If you re a freelancer, you know how hard this can be to figure out on your own! WHAT IN THE H*** DO I CHARGE AS A FREELANCER? Find out how to set your rate, stop undervaluing yourself and get paid what you re worth! by Ken Westgaard #SetYourFreelanceRate
Who Wrote This? Hi there, my name is Ken Westgaard and I m the author of this book as well as being a Digital Strategy Consultant. I run KISSmedia and I write a journal about my journey towards success. I have been where you are right now. You re just starting your freelance career and there s a world of information to take in. There s no need for you to go searching the entire web when you can learn from my struggling years. In the last year I ve been learning from the best guys in our industry and I put it together in this book. I ve joined the courses of Brent Weaver ($10K Bootcamp), Brennan Dunn (Double Your Freelancing Rate and The Blueprint), Troy Dean (WPelevation), Ramit Sethi (Earn1K, Successful Triggers and Dream Job), just to name a few. 1 - What in the h*** do I charge as a freelancer?
IT S OKAY TO TALK ABOUT MONEY
Don t undervalue yourself First things first... Stop calling yourself a Freelancer, seriously! Right Now! You didn t decide to become a Freelancer, instead you chose to start your own business. Am I right? This is about changing your mindset and it s crucial for your how you will be perceived by your clients in the future. Now that I ve gotten that out of my system (and yours hopefully), it s okay to talk to your potential prospects about money. I mean, we do this all the time, whether you go to the store to buy some milk or if you re shopping for new clothes (which I almost never do, probably a guy thing...). And when you do, it s it pretty straight forward. You pay what the register says and you walk home, happy as a cucumber! As a Freelancers we often don t see the value of our own work. In many situations we re desperate for more work. And when we are, we ll undercharge just to get that contract signed (you do use contracts, right?) and we end up kicking yourself for losing money. 3 - What in the h*** do I charge as a freelancer?
But why do we undercharge? But why do we undercharge? The client asks how much you charge, and when you tell them they respond with Wow, that s expensive or something like that. Your first thought after this is Are you kidding me?. BUT two seconds later you reply with but we can talk about it, giving in without even batting an eye. This is is why we fail and end up undercharging. When you ve changed your mindset to being a business owner, you ll learn to just say no. You won t negotiate on price. If they think your price is high, you will politely direct them to someone who will happily do the work. The chances are that they would like you to do the work once they realise you re a businessman/-woman, but they have a lower budget. Then you talk about how you can fit the project to the budget. They won t get the entire package, but they ll still get something. You can also split the project into phases to make it easier for the client. Makes sense, doesn t it? Ask what they need Instead of jumping straight into how much it will cost, take a few minutes talking about what they actually need, ask questions. How can you possibly know what to charge if all they tell you is that they need a website. If give a price right then and there, you ll be tied down to that price no matter what you do. They will hold you to that price and they will add things to the project that you didn t think of when you told them the price. 4 - What in the h*** do I charge as a freelancer?
Get to know their budget early on You want to get to know what their budget is as early as possible, but don t let that be the first thing you ask. You would want to ask them about their budget only after you ve talked about what they need. Otherwise the client might feel that you re trying to screw them. By understanding their budget you ll be able to give them better options in your proposal. Give the prospect a price range You can t avoid talking price forever, but when you get to the point of talking price don t use specific numbers. Give them a price range, say $2,000 to $4,000 (if you think the project might end up around $2,500). When you do this, it will give you some room for adjusting the price as you ll learn more about the project. There s a lot of variables to account for, so don t be afraid to give them a price range. If anything you ll prove to them that you actually care about their needs and not trying to do just a quick fix. 5 - What in the h*** do I charge as a freelancer?
AVOIDING COMMODITISATION
What is commodity When you see two services that provides the exact same thing, but one of them is slightly cheaper than the other one. They will both get you what you need, which one would you choose? You would go for the cheaper option. Why wouldn t you, you re getting what you need and you save money. If the pricier option were to survive they would have to compete on price. Let s use an example on web design. Why should someone pay you $100 an hour if some other guy can do the same job for $20 an hour? You are both providing the same service, what makes you worth paying 5 times more? Are you 5 times better than the other guy? If someone told you this you would probably lower your rate and suddenly you have become a commodity for competing on price instead of clarifying the value you bring. 7 - What in the h*** do I charge as a freelancer?
The problem is the word Freelance Like I mention in the beginning, the word Freelance comes with certain expectations. Being a freelancer is often being seen as cheap way of getting something done. It s a commodity. It doesn t imply you ll deliver any results. It s just someone you ll rent do get a job done. If you position yourself to strategically growing a business by using the right design work, you re no longer seen as commodity. You want be their partner and trusted advisor. They are your clients, not a customers. A customer is someone who purchases commodity goods. So what do you call yourself You could simply change freelancer with professional. That alone sets you apart from all of the other freelancers out there. Or you could take it a bit further and go for something like consultant. It can be associated with high priced corporate consultants that know how to talk, but not produce. But it s still a lot better than freelancer! It really comes down to what you put in front of this word. Remember that you re providing value in some way, use that. Play with it, brainstorm, be creative. Although not too creative. 8 - What in the h*** do I charge as a freelancer?
GOING FROM A FREELANCER TO A PROFESSIONAL
Adding value to your work and to your client You are not alone in your industry, in fact it s an extremely competitive one. There s plenty of talent and drive out there. Still there are those who are able to rise to the challenge, those who barely are hanging on and those who vanishes into oblivion. So how do you become of the successful ones? Add more value to your clients. Don t just offer your services, but also give valuable advice, suggestions and insight to your clients on how they can improve their business. In the case of web design, it s not just about design. It s also about understanding your clients customers and helping your clients gain success. When your clients have success, you will also become successful. There are some other important factors that comes into play as well. If you only work with clients you love working with and focus on what you re passionate about, you ll start to see opportunities and you ll become more inspired and productive. 10 - What in the h*** do I charge as a freelancer?
Find yourself a niche for your business I know this sound terrifying. You re afraid that if you do this, you ll end up missing out on precious projects, you re limiting yourself.. The fact of the matter is that selecting a niche will open more opportunities. You ll be able to connect with your audience and really speak to their pains and problems. You ll have much deeper understanding of what strategies, methods, new trends, and other things that are happening inside your niche. Eventually you ll become the expert in that niche. People will listen and look up to you, making you the go to guy. Value your own time Your time is important. That is why you need to choose carefully who you work with. If you don t see a long term relationship down the line with a certain client, you ll probably be better of turning down the project and focus on projects that will give you more value. Also don t forget to charge properly for the time you spend with a client. It s easy to forget to charge for something as simple as project management. A couple of phone calls, emails, meetings, etc will amount to quite a few hours before you know it. Learning how to and when to delegate work can be quite valuable. You can t do everything on your own, and you re not an expert on everything. There s most likely someone who could do a better job than you on certain tasks. It ll make your job easier and more productive. 11 - What in the h*** do I charge as a freelancer?
Now you ve gotten a teaser of what this book offers and now it s up to you whether you want to be something more than just a freelancer. Sound advice and insight for freelancers looking to make that step up and tackle the difficult subject of pricing your services. Greg White MULTI-DISCIPLINARY DESIGNER A great read. I wish I had this book starting out. CJ Andrew WORDPRESS/WOOCOMMERCE SPECIALIST You ll use it as a handbook when you need help to focus. Veronika Berg PASSIONATE WEB DESIGNER Skip your Grande Latte just this one time and grab your copy of the book instead. You ll invest 45 minutes of your time for a lifetime worth of valuable information. by Ken Westgaard #SetYourFreelanceRate