This will spare you untold agony. And it can shape your career for the better. Let me explain. We freelancers must occasionally endure a lot of crap that never besets our properly-employed bretheren. Such as the client who doesn’t send the damn check. Clients who can’t make up their minds. Clients who themselves can’t design [...]
Staying sane
They can’t do what you’re doing
Keep this top of mind. Especially on those days when you feel bullied about by some intimidating client. Or when you have to endure the friend who endlessly raves about her swell new job at this cool company where everybody makes a lot of money and they all get dental and there’s free sushi in [...]
How does it feel to work with you?
How do you look from the client’s side of the screen? What is it like to work with you on a project? Marketing people call that the customer experience. It’s the term for what it feels like to shop at a particular shoe store. How delightful it is to play with your new iPad. That [...]
To raise your game, raise your rates.
The conventional thinking goes like this: “Once I get more experience with ‘x’ and build up the portfolio, I’ll be able to charge more.” “As soon as a get a better feel for what clients like, I can get higher fees.” “When I sharpen my design philosophy a little, I can bump up my prices.” [...]
Why we don’t charge a lot more.
1. We’re afraid we won’t get the assignment. It will go to the cheaper guy. 2. We’re afraid of being laughed at. “How much? For that? Are you serious? Wow, you are way out of line here.” 3. We’re afraid the client will say yes to that big juicy fee, and holy crap we’ll actually [...]