How to Price Your Freelance Projects - And Common Mistakes to Avoid
I’m a total money, self worth & communications nerd!
I love helping serial freelancers & side hustlers level up to high ticket business owners. I specialize specifically in helping womxn heal their relationship with money, scale from 3.5k to 10k months consistently & build businesses that feel good (aka, no more hustling & putting on a game face for work).
My approach to pricing is centered around building your business around YOU. Everything about your business - the services you offer, who you work with & how you price yourself coming from the inside, out (based off of what you really want, what feels great to you & how you work best) instead of the outside in (what the “market” says, what your clients want, what your parents/society say, etc.). Building your business around what other people want is a guaranteed road to undercharging & overgiving burnout. And this is also why I see people quitting their dreams or believing they’re “just not the kind of person” that’s cut out for this. When these things can be remedied with a simple reframe around pricing & packaging yourself.
Top 4 Pricing Mistakes I see pretty much every day
Pricing yourself based off of the market
Who even is “the market”? And why do they have the authority to tell you how much you’re worth?
Pricing yourself based off of what you *think* people can afford
How could you know what other people’s money situation is? Plus, no matter what their money story is, different people value different things - someone might think it’s worth it to spend a lot on cars so they’ll spend more on cars, while someone else who makes the same amount of money wouldn’t think it was worth it to spend a lot on cars but spend thousands on self care a month. Quite frankly, anyone else’s money situation or story is none of your business. It’s your job to stay focused on what you need, what you love to do & who you love to work with.
Not upping your prices as you gain new experience
Check in monthly to see how your prices feel - are you starting to dread work, a particular client or your work in general? Might be time for a price increase!
Charging hourly
Charging hourly automatically puts a cap on the amount you can make (why would we want to cap ourselves!) and it invites clients who are more likely to micromanage the time you’re spending on their projects instead of the results. Plus, why should you be punished for making quality work faster? Especially because the more experience you have, the faster & better the work you produce is. Why should that cost less?
How to find your perfect price as a freelancer
What is the value of the RESULT that you’re providing your clients?
Ex. If you’re a Social Media Manager, you’re not just creating content & researching hashtags - you’re helping your client finally be able to express themselves in a way that feels good, you’re growing their business so they can make more money, you’re giving them freedom so they can focus on doing what they love & helping their dreams come true.
How much is freedom, peace of mind, following your dreams & making more money worth? No matter what your price is, it’s a bargain in comparison to what your clients are getting
What amount would allow you to show up as your WHOLE SELF to do your work? Not anxious, not annoyed, not resentful towards your clients. Your shoulders are relaxed & you feel that you have plenty of space to move & express yourself (Because you’re the expert!)
Now, I know what you might be thinking - what about making my services accessible? Here’s the thing.
I know you’re really passionate about doing a really, really good job & you really care about helping other people, animals & the environment.
But if you price yourself so low that everyone else can afford you, but YOU don’t have enough to have your needs met, you are going to burn out. You’re going to get resentful towards the people that you were once excited to help (and start to hate them), you’ll start to get resentful towards the work you once were passionate about delivering & want to quit AND your physical & emotional needs will suffer.
And then you can help no one.