Over the years, I'm often asked for my best piece of advice. And usually it is something along the lines of
Be careful whose mentorship and advice you seek. Are they living a life you want to live?
And for lifestyle business owners this is incredibly relevant.
I've seen millionaires whose entire business strategy is to scale and sell then turn around and teach lifestyle business. Yet their lifestyle, success metrics and values couldn't be further away from most of the self-employed people I know. And too many of us lap it up.
Today, I wanted to share some great advice from a genuine lifestyle business expert, Thad Cox, who isn't going to try and bizfluence you into some five-figure accelerator.
We met 20 years ago working at an ad agency and have both taken many twists and turns to where we are today.
One of the many reasons I know he is a good egg is because he has picked me up many times when I've had business wobbles about falling behind, he always reminds me that I'm winning in the future payoff with the relationships I get to build with my children.
Our theme for Hype Yourself in August is planning, so if pricing out your products or services is on the agenda this might be useful. As with everything I write for you, take what is useful and leave the rest.
Got a question about pricing for Thad or I? Meet us in the comments. And now over to Thad...
Lucy x
Where do we start with pricing our work?
When I started freelance and asking around about pricing I hit a wall of silence. It was as if fees were a guarded secret. And worse, I found myself getting drawn into a toxic game of comparison, where your worth was measured by the rates you could command.
I feared charging too low, worried it would reflect poorly on my skills.
Yet, when I aimed higher, impostor syndrome crept in, and I'd often slash my prices just to secure a job.
The problem with cutting your rates
It can be tempting when work is slowing down to dramatically reduce our prices as a way to get people in.
This only led to attracting clients who saw my work as a bargain, not as a creative partnership.
They were demanding, often micromanaging, leaving me with a portfolio that didn't represent the work I was proud of.
In this cycle of comparison and insecurity, I realised I was letting others dictate my worth.
I wasn't considering what I wanted, what my clients could truly afford, or the value I brought. Worse, I was building a life where work was the central player, and time with those I loved was slipping away.
I overspent on a course so you don't have to
I knew I had to break free. I invested in a course on Value Based Pricing, shelling out $4500. I know.
The principles were solid, but applying them in the real world was like playing a high-stakes game of poker where no one wanted to show their hand.
I longed for a pricing strategy that was straightforward, one that let me step out of the shadows of comparison and into a space where I could price with confidence and clarity.
Moreover, I wanted a strategy that would attract clients who saw my work as an investment, not an expense.
Like most freelancers I wanted to build a portfolio and a bank balance I could be proud of, doing work that fueled my passion.
I developed my own pricing model called Lifestyle Pricing
Here is how you can use my approach to price your work. It’s about starting with the end in mind.
Forget about what others are charging. Envision your ideal life and work backward.
It's about setting prices that not only sustain your business but also support the life you dream of living.
- Define the Lifestyle: I got clear about the life I wanted to lead – the kind of days I wanted to live, the moments I didn't want to miss.
- Calculate the Cost: I worked out what that life would cost, putting a price tag on my dreams and necessities.
- Balance Work and Life: I decided how much of my time I wanted to dedicate to work and how much to living.
- Set the Price: I divided the cost of my desired lifestyle by the number of days I wanted to work, giving me a rate that wasn't just about breaking even but about thriving.
- Widen the Income Gap: I looked for ways to reduce expenses, boosting my financial freedom.
- Match Services to Price: I tailored my services to fit this new pricing model.
- Identify the Right Clients: I sought out clients who valued what I offered at the price I needed.
- Build Experience: Where necessary, I worked pro bono to build a portfolio that aligned with my new pricing.
- Adopt a Freedom Model: I planned to gradually increase my rates, reducing workdays while maintaining or growing income.
This journey wasn't just about numbers. It was a path to rediscovering why I chose freelancing in the first place for the moments with my family, for the creative freedom, for a life lived on my terms. It’s a journey of valuing not just my work, but myself.
Find out more about Thad:
To read more of my thoughts on Substack click here
Instagram | LinkedIn | Website
Thad is going to be running a Lifestyle Pricing course very soon, ping him a personal note at Thad@thadcox.co.uk to be added to the waitlist with a discount.
Good week for 🧜🏾♀️ Mermaids
I remember loving the MerPeople documentary on Netflix when it came out in 2023. I am always a big fan of passion points or hobbies because they make great content for PR opportunities. A recent article in The Telegraph, takes another look at this niche activity.
Hype takeaway: Talking about what you do outside of your day job is often the ticket to get more sales
Bad week for 💻 Redditors
An article in the Wall Street Journal is a great PR coup for Reddit. With AI regularly scraping Reddit answers for responses, brands are now searching for Reddit agencies and creators to help them build a profile. Bad for Redditors who don't want these imposters stepping into their chats about them.
Hype takeaway: Being helpful rather than promotional is going to be the best way to use this search channel.
Hype Sightings 👀
✏️ Amy Beeson has opened submissions for WRITE UP 2026. Submissions close September 6th, and the 'winning' writers will get paid to read their work on the night at the main event in November, in London.
📣 Deadline extension August 31st: TEDxUEA: Original Minds on 11 November 2026 at The Enterprise Centre, University of East Anglia, Norwich. Seeking diverse perspectives for business leaders around Creativity, Sustainability, Health and Future of Work. Apply here
💸 Want to know how I make money as a writer? Guest read my article for Hao Nguyen here (use x30 day guest pass)
😘 Paid readers, don't forget to comment and collaborate with each other on the latest Hype & Seek thread (I also use this to search wins, programs and new launches to share in main newsletter)
🗄️ Keep up with the latest list of pitching opportunities
One last thing before you go
I’m only hosting one creative writing retreat in 2027, and two cabins have already been snapped up, which means there are just four left.
If you’d like one of them, click the green button below to secure your cabin with a holding deposit.
Member comments