3 Tests That Prove You're Ready to Charge Premium

You've found your fire—the Interest that keeps your personal brand going. That's half the effort. Now, let's examine the next element in the I.C.E. formula (Interest, Competence, Economic Viability): verifying that your passion can solve problems for clients who pay.

Competence isn't about years on a resume or a high degree. It's about being two steps ahead of the person paying you. It's simply the capacity to reliably achieve a tangible result.

Section 1: Competence is Deliverability, Not Certification

Many aspiring brand owners stop here, crippled by Imposter Syndrome. They think: "I don't have adequate experience to charge money."

Here's the honest truth: Competence isn't an academic honor; it's documented transformation.

• Certification is good, but Case Studies are better.
• Time spent is valuable, but results delivered are superior.

To properly vet your competence, we look past your formal history and focus on instances where you've already provided value, even without payment.

Section 2: Three Audits to Measure Your Skill Gap

Use these three assessments to precisely gauge your current skill level and find the small gap between your passion and your marketability.

Audit 1: The "Two-Steps Ahead" Test 🚶‍♂️

Consider your ideal target client. What is the main thing they need to get done? Your competence is the simple ability to get them past their immediate roadblock.

If you can consistently and quickly resolve the difficulty for someone two steps behind you, you have enough competence to teach or consult.

Audit 2: The Time-to-Result Audit ⏱️

True competence shows up not just in the outcome, but in the speed of the delivery. The quicker and more consistently you can provide the solution, the higher your fee should climb.

Practical Exercise: For the skill linked to your core interest, use a stopwatch to time a typical task.

• How fast can you write a high-converting headline? (If it takes an hour, that's okay. If it takes 10 minutes, your skill level is high.)
• How fast can you fix a common website bug?
• How fast can you set up a ConvertKit welcome sequence?

If you can perform a task in half the time your client would take, you have a marketable competence—you are selling back their time and specialized knowledge.

Audit 3: The "Skill Stacking" Assessment 🏗️

Often, the strongest competence for marketability is not one single ability, but the unique combination of two or three average skills. This is your personal brand advantage.

List your top 5 relevant abilities. Find the point where 2-3 of them intersect. That intersection is where you find the unique competence no one else offers—the kind that justifies high pricing.

Section 3: Closing the Competence Gap

If this review showed you a weakness, relax. You do not need a year of formal education. You need a targeted skill sprint.

1. Find a focused course: Purchase one specific program (Teachable, MasterClass) or a highly-rated resource on your weakest point.
2. Practice on yourself: Apply the new skill to your own blog, or offer to solve that specific problem for a friend for free.
3. Log the Result: Get a measurable outcome and a recommendation. This is now your new Case Study.

🧭 Next Step: Competence Meets Cash

You've found the Interest (fuel) and verified your Competence (engine). Now we confirm the final element: Economic Viability.

(Read next: The 'E' in I.C.E.: Confirming Economic Viability in Your Chosen Niche to verify that people are prepared to pay for your specific skill.)