How to Raise Prices in an Online Business (Without Scaring Off Your Best Clients)

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Offers

Raising your prices is one of the most underutilized levers for scaling an online business. Not because entrepreneurs don’t know they should raise them – but because they’re busy clenching their teeth wondering if it will blow up their client roster.

If you’re here, you’ve probably been flirting with the idea of a price increase but haven’t gone “full send” yet. Maybe you’ve asked yourself:

“Will clients still buy at the higher price?”
“Am I actually ready for premium pricing?”
“What if I price myself out of my market and have to get a corporate job where I have to wear slacks again?”

The real question is: What if you’re undercharging – and leaving not just profit, but better-fit, more committed clients on the table?

This blog is going to help you:

  • Raise your prices strategically (no random number pulling)
  • Attract clients who are happy to pay those prices
  • Increase your revenue without working more

All without compromising your integrity – no gimmicks, no bro-marketing, just smart business.

Why You Might Be Undervaluing Your Offer

Let’s play a game:

If you’ve ever had clients who:

  • Need constant hand-holding
  • Don’t follow through on your advice
  • Question every boundary
  • Make you consider faking a power outage during client calls

…it might not just be a “bad client.” It could be your pricing.

When you underprice, you often attract clients who aren’t fully ready for the transformation you offer – and they show up accordingly.

Premium pricing isn’t just a cash grab – it’s a filter. It helps you call in:

  • Clients who value your time
  • Clients who make decisions (instead of endlessly ‘thinking about it’)
  • Clients who take responsibility for their results
  • Clients who seek your insight, not free reign to text you at 11 PM about Canva fonts

Premium clients aren’t mythical unicorns – they just need you to meet them at the right level.✨ Want insights like this every week? I spill the good stuff inside The Goods, my free newsletter. Join The Goods →

Why Raising Your Prices Feels Scary (And What’s Actually Happening)

Spoiler: It’s not really the number you’re afraid of.

It’s rejection.

The “what if they don’t want me anymore?” spiral.

You might be attaching rejection to:

  • Imposter syndrome (“What if I’m not worth it?”)
  • People-pleasing (“I just want to be the affordable option!”)
  • Worst-case-scenario storytelling (“If no one buys this, I’ll have to sell feet pics to make rent.”)

Here’s the reality: There are plenty of clients who expect to pay premium prices — and happily do so.

Your job is to meet them there.

The Profit-First Pricing Formula

Inside Make It Online, I teach entrepreneurs how to design signature offers that are already profitable, so price increases aren’t guesses – they’re calculated moves.

Here’s the simplified version you can steal today:

Step 1: Calculate Hard Costs

  • Time spent fulfilling the offer (yours + team’s)
  • Multiply time by hourly rates

Step 2: Optimize Before Increasing

  • Can you automate?
  • Delegate to a junior team member?
  • Cut deliverables that no one cares about but you?

Step 3: Determine Your Profit Margin

Your goal: 50%-70% profit margin in online service businesses.

Example:

  • Current price = $1,000
  • Hard costs = $400
  • Profit margin = 60%

By optimizing:

  • Reduce hard costs to $300
  • Increase price to $1,500
  • New margin = 80% (chef’s kiss)

Step 4: Position for the Market

Where do you want to sit?

  • High-end? Mid-market? Accessible luxury?
  • Does your pricing reflect the result you actually help people get?

Bonus Tip: Pricing isn’t just math – it’s marketing.

If you want to sharpen this even further, grab the free masterclass: Define Your Unique Sales Edge →

When Should You Raise Your Prices?

Use the GWC Framework (adapted from Traction by Gino Wickman):

Do you Get it? (Consistently deliver results)

Do you Want it? (Desire to serve at a higher level + charge accordingly)

Do you have the Capacity? (Skills, systems, or mental bandwidth)

If you answered yes to all three – it’s time.

If not? Inside Make It Online, we help you get there without just slapping a bigger price tag on your sales page and hoping for the best.

Your Price Increase is a Marketing Opportunity

Don’t just quietly change the number on your checkout page.

Use it.

  • Host a “Prices Are Going Up” Sale
  • Make it a mini-launch
  • Give current clients a heads-up and the option to lock in the OG rate
  • Adjust sales pathways (Direct = full price | Funnels = 5-10% incentive | Live Launch = temporary, urgency-based incentive)

Hot Tip: Don’t discount below your old pricing. Your margins will hate you.

Your Next Step

If you’re ready to:

  • Work with better-fit, highly committed clients
  • Earn more without working more
  • Scale your business in a way that doesn’t make you want to hurl your laptop into the sea

It’s time to raise your prices – strategically.

✨ Keep learning: Subscribe to The Goods for sharp, actionable, unboring marketing tips every single week. Join here →

✨ Need help designing your signature offer, pricing it with confidence, and selling it on repeat? That’s exactly what we do inside Make It Online. Check it out →

Hi, I'm shannon!

Founder of The Social Bungalow & Online Business Strategist Helping Creatives and Coaching Entrepreneurs 'Make It' Since 2018

From climbing the corporate ladder to full-time serial entrepreneur and 7-figure business builder, I’m here to share the strategies that make entrepreneurship and small business growth feel doable (and dare I say, fun). Grab a seat, get comfy, and let's make this the year your small business goes big!

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