Home furniture brand Blu Dot blew up on CTV with help from Roku Ads Manager. Here’s how:

After a test campaign reached 211,000 households and achieved 1,010% ROAS, the brand went all in to promote its annual sales event. It removed age and income constraints to expand reach and shifted budget to custom audiences and retargeting, where intent was strongest.

The results speak for themselves. As Blu Dot increased their investment by 10x, ROAS jumped to 2,308% and more page-view conversions surpassed 50,000.

“For CTV campaigns, Roku has been a top performer,” said Claire Folkestad, Paid Media Strategist, Blu Dot. “Comping to our other platforms, we have seen really strong ROAS… and highly efficient CPMs, lower than any other CTV partner we've worked with.”

Using Roku Ads Manager, the campaign moved from a pilot to a permanent performance engine for the brand.

Learn More

Let me start with a question that's going to make some of you wince.

When was the last time you raised your prices on an existing client?

Not a new client. Not a friend-of-a-friend who came in cold. An existing client. Someone you've been delivering for, consistently, for at least a year. Someone whose business has grown because of you, even a little. Someone who would lose something real if you walked away tomorrow.

If your answer is anything other than "in the last twelve months," we have something to talk about.

Because here's the math that runs underneath every service business I've ever looked at. Inflation runs somewhere between 3 and 6 percent depending on the year and what you're measuring. Your cost of doing business goes up every year. Software gets more expensive. Your team, if you have one, expects raises. Your tools, your subscriptions, your insurance, your taxes, your time. All of it climbs.

And if your prices stay flat while every input cost grows, what you're actually doing is taking a quiet pay cut every single year. You're delivering the same service, often a better service, for less real money. The client is getting a deal that gets better for them every year, and worse for you.

And you're letting it happen because of a five-minute conversation you don't want to have.

Why You Won't Have It

I'll save us both the time. I already know your reasons. I've heard every version of them, including the ones you haven't said out loud yet.

You don't want to lose the client. You're worried they'll push back, get upset, or quietly start shopping for a replacement. You feel like the relationship is good and you don't want to introduce friction. You think the timing isn't right. You think you'll do it next quarter, when you've delivered something especially impressive and the conversation will feel earned. You think you should wait until you've added something new, so the price increase feels justified.

And underneath all of that, the real reason. You're not totally sure you're worth more.

There it is. The thing nobody actually wants to say. The price increase conversation isn't hard because it's logistically complex. It's hard because it forces you to put a number on yourself, to your client's face, and stand behind it. And every business owner I've ever worked with, no matter how successful, has some flicker of doubt about whether they can really stand on that number.

Good news. The flicker is normal. Bad news. The flicker is also how you stay broke.

The Real Cost Of Avoiding It

Let's get specific. Say you have ten clients paying you an average of $2,500 a month. That's $25,000 a month, $300,000 a year. Solid business.

Now say you've held those prices for three years. Three years ago, $2,500 had real buying power. Today, that same dollar amount is closer to $2,200 in 2023 dollars after compounding inflation. Your client is essentially paying you 12 percent less in real terms than they were when they signed up.

If you'd raised prices a modest 5 percent every year, those same ten clients would now be paying you closer to $2,895 each. That's $3,950 more per month, or $47,400 more per year. Same clients. Same delivery. Same effort. The only difference is that you had three uncomfortable five-minute conversations spread across thirty-six months.

Forty-seven thousand dollars. That's a quarter of an employee. That's a paid-off car. That's a real vacation. That's the difference between a business that feels tight and a business that has air.

And the price you're paying for that money is, statistically, almost zero. Most clients don't leave over a 5 percent increase. The ones who do were probably going to leave anyway, because they were price shopping you to begin with. Every consultant who tracks this stuff lands in the same range. Somewhere between 90 and 95 percent of clients accept a reasonable annual increase without much resistance, especially if you handle the conversation like a professional.

That means there's roughly a 5 to 10 percent chance you lose someone. And in exchange, you give yourself a real raise across the entire roster.

That's not a hard math problem. That's a conversation problem.

How To Actually Have It

I'm going to give you the script I use, and I'm going to give it to you in plain language so you can copy and paste it into an email tomorrow morning.

But before the script, two principles.

First, you give notice, not a request. You're not asking permission to charge what you're worth. You're informing the client of a business decision you've already made. The energy in that distinction matters more than the words. People can smell hesitation, and hesitation invites negotiation. Confidence invites acceptance.

Second, you give a runway. Don't surprise people. Thirty days minimum, sixty is better, ninety is generous and usually unnecessary. The runway gives them time to budget for it without scrambling, and it positions you as a partner who respects their planning cycles.

Here's the email. Tweak it for voice, but keep the structure.

Subject: Adjustment to your monthly investment, effective July 1

Hi [Name],

I wanted to give you advance notice that effective July 1, your monthly investment with me will move from $2,500 to $2,750. This is the first adjustment I've made in [X] years and reflects both the increased scope of what we deliver and the broader cost increases the business has absorbed during that time.

Your service, deliverables, and access to me remain the same. If anything, you'll notice continued improvements in [specific area you've been investing in].

I appreciate the relationship we've built, and I'm committed to keeping you a step ahead of where you'd be without us. Let me know if you have any questions, and I'll send the updated agreement next week.

Best,

[Your Name]

That's it. No apology. No twelve-paragraph justification. No "I hope this is okay." You're a professional running a business, communicating a routine business decision.

What Will Actually Happen

Most of the responses you get will fall into one of three categories.

Category one. "Sounds good, thanks for the heads up." This is roughly 70 to 80 percent of replies. You will be stunned at how often this is the entire response. The client opens the email, sees that nothing is being taken away, sees a reasonable number, and moves on with their day. They have actual problems to solve, and your 10 percent increase is not one of them.

Category two. "Can you tell me more about what's driving this?" This is the curious response, and it's not pushback. It's a person who wants to understand. Reply with two sentences. "Cost of delivery has gone up across the board, and the scope of what we're producing for you has grown. I want to keep investing in the quality you've come to expect, and that requires a small adjustment." Done. They'll thank you and move on.

Category three. "This isn't going to work for me right now." This is the rare response, but it happens. And here's where most business owners crumble. They panic, they immediately offer to keep the old price, and they teach the client that pushback gets results. Don't do this.

Instead, ask a question. "I appreciate you being direct. Help me understand what's going on for you so we can figure out the right path." Sometimes there's a real budget pressure on their side and you can negotiate a transition timeline that works for both of you. Sometimes they were going to leave anyway and the price increase just gave them a reason to bring it up. Either way, you don't fold on the price. You either renegotiate the scope (less of you for less money) or you let the relationship end with grace.

Letting a relationship end with grace is a skill. Most people never learn it because they're too afraid to test it. But every business owner who actually scales has learned that some clients are supposed to graduate out of working with you, and the price increase is the natural moment for that to happen.

The Compounding Effect

Here's the part that nobody tells you. The first price increase is the hardest. The second one is half as hard. The third one is barely a conversation.

Once you've done it, you build a muscle. You learn that the world doesn't end. You learn that good clients respect a professional who runs their business like a business. You learn that the quiet hum of resentment you didn't even know you were carrying, the resentment that comes from undercharging, gets louder every year you let it sit.

And here's the bigger move. Once you've done it with existing clients, your new client pricing has to follow. You can't keep selling new business at the old number while charging existing clients the new one. So your floor moves up. Your proposals get more confident. Your conversion may dip slightly on price-shopping prospects, which is fine, because those weren't your customers anyway. The clients who do say yes at the new number are higher-quality across every metric. They have bigger budgets, longer time horizons, and less volatility.

Charging more attracts a better client. That's a rule that holds across every service category I've ever seen, and it's one of the most underused growth strategies in the small business world.

Most operators are out there trying to reinvent their offer, build a new funnel, or bolt on some new revenue stream when the simplest path to a better month is sitting right inside their existing roster. They're trying to bring in cold strangers at the same price point that's eating them alive instead of having one short conversation with the people who already trust them.

Your Move This Week

Here's what I want you to do before next Monday.

Pull up your client list. For every client, write down two things. The date you started working with them, and the last time you raised their price. If the gap between those two dates is more than fourteen months, that client is on the list.

Then pick the one that scares you the least. The lowest-stakes one. The client where the relationship is clearly strong and the value you've delivered is clearly real. Use the script above. Send the email.

Don't try to do all of them at once. Don't try to do the scariest one first. Start with the easy win, prove to yourself that the world doesn't end, and then work your way through the list.

Ninety days from now, your business is going to look meaningfully different. Not because you found a new lead source. Not because you launched a new offer. Because you stopped giving away your work for less every year and had the conversation you've been avoiding.

Five minutes per client. That's what stands between you and a real raise.

Have the conversation.

Want the DSG Pricing Audit Worksheet?

Reply to this email with the word PRICING and I'll send over the same one I walk through with private clients before we touch a single proposal.

No funnels. No fluff. Just the resource.

Talk Soon,

Dan

Dan Kaufman, Founder, Dead Simple Growth & Pinnacle Masters

Getting business funding shouldn’t feel like a second job. A simple application. A quick response. That’s it. No complicated steps or back-and-forth. Just a straightforward way to explore funding and connect with a specialist who can walk you through your options.

Make Funding Simple. Apply Now.

There are no fees, charges, or obligations associated with obtaining a pre-approval. Pre-approval does not constitute a funding commitment.