You're Worth It: Don't Be Scared to Raise Your Rates
You kick ass—as a freelancer, you should charge accordingly
One issue that I often see freelancers running into is not having the confidence to raise their rates. That's a shame, because if you work with good clients, they may well value your time higher than you do. But, since the only person advocating for higher rates is you, unless you ask, you're going to stay at those same old rates. So, how do you get to the point where you can confidently ask for, and expect to get more money?
Why freelancers don't value their time and skills more highly
Why don't freelancers value themselves more? It's an interesting question, which I think has several nuanced answers.
To start with, I suspect it's because there is a low barrier to entry to starting to freelance. There are thousands of courses out there from gurus that say freelance writing, or editing, or design, or illustration are quick and easy paths to riches. This is, of course, false. Just like many other professions, success as a content creator relies on curiosity, discipline, professionalism, relationships, and a little bit of luck.
But, the gurus and course creators never start with that point. As a result, there's the perception that freelancing is an easy-to-get-into, cheap marketplace. And because lots of people try to start freelancing, supply often outweighs demand, and pushes prices down.
Secondly, freelancing is an opportunity to do something you're great at. When you're great at something, it feels easy—perhaps even too easy. If it feels that easy, and you can get a lot done in a short period of time, why would someone else value that time highly?
Thirdly, and this is the big one, I think that a lot of content creators and freelancers lack the confidence to ask for more. Many of us are introverts, some of us suffer from anxiety or depression, some are neurodivergent. All of these areas can make it harder for us to see our value in the same way that someone else might. As a result, we end up downplaying our skills or not feeling that we're "worth it."
Your clients probably have a different perspective.
Your freelance clients often see you very differently from how you see yourself
Here's the thing. Good clients will often have a higher opinion of you and your skills than you do yourself. We often compare ourselves to an idealized version of how we could be, or a slightly misremembered version of who we were. Clients don't do that. All they care about is if we can add more value for them than the money they spend on our services.
If you create a logo that uniquely identified their business, it's that brand strength they care about. If I write a blog post that converts to $10,000 worth of revenue, it's that money that matters. Once you can do that consistently, clients would much rather stick with that proven value—and pay a little more for it—than to nickel-and-dime your pricing.
What was helpful to me was shifting my thinking to "How much value am I adding for my client?" And if you keep adding more value than what you're charging, then a good client will keep hiring you.
Ultimately, good clients want to keep good freelancers happy. And good freelancers make clients happy by solving problems and adding value.
Don't underestimate the value of being professional, reliable, and good at content creation
Clients do not love having to find new people to work with. The labor market is very tight at the moment, so it's becoming ever more difficult to hire and retain in-house, full-time talent. Your clients need to solve problems, and they need to do it fast—if they can find a good freelancer who can do the job, they'll probably stick with you until all of their needs are met.
You should never underestimate the power of being a "safe pair of hands." If you're a good communicator, you meet deadlines, and you tell clients about potential issues, you'll be further ahead than many other people. (Some freelancers can be flaky, clients hate that.) Reliability, consistency, and accuracy are massively important to busy people—and all clients are busy people.
In fact, that reliability, combined with some subject-matter expertise is worth paying for. And to many clients, it's worth paying a lot for. Clients also love freelancers who say "Yes" to things—because then they don't need to look for someone else. It's a great way to widen your skills and build trust.
So, think about ways you can make things easier, meet your commitments, and deliver good content, and you're most of the way there to raising your rates.
High-priced freelance services attract clients with high budgets
This seems a bit paradoxical, but it's true—you can create perceived value simply by charging more. I started out freelance writing charging around 10c - 15c a word. Now, seven years later, I charge anywhere between 60c and $1 a word, and my pipeline is always full. My work is not six times better now than it was seven years ago. But, the combination of what I do is worth paying six times more to clients who have specific needs, and who need the range of skills I provide.
Being confident about charging more can be very attractive—if you feel that you're worth that, and you can back it up with a portfolio, skills, and experience—then clients will perceive that value as well. The other critical part of this is that when you set high rates, then clients who won't pay those rates self-select themselves out of the running. There may be a rate that's "too high" for all clients, so you can't be reckless and charge ridiculous amounts (I don't see myself charging $3 a word any time soon!) But, it's very likely that you can significantly increase your rates without alienating new clients.
I think once we can shift our mindset around rates from "individual worth" to "business value," it makes it much easier to justify charging more.
How to actually raise your freelance rates
If you want some strategies to increase your rates, take a look at my guide on exactly that.
I hope you've found this helpful, and that it inspires you to go out there and earn what you're worth.
You kick ass. Go do. Tell others that they kick ass too.