For the independent communications professional — the Solo PR PRO Premium membership site is proud to offer the kind of in-depth how-to information and downloads — tailored specifically for you –not available anywhere else.

Each month, members receive new content- from concentrated ebooks to templates and worksheets, designed to help you meet and exceed your goals. Currently available:

Exclusive “Show Me the Money!” Series

How much to charge is by far the most common question for Solo PR Pros – among newbies and veterans alike. So we're excited to bring you – the Show Me the Money! course, exclusively for PRO members.

Designed to step you through the entire process toward increased profitability, each installment of this series will provide in-depth content, worksheets and advice to help you make sure you’re getting paid what you’re worth.

• Part One: Expenses
  The Show Me the Money! course takes the innovative step of focusing first on tracking and managing expenses as the foundation to successfully setting consulting fees.
  Download:
  –Show Me the Money! Part One: Expenses PDF ebook (includes worksheets)
  –Expense worksheet template in Excel

• Part Two: Rate Considerations and Research
  A how-to for common billing rate formulas and researching methods to discover what others are charging. By better understanding these variables, you’ll be armed with more information as you determine the rates that are right for your business.
  Download:
  –Show Me the Money! Part Two: Rate Considerations and Research PDF ebook (includes worksheets)

• Part Three: Detailed Guide to Hourly Base Rates
  You know that information you’ve searched for everywhere online – the resource that will tell you exactly what others in your field are charging? This is it. This stair-step guide provides a full framework for rate levels and ranges, what you should be doing at each level, and how to move up for the greatest long-term career success.
  Download:
  –Part Three: Detailed Guide to Hourly Base Rates PDF ebook (includes worksheets)

• Part Four: Project/Value Pricing, Retainers and More
  Once you've completed the steps above, learn how to move beyond hourly billing to more lucrative arrangements. This installment covers the art and science of time estimation, and outlines different types of billing structures – hourly, project, split payment, retainer, value pricing, and performance pricing – with pros, cons, and tips for each.
  Download:
  Part Four: Project/Value Pricing, Retainers and More PDF ebook (includes worksheets)

• Part Five: How and When to Raise Your Rates
  You have clients and experience but your profit margins are not quite where you'd like them to be. This installment will walk you through how and when to raise your rates with practical tips, conversation starters and answers to your most frequently asked questions.
  Download:
  Part Five: How and When to Raise Your Rates PDF ebook

More Show Me the Money! installments in the coming months:

• Part Six: Beyond Solo: How and When to Grow to Increase Profits

Downloads/Templates

• New! Pro Downloads: 2014 Solo PR Summit Content – The downloadable presentations from virtually all of the Summit's sessions, along with the archived tweets from each day (which serve as excellent notes). It's the next best thing to being there!
• SMART Goals That Work – PRO eBook and Worksheets – Learn more about SMART goals and what they can do for you – download the new ebook, along with two worksheet templates (in Microsoft Word, so you can fill them out easily).
• PRO eBook – Proposal Power – It’s exciting when a new or existing client shows an interest in what you offer, but if, when and how to develop a proposal can be confusing and time consuming. Proposal Power delivers a step-by-step guide to building successful proposals, including examples.
• PRO eBook – Success Story Secrets – Filled with step-by-step how-tos, PRO Tips and sample questions, this ebook is designed to help you start or improve your case study programs.
• Pro Templates: Event Planning and Management Trackers – A comprehensive “tracker” — organized into buckets — can be enormously helpful when working with big events. Exclusively for PRO members, two examples of these event trackers are available as templates for your use and customization.
• Home Office Deduction- Indirect Expense Calculator – For help during tax time, PRO members can download this calculator as an Excel template.
• Download Content from the 2013 Solo PR Summit – Exclusive PRO member access to nine info-packed speaker presentations and two full days of tweet archives from this history-making conference.
• Pro Templates: Content and Social Media Calendars – We have three favorite approaches to content and social media management calendars. Exclusively for PRO members, these calendars are available as templates for your use and customization.
• Pro Download: Client Intake Interview – A formal client onboarding process lays the foundation for a positive long-term relationship – use this document to get you started on the right foot.
• Prospective Client Pre-Qualification Questionnaire -Use these questions to interview prospective clients before preparing a written proposal, to ensure your time is well-spent.
• Pro Download: Proposal Timeline Template – There are occasions – especially when you’re proposing a monthly retainer fee – when a rough representation of the programs that will be active in each month can help the prospect visualize what they’ll be getting. Checkout the post for more, and download the template to help with your proposals.
• Get it in Writing! Using Formal Agreements to Build a Better Business…and Your Bottom Line
  The free Solo PR Pro publication that started it all, this 30-page ebook includes sample contracts and language for all the most typical PR consulting arrangements.
• Weekly Hourly Projections Excel Spreadsheet
  Effective use of projections can be key to growing your business (and maintaining your sanity!).
• One-Page Business Plan Template
  Whether you're a new indie just starting your business or a veteran looking for help focusing on what's most important, here's a business plan template that won't bog you down.
• Cheat Sheet: Value Statements for Your Proposals
  Don't spend hours of time, especially if you're a new Solo PR PRO, trying to come up with value propositions that work – just modify these!

Lessons Learned

In our “lessons learned” posts, exclusively for PRO members, Kellye Crane lets you in on the nitty-gritty details of her experiences, in hopes that others can avoid learning things the hard way.

• New! Lesson Learned: Don't Relax Until the Event Contract Is Signed
• Lessons Learned: Making Tech Selections
• Lessons Learned: Speaking Engagements
• Notifying Clients of a Family Emergency

Pro Tips

The free Solo PR Pro Newsletter, issued every two weeks, includes information on news and trends, as well as a no holds barred Pro Tip in each edition (you can sign up free here, if you haven't already). Premium members have exclusive access to the Pro Tips archives:

• Pro Tip: Giving Retainer Clients Bang for the Buck
• Pro Tip: Free Attorney Consults
• Pro Tip: Prepping for Tax Payments
• Pro Tip: Articulating What You Don’t Do
• Pro Tip: Be Direct
• Pro Tip: Picking the Right Credit Card
• Pro Tip: Avoiding “Blah, Blah, Blah”
• Pro Tip: Living the Tax Life
• Pro Tip: Running Errands During the Day
• Pro Tip: Have A Solo PR Backup
• Pro Tip: Managing All Over the Place Clients
• Pro Tip: “We” VS. “I”
• Pro Tip: Using Voice Memos
• Pro Tip: “I’m Unavailable”
• Pro Tip: Avoiding the “R” Word
• Pro Tip: Networking with Fellow Solo PR Pros
• Pro Tip: Corporate Email Etiquette
• Pro Tip: Recording Mileage
• Pro Tip: Setting Internal Deadlines