Deciding How to Price Your Freelance Services

Freelancers live the perpetual Catch 22. On one side of the equation, freelancers have to fight for their own business. Often times, freelancers adopt a “I’ll take any customer by any means necessary” approach to gain new customers; even if this includes taking on new work at rock bottom pricing.

On the other side of the equation, freelancers have to worry about their perception. If they price themselves too low, employers may think that their work is cheap, if they price themselves too high, they may not gain new business at all. What’s a freelancer to do? Well, you can do this: read on to learn tips on how to price your freelance services!

Check the Rates of Your Competition

Have you heard of the adage ‘keep your friends close and your enemy’s closer’? While your competition may not be your mortal enemy, it is a good idea to see the pricing of their services.

You need to take the time to learn the prices of your competition so you can offer competitive pricing. Learning the price of your competition is a business practice that many successful companies employ to make sure they can compete in the market place.

Please keep in mind to check your entire competition. Some freelancers that you will inspect will already be offering rock bottom pricing to attract new customers. Be sure not to fall into the trap of only looking at a small set of examples so you can see what the true industry standard is.

Sell Your Service Not Your Time

When you’re a freelancer, the game is different. You can’t think like you are a normal, happy-go-lucky 9-5 employee. As a freelancer, time is the most beneficial asset that you have, the more work you can get done in an hour, the more money you will be paid. That being said, whenever possible charge your services by project, not by the hour.

Think about it; let’s say you’re a freelance writer and you are paid by the services performed. In this example let’s say you found yourself a job writing for a newspaper that will pay you after you finish writing an article. This means every article that you complete is a paycheck. So if you are able to complete two articles in an hour, you are essentially doubling your paycheck.

If you were paid by the hour, working hard wouldn’t reward you. When you are paid by the hour, you are more likely to work slower, so you can make more money. This practice is a not a good way to boost your income because you won’t have the motivation to take on more work.

Price Yourself On Your Value

Many personal finance blogs preach the same message: price yourself on your value; that’s how you can become a freelancer that pays yourself well! Never forget that your work is providing value for a company. If you perform really good work, you deserved to be paid well! Every top-earning freelancer has this mindset and you should, too. Learning from the best is the only way to pull ahead.