As a freelancer you might struggle when it comes to pricing your work, especially at the initial stages of your freelancing life. Do you charge by the hour? Or per project? Below are some tips on how to price yourself as a freelancer:

 

1 ) Get your first 3 paying clients, and be flexible with their pricing: Your first 3 clients can be anyone, your family, friends, or a small business client. Don’t worry about the pricing too much, for now it’s about building your portfolio and spreading the word through them. Make sure to ask them to review you and share your work on their marketing platforms.

 

2) Charge based on deliverables: Charging by the hour might get tricky. Clients might get anxious when it comes to the amount of time spent on a deliverable and refuse to pay. Therefore, it is always recommended to charge based on deliverables: once a deliverable is completed, the payment needs to be settled before moving on to the next one.  

 

 

 

3) The drop 3 zeros method: How much should you charge? Simple. Research what your annual income would have been if you were employed full time, drop 3 zeros, and that’s your hourly rate. For example, if you would have earned an annual income of $70,000 then your hourly rate would be $70. Back to point #2, split that up into deliverables, and that would be your rate.

 

 

 

4) Make sure your prices are comparative to similar freelancers in the industry: Lowballing your prices might harm your brand and your reputation. Do the research and make sure your pricing is comparative. Don’t forget, in the freelancer world, time is money, hence spending time on low budget projects will take time away from finding quality clients.

 

 

 

5) Quality over Quantity: Even though it might be difficult to say no, sometimes it’s better to do so in order to protect your freelancing persona. Say no to low offers, and spend your time looking for the ones that fit.