Talked with a friend who quit her office job and it made me see my own rates differently...

She asked me how much I charge for a basic website, and when I said $800, she just stared and said 'That's less than two weeks of my old salary, for something that lasts years.' We were having coffee in Portland last Tuesday. It hit me that I've been pricing my work based on what other freelancers charge, not what it's actually worth to a client. How do you figure out your own pricing without just copying everyone else?

3 comments

3 Comments

spencer6642mo ago

Your friend nailed it. I used to do the same thing, looking at other people's prices. Now I start by asking what the project fixes for the client. If a website brings them ten new customers a month, that's worth a lot more than $800. Break down what they save in time or what they gain in sales. Price it as a piece of their business growth, not just hours you spend coding.

the_jason2mo ago

But what if the client just sees it as an $800 cost, not some big growth thing?

blair_green8621d ago

Yeah but the problem is most clients don't know their own numbers... they can't tell you how many customers their website brings in. So you end up guessing and they end up thinking you're making stuff up.