The thing that makes or breaks most freelancing careers is learning how to accurately set prices and then iterate on those to continually, adequately, represent the value you bring to the marketplace. In this guide, we'll explore key strategies to help you raise your prices online effectively and maximize your earning potential. 1. How to know what to charge for Freelance Work? Understanding the market value of your skills and services is essential. Research industry standards and comparable rates to ensure you're pricing yourself competitively while accounting for your expertise and experience. You can do this by practicing buyer empathy. Imagine you are hiring yourself to do a project, and find someone that can replace you. This is a good way to learn how much to charge for your freelance work. Depending on your expertise and experience you may be able to charge a premium as you've specialized in something particularly valuable to a particular client. If you have done this, you're able to command a much higher price that what's known as the 'commodity' freelancers. I know... its a messed up term. But that's exactly how non-specialized, low quality services, that can't be easily separated are viewed by consumers generally. Think about going to buy pencils... Do you ever actually care about the shop you get the pencil at? Or do you just want the pencil?
Now imagine that you're a pencil collector, and there is a specific shop that has the specific brand of pencil that you're looking for...
They can charge UNGODLY amounts more than a general pencil shop.
Key takeaway :
The more seasoned, skilled and specialized you are, the more you can justify charging higher rates.
2. Price your services based on Impact and Professionalism
In addition to showcasing your technical skills, highlight your ability to be a good co-worker. You should be tracking and quantifying your traits like communication, reliability, and teamwork when pitching to clients. Soft skills are just as relevant to clients as hard skills in many cases. Your outstanding metrics in soft skills like communication and reliability can easily be displayed in the form of client testimonials and ratings. I'm personally a huge fan of the star system, 5 out of 5 stars is always impressive, but be honest about it. Don't fabricate these results. Actually find a way to measure these like through the use of google forms, so you can have hard data to speak with confidence when pitching. You can use these high ratings of your competence and soft skills to justify charging a higher price as consistent, proven, excellence is always worth more than a risky, lower cost product of the same quality. As for your actual technical skills, in whatever field you work in, these should also be measured and supported by data. Knowing the key things that your particular niche of clients are looking for, could give you some guidance on what should be measured.
3. Finding the Right Pricing Structure This depends largely on your expertise and ability.
If you're a beginner, meaning less than 1 year actually doing the activity that you're selling, you should be debating the merits of fixed price contracts, versus hourly contracts, based on the length of time it takes you to get a project done, relative to the quality of work being delivered (I'll explain below)* and figuring out how to submit proposals that win business consistently without lowering your prices.
*Here's a quick example of what I meant above - The longer you practice a skill, the faster you're able to execute on that skill. In my case the skill was video editing. At an hourly rate, I would make $25 per hour but I'd finish the work relatively quickly, which meant that the client was getting a much higher quality product, at a lower cost, because I finished work more quickly. At this point I began charging fixed prices that were above my estimated earnings on an hourly rate, rather than increase the hourly rate itself.
A 10 hour project previously would have earned me $250 ($25 x 10Hours), however at this level I was able to assume how long a project would take, then add in additional time and cost, in a way that was fair to the client, such as revisions, bonus offers and clearly state profit margins as well (some people are uncomfortable with this, but I simply placed it as a line item) and suddenly a 10 Hour project became $500 with almost no additional work, but absolutely additional risk of clients refusing to work with me, or demanding more things that were beyond the project scope.
If you're a bit more seasoned as a freelancer and in your craft, consider alternative pricing models, such as value-based pricing, percentage-based models, or retainer agreements.
It's been my experience that some are MUCH harder sells than others, but once the model matches the clients needs, it becomes much easier to sell. Each model has its advantages and may better align with your services and client preferences. You should find raising your fee a bit easier if the model brings more value to the client, rather than simply getting more expensive.
4. Targeting Ideal Clients and Solving Their Problems
Identifying the ideal client for your services is crucial. Tailor your marketing efforts to target individuals or businesses who value your expertise and have specific problems your skills can solve. By addressing their unique challenges, you position yourself as a valuable partner rather than a commodity.
This comes with the dual benefit of the client finding someone to solve their specific issue, and you being able to charge a higher fee for being someone that specializes in solving that problem.
The way you position yourself in the market is more important than the actual skill you have for attracting the customer, but don't be dishonest, the skill along with the positioning is what allows a successful business to exist, so focus on both!
5. Strategic Approach to Free Work and Overcoming Scarcity Mindset There's a phrase I love by The Minimalists - " The fastest way to give yourself a raise is to spend less " but if we were to find the freelancer equal opposite, it would be something like,
"The fastest way to cut your salary is to do free work" While strategic free work can be beneficial for portfolio building or establishing credibility, it should never be used to retain clients who cannot afford your services. Or with clients that have unrealistic expectations but pay well. This has happened in my own career twice, both times were for clients that paid significantly above what I considered my market rate at each time, but by the time I factoredin all the additional communications, the non-recorded work that I'd have to do to make sure things are ready, and the firm boundaries they'd put on hours they could afford despite reaching out to me over email, or messaging applications, asking for last minute tweaks... I should have seen the signs for obvious abuse, but I was blinded by the $$.
Embrace an abundance mindset and prioritize clients who recognize and are willing to pay for the value you provide. Boundaries is something that I've learned to establish early and Respect is something that I've come to expect in abundance.
Remember, scarcity mindset can lead to undervaluing yourself and accepting less than you deserve. The clients that value you and what you have to offer, are the easiest to work with.
Conclusion: Raising your freelance rates is not just about increasing your income; it's about recognizing and valuing your worth in the market. By strategically assessing your value, selling your impact, adopting the right pricing structure, targeting ideal clients, and approaching free work strategically, you can confidently raise your rates and achieve greater success in your freelance career.
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