How to Price Your Services Without the Panic: 3 Tools for More Confidence and Less Ick
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Let’s talk about pricing. Because wow, does it bring stuff up.
Whether you’re setting your rates, sending out a proposal, or finally putting that new offer into the world—it’s so common to feel that gut-level ugh. Maybe your stomach drops, your brain spins out, or you suddenly want to chuck your whole pricing strategy in the bin and start again.
Sound familiar? You’re not alone.
Why Does Pricing Feel So Hard?
Here’s the thing no one tells you when you start a business: pricing isn’t just about numbers.
It’s about your sense of worth. Your relationship with money. The fear of rejection. The stories you’ve picked up about being “too expensive” or “too much.” So when you go to raise your prices, invoice a client, or introduce a new offer, and your nervous system suddenly sounds the alarm—yep, that’s completely normal.
But just because it’s normal doesn’t mean it gets to run the show.
You can shift your pricing experience from fear and second-guessing to one that feels clear, boundaried, and grounded in your value. It starts with understanding what’s really going on—and then giving your brain some new reference points.
3 Practical Pricing Tools to Rewire the Fear
If you’ve ever found yourself panicking before pressing send on a quote or dropping your rates in the DMs “just in case”—try these three tools. They’re designed to help you anchor, commit, and filter your pricing with more confidence.
1. Anchor Up
What it is: A psychology-backed experiment to stretch your comfort zone.
Find three people in your industry charging a lot more than you. Not a little more—a lot. Then sit with those numbers. Let your nervous system do its dramatic thing. And just notice.
This is called anchoring. Your brain grabs onto the first number it sees and decides that must be the norm. So if all you’re seeing are lowball rates, your pricing will stay small. But if you start feeding your brain evidence of higher price points? You’ll start to recalibrate.
This isn’t about copying someone else’s numbers—it’s about showing your brain what’s possible.
2. The Pre-Commitment Contract
What it is: A little love note to your future self, written when you're feeling solid.
When you’ve had a win—like a great client experience or a moment of “this work is really good”—capture that clarity in writing:
“My minimum rate for [insert your service] is £X. Anything below that is self-exploitation.”
Yes, that wording might feel intense. But when self-doubt creeps in (because it will), you’ll have a reminder that a more grounded version of you has already made this decision. Stick it on your wall. Make it your phone wallpaper. Future-you will thank you.
3. The “Hell Yes” Filter
What it is: A powerful reframe for when someone says no to your rates.
If your biggest pricing fear is hearing “I can’t afford that,” here’s a shift: that “no” is not a failure. It’s clarity. It means your pricing is doing its job—helping the right people find you and filtering out the ones who aren’t a fit.
You’re not here to convince anyone. You’re here to connect with the people who are a “hell yes” to your work.
And when you let your pricing do some of that heavy lifting, you get to do more of what you actually love.
So, How Do You Price With Confidence?
Pricing with confidence isn’t about pushing down your fear—it’s about creating systems and strategies that support you when that fear shows up.
It’s about:
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Regulating your nervous system, not overriding it.
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Naming your minimums, so you don’t undercut yourself when doubt creeps in.
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Letting your prices set boundaries, so the right people can find you.
And remember: your business gets to grow with you. Your prices get to evolve. You get to say, “This is what my work is worth,” and actually stand in it.
📦 Want More Tools Like This?
You’ll find more support inside the Living Business Store, where there’s a mix of free tools and deeper resources for every stage of business. (From beginner to burnt out and back again.)
Or if you’re craving more personalised support, check out the Living Business Intensives—and know that if finances are tight, we’ve got options. Just reach out. This work is meant to be accessible.
💌 Let’s Keep the Conversation Going
I’m always up for a good voice note over on Instagram—@livingbusinessproject. Come tell me where you’re at with pricing, and I’ll help point you in the right direction.
And if this blog helped you?
Share it with a friend, or leave a quick review on the podcast. You never know who else is stuck in a pricing spiral and needs to hear it.
🎧 Prefer to listen than read? Hit play below for an audio version of this post!