when they don't say yes? Right, you're not explaining the value. So that's what we teach in all of our programs. We teach that in our certification, we teach that in our mastermind, because value. I mean, think about yourself from a consumer standpoint. Do you ever buy something because it's cheap? No, you might buy it because it's cheap because the perceived value of it is way more than you're paying for it, but it still comes down to the value of it for you, right?
I mean, let's think about that. Like if you're into motorcycles, what you are interested in, what is a value to you is gonna be way different than what is a value to me who likes to hang out in the kitchen. And it's not the actual price.
It's not the actual price of motorcycle things or kitchen gadgets. It's of value to me. Does it save me time? Does it bring me happiness? Does it reduce a pain in my life? Does it make things easier for me? Do I have peace of mind because of it?
Is it fun? Whatever the value is, we have to be clear about that and embed that in everything we do when it comes to pricing, okay? So I'm gonna review my little six tips or things to think about when you're talking about pricing. So again, the overall question here is, how much money can I make as a mental performance coach?
And the subset question is, what should I charge? I hear this all the time. And here are the six things. Again, paying attention to what people are paying to solve this problem. Even if it's not mental performance training, they're trying to solve this problem in other ways. Maybe in wrong ways, but they're still trying to solve it in other ways. And that's helpful for you to just get an idea.
It doesn't mean it has to be exactly that price. It just gives you an idea of how big the problem is for them. Okay, second thing, probably most important thing is, can you deliver the results? Because if you can't, your brain's gonna call bullshit, you're not gonna feel confident. It's gonna be a really uphill battle to convince yourself that you should be selling this thing.
You want to deliver, you wanna sell something that you really feel confident about delivering. The third thing is, does it feel good? And I kind of mean like in your body almost, like when you say the price, it doesn't mean it's not gonna be uncomfortable in the beginning because it's going to be, but like, if you practice it a little bit, does it feel good? Do you feel like, oh man, they're getting a real good deal. Like they're gonna be so happy that they spent their money this way. But then watching it as it goes along, does it feel good or does it feel like you're being taken advantage of? Because that's when people start getting burnt out or resentful or they kind of start self-sabotaging their business because they're just like, oh my God, I'm practically giving this away for free.
So just watching that again, does it feel good? And I'll give you an example. So like for our certification, it's $6,000 for four months. And I know what it costs to get an advanced degree.
I know what other certifications in other community or different, sort of coaching modalities. I know what's out there. And so when I look at our price, I feel freaking amazing about it. And it still makes sense for us financially, but it is of so much value to our students that I feel awesome about it.
We probably will raise our prices in the next couple of years, maybe even this next year in 2025. But the reason that I haven't is because I feel it in my body that the value is like beyond for people. And so it feels really good.
I know that they're getting so much more than $6,000 worth of value. So again, does it feel good? Number four is it will change. Your pricing will change. I don't advocate changing it all the time, but what you do when you first start as a mental performance coach is not what you're gonna be doing in a year. It's just not. So don't freak out about choosing the magic one pricing today. And if I choose wrong, I'm stuck with it forever. But also know that no one else can decide this for you. No one can, because no one knows how it really feels for you. Don't be afraid to undercharge is my number five tip because again, I want you to feel like I feel about the certification where I'm like, hot damn, this is a great value.
Like I feel amazing about it. I don't hesitate to say the price. I don't feel bad about the price. My voice doesn't crack when I say the price. I feel like we are over-delivering and really undercharging, but I'm not resentful about it yet. Do you see how that goes?
I might be at some point, but I feel like it still feels good for me too. And then number six, and this is maybe one of the most important, is it's not about the price. It's really not. It's about the value. So when you're thinking about changing the price, also ask yourself, in other words, dropping the price, also ask yourself, is it the price or is it the value? And usually the value.
I am not explaining the value good enough. And when you can look at it that way, then you have a skill you can develop. So that's what I think and what I know about making money as a mental performance coach and what to charge, how to figure out what to charge. So I hope this was helpful for you. If you have any other questions about this, I'm talking about this all day long in my certification, in my Insider program. This is something that comes up a lot, a lot, a lot.
Something we talk about a lot. So if you have any questions, come on over to Instagram. I'd be happy to answer them. I can't answer what you should charge, just so you know.
But I can give you things to think about so that you make a good decision and you can help more people when you really figure out pricing. And it's not rocket science. It's an art, not a science. And you're doing the right thing just by listening to this, right? Like this is you developing yourself as an entrepreneur or as a future entrepreneur. This is the kind of education that is really important to just like take in information like this and sort of like sit with it and think about it.
And then you have like a framework with which to make decisions. And then here's the kicker, trust yourself. Trust yourself and trust the process of improving because like I said, it will change over time and you'll learn more things. Maybe you'll learn a new modality, you'll learn a new skill. And so your pricing can change because you get better results.
So give yourself grace. This is a process and ever changing but you're doing the right thing by gaining information. So again, come on over to Instagram if you have any specific questions and thanks for listening.
Bye for now. Hey guys, if you have ever listened to this podcast and thought, gosh, could I do that? Could I be a mental performance coach? I want you to get your hands on our free guide called How to Become a Mental Performance Coach even without your sports psychology degree. Go to positiveperformancetraining.com forward slash guide and get your free copy today or click in the show notes.
I'm gonna tell you one specific reason you've got to get your hands on this book. And it's this, we have a six step mental training framework that takes all of the guesswork out of what to actually work on with your clients. Now, you may be a coach with a ton of experience. You may have read all the books, all the podcasts, all the things and I'm telling you that this six part framework is the thing you need. It will take all you know, all you've dreamt of teaching and coaching and distills it down into six steps. You guys, I've done this for a really long time, simple wins and it took me a really long time to come up with this and I'm sharing with you totally for free.
Generally, this is what we've taught our certified students to use and I'm giving it to you for free. So go get your copy now, positiveperformancetraining.com forward slash guide and learn about our six step positive performance mental training framework, go use it. And then look at the rest of the book, there is so much good stuff in there. Go get your copy today.
