Just Because It's Spiritual Doesn't Mean You Have To Give It Away

Image showing hands giving money and refusing money Some people are under the impression that if what you do for a living has a spiritual component to it, you should not charge reasonable fees for your services. Or sometimes, some people expect you to do it for free.

As a result, many Christ-centered mompreneurs feel it necessary to donate their services, their time, give gratis workshops and discounted products, or offer a sliding scale. If not, they feel guilty and fear they’re being ungrateful for the gifts God has given them.

The logic seems to be, if it’s spiritual you should give it away. Or at least not charge very much.

Ironically, the fruit of this limiting belief is you limit your ability to reach more than a handful of people. It also

Results in you with little to no funds to invest in further development of your skills
Is unsustainable unless you have a pile of money to burn or a benefactor (or spouse) willing to dump more money into your business or ministry with little to no return
Leaves you and your business or ministry stagnant because seeing an excess of free or reduced fee clients robs the time for revenue-generating activities and strategic business development
Usually breeds burnout and the feeling of being an overworked, underpaid employee rather than a thriving, creative entrepreneur.

Isn’t the point of all these is to let your feminine genius shine and serve your ideal clients well?

But in practice, the recipients of the freebies fall short of the results they desire because they

Didn’t really invest in what you offer to the same degree as customers paying a fee commensurate with the value you give them
Lack commitment that comes with finding a way to get the necessary resources to pay for what you offer
Don’t have the same amount of confidence in you and your ability to help them solve their problem, because you have lowered your value in their eyes. On an unconscious level, they don’t work as hard because there was no sacrifice for them to pay for the services or products.

In the spiritual work, in my work in the Kids for Jesus apostolate, we had a fund for those unable to pay for the registration fee. Around 75 – 80% of the people who received free registrations were more sporadic and less dedicated to virtue building than the people who paid the fee.

Professionally, I paid close to $400 on a LinkedIn course. I had to postpone working on it because my father got sick and died. Most folks don’t work through programs they purchase. When life settled down, I picked the materials up and got to work.

I believed in the value of the course, in large part because myself and others chose to pay money to be in it, I prioritized going through the materials. Had it had been free or very inexpensive, I likely would have let it go.

When you value what you offer and learn to enroll clients who value it too, you have a greater impact on the universe. Your customers are committed and truly learn what you have to teach them.

And the Holy Spirit’s creativity and ingenuity flows, leads to even better products, services, and results for your clients, in you because you are treating yourself with dignity.

Catholic Mompreneur’s Biz and Life Tips: Do the math to see what you need to charge and how many products and services you need to sell to have a sustainable business with confidence that the impact of your time be its greatest.