Pricing our work is hard. Let's face it, it's probably one of the suckiest parts of being a self employees or freelancing creative.

But why? Why is it so hard to ask for a fair price in exchange for our goods or services?

Well for one, we often equate money with self worth. Which isn't great when we pitch a price and hear "no" or "you're to expensive" (the answer to which should always be a resounding: "No, you just can't afford me. ")

In addition, we don't want to look greedy, especially when we're doing something creative, or meaningful in any way. We want to help or clients and customers, delight them and we certainly don't want to bankrupt them.

Plus, in most cases. .. No one has ever taught us how to charge! It was definitely left out of my university degree.

Fortunately, I've pieced together a pricing guide over the years, based on the multidude of mistakes I've made and dearly want you to avoid making in the future.

Let's start with the two main options we have to choose from when pricing our work:

1) By hour or day rate

Some advantages of this:

* We're compensated for the time we work

* If the project overruns or of questionable size, we're compensated

* If the client is new to us or if we're new to this kind of work, we can play it by ear rather than guessing or fee

Some problems with this approach:

* It's a bad incentive for working (the longer you take the more you make? Unethical!)

* For that reason, many clients get scared away

* Is also not fair on you: a big client with a massive budget can afford to pay you more because of the value you give them - and you should be rewarded for that

2) By the project

Some advantages:

* You can make a lot more money

Some disadvantages

* You can LOSE a lot more money

Ah, do you see the problem?

We're often told to move away from the price per hour model, and towards the project based model, and I'm no exception, most of the time i will choose the latter.

BUT. There are pitfalls with this route and I want to make sure that if you go down this route, you do it right!

Firstly, try not to make these two common errors:

#1 : Estimating the time we' ll take

This is like pricing ourselves by hour or day and then... shooting ourself in the foot.

This is because it's still unfair: we aren't larking into account the nature of the work, the client and worst of all: it can still overrun. What then? Turning around to a client and saying you need more money because you misquoted is the worst.

#2: Comparing ourselves to others

Starting out as a web designer, I'd do this a LOT. He's charging X? Guess I 'll charge the same.

It's just unhelpful. It leads us down the path of comparisonitis (again, not great for self esteem) and it's irrelevant: we bring our own flair, skill and personality to a client and we should charge accordingly (aka. whatever the heck we want)

Some more helpful criteria for determining accurate pricing, ask yourself these questions:

Do I like this client?

From past experience, getting along with someone is the #1 determining factor in how much I enjoy the work I do and how successful the outcome is.

If I sense they' ll be... 'difficult', I either reject the job or charge extra. Think of it as a 'douchebag tax.'

Does it sound like fun?

This sounds frivolous, but again it makes a lot of difference. There are jobs that are easy and dull, or difficult and fun. Even though I should charge more for the difficult job, I know I can be swayed to lower my rate if I really want to do the work.

What is the budget?

Top tip: ASK! Of course, a client often won't tell you (the 'cheap as possible' answer does my head in.) but it's always worth a thing: to save you both time.

The client might get in first and ask for a ' ballpark' figure. My tactic: give a BIG ballpark. Like, "could be between $500 and $5000 depending on the scope. I'll need a bit more info from you first."

What value are you providing?

This is key and a real game changer for me. Let's face it: a one-man-band business is likely going to make less cash from your service than a multibillion business. They'll also notice the hit it takes to their budget more.

This question also stopped me designing things I didn't 'believe'in. It turned me off from making websites purely as vanity projects (which they often are) and took me toward full marketing packages; educating my clients about online visibility, sales funnels and customer engagement.

Which brings me onto your final tip...

Tiered Pricing.

This means offering multiple (usually 3) options to your clients, which include a mixture of services or products (often referred to as 'bundles' or 'packages')

The advantages of this are:

#1 You're less likely to get the question of discounts, or a flat-out refusal. When you present options, you're subliminally telling the client know: you have an option for them.

#2 You can charge more: offering more benefits or support, you're up selling yourself and there's a good chance you'll make more than you originally intended!

ACTION STEP:

Think about how you're currently pricing your services. Are you doing yourself AND your clients a disservice by not offering a different pricing structure?

Where can you go above and beyond client expectations, and offer a range of packages in a tiered-pricing structure?

If you have any questions about this or want some feedback on your ideas, just email me: [email protected]