What you quote for an assignment will send strong signals to a new client. Or a potential client.
Your fee gives off subtle clues about the quality of your work, where you fit among other freelancers. It will even color how much the client likes what you deliver.
Most of us, most of the time, are leery of losing out on good work by quoting too high.
Fact is, you can also miss out on jobs by charging too little.
There are plenty of clients out there who will pass you by because you’re too cheap.
“Is this guy working at a folding table in his basement, or what?
“At those rates, she can’t be very good.”
“He obviously doesn’t understand what’s involved here.”
Clients who think like that are gold. Those are the clients looking for world-class work, for smart people who can solve problems, for stuff that must be good. And they usually need a lot of it. You do not want to turn them off with WalMart prices.
You can buy a beach house with a stable of true fans like that.
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This was a problem that I had when I first started out with freelancing. It’s very hard to find the right balance when it comes to your prices.
WaltKania,
The challenge is to identify such clients before meeting them.
When you have two different pricing models: the riskiest pricing model and this one. When to use which?
Thank you for the awesome articles.
How to identify such clients? Three clues:
1. They’re rather large
2. They use a lot of stuff. Lot of content, projects, products, marketing.
3. And it’s well done.
The ‘pay what it’s worth’ idea is ONLY for clients where you have solid, long-term relationships. Where they stand to gain if the project comes out stunningly well. And only certain types of projects. It’s a option.
And thanks for reading.
Well, I’m still in the freelance game.
Almost two months in, my current pricing strategy is “what feels right” with a slight lean towards “I need to pay the bills”.
I have a rate, but I knead it into what it has to be. The other day I took a punt at how much pain I could fix with a couple hours work, and added a little more – the client was still happy with the price, I made an hour or two more money and the stuff I fixed really helped.
In a meeting for a new project they wanted a ballpark figure on the spot, after a quick mental panic and a few “about 3 weeks sums” I came up with a comfy number and then created an accurate quote that floated tentatively below it and above it if they wanted additional features.
I think I read it here, but I do find that at the moment pricing is just designing nice looking numbers.
Andy: Good to hear you’re busy and quoting. Nice work.
Rule of thumb: If you’re forced to ballpark, go way high. If they choke, you can always say, “Let me look at this more closely, and I’ll have a better idea.” Plus, the ‘high’ figure makes your more carefully figured number look better. It’s the ‘anchoring effect.’ The $499 iPad looks like a bargain, compared to the $999 one.
Keep plugging.
With a ballpark is it safe to be vague? In my head it makes sense, because a ballpark IS vague but would it be better to be more solid?
Eg: I went with 4000-5000, but would a straight 5K have been better?
Agree with the anchoring, will keep it in mind! Wasn’t there a post about that here somewhere…
In your example you quoted 4000-5000. So I am betting you wanted to say 5000, but you were afraid it would scare them off so you threw in the 4000 figure.
I have noticed that most clients gravitate towards the lowest number, so you set yourself up to do the work for 4000. If you had only quoted 5000, you set yourself up at that price.
Yep, for new clients it will be well-researched pricing; for old clients it will be an open ended ‘as you like’ pricing as an acknowledgement of the relationship and their judgment.
Thank you, WaltKania, for clarifying this.
I’ve had one client only who was shocked at my small rates. My portfolio did speak of some excellent skills and he was amazed my pricing is that low. I explained I am working from home, I am in a country where 200 USD is not bad at all (many have this as a monthly wage), that I am building portfolio in that site too and had to drop my rates. He was very pleased with the work and he gave me a 100% bonus and a 5 star rating.
I did meet guys who’d want a unique wordpress design for 50 and a lot of agencies that have no issues charging their clients HUGE prices, but would expect me to do all the work for 100 USD.
So it’s debatable. I lost jobs for being the highest bidder, I lost in front of higher bidders. Clients do look closely to prices, but the ratings and an excellent portfolio can convince better. At least this is the type of clients I want to get, those who can tell a good design from a bad one.
I’ve learned to stick to my rates (for the most part) when clients would prefer lower pricing. It probably all balances out in the end… charging less, working more and charging more, working less, that is.
Haha… I can’t help but laugh at your statement: ” You do not want to turn them off with WalMart prices. ” Sad, but true. many freelancers on the web think that to break into the market, a dollar an hour work will justify their needs. This is crazy. Where have all the quality clients gone? I think you are right about your point. Pricing reflects confidence and self-worth. Sometimes, people don’t want to charge more so they’ll be less accountable when something goes wrong. Still, pricing will always be a sensitive matter to most.