Don't let your freelancing career die
Sunday January 11, 2009
What I found interesting about Jon Bergan's Top 10 reasons why design firms fail article was that a lot of the reasons surrounded pricing. But not pricing too high. In fact, his top 2 reasons are that designers are undercharging for both the quality and quantity of work they are putting out. This is so true! Many beginners get so focused on getting clients that they slash their prices to the bone and beyond. But if you take that metaphor to its gory conclusion, well, you're slitting your wrists when you do that. The other 8 reasons are all important to think about as well, but if you undercut yourself in your pricing, you won't last long.
Comments
I’ve been a web designer for 9 years and last year I did raise my prices. I got just as many jobs and I was a LOT happier with the jobs I got. You get a different quality of client when they are paying more.
One mistake I will NOT make again is working for little or nothing up front and getting paid a percentage on the back end. Now I never start a job until there is money (at least a portion of the job) in my account.
The third point on not charging for changes relates very closely with the first two on pricing. The first free “just a little change” is often followed by a request for another “little change”. Not charging for changes can easily turn into an unending series of “little changes” which end up sucking up huge amounts of time.
Correcting any errors that I’ve made is free; client-requested changes aren’t.