Are you an underpaid and overworked freelancer? Want the number 1 fix that works for everyone who’s tried it? Here it comes..
Charge more.
Okay, we done here?
Ajrisa say’s we’re not done..
Apparently I need to flesh out my ideas and at least hit a word count before I’m done.
Apparently it’s better for SEO (I thought it was all about helping freelancers but.. y’know.. whatever..)
Eugh.
Okay, fine!
More money = Less time working
Ever wondered what a CEO does? It’s a lot of meetings and conversations and meetings and decisions. It’s not really work as you or I would know it. It’s what we’d consider to be the part of work that distracts us from the creative work we actually want to be doing.
CEOs of big companies do very little meaningful work but they get paid an eyewatering sum to do it. For anything meaningful they have someone who manages the people who manage the people who manage the people that do the actual work.
The idea behind this is that they’re so experienced and their opinion so valuable that they’re worth the big bucks. The reality is they spend a lot of time chatting and very little time doing.
They’re a perfect example of more money = less time working.
How it works for creative freelancers
The reality for creative freelancers like you and me goes like this, when you charge more per project you need fewer projects to get the money you need to live a happy life.
If you have a fixed amount you want to earn then fewer projects, charged at a higher rate means more time available for fun stuff.
It’s easily shown with a bit of arithmetic:
If you want to earn 50,000 per year and you charge 3000 for an average project
50000 ÷ 3000 = ~17 projects
If a project takes 10 days to complete
17 x 10 = 170 days
Now if you increase your prices by 10% and do it all again
50000 ÷ 3300 = ~15 projects
15 x 10 = 150 days
From a 10% increase in sale price you’ve gained 20 days of free time.
You can spend that relaxing, hanging with friends or use a few hours of that time every day to take up a morning routine that’s good for your health.
Alternatively you can have more time to work on your business. You can use the time to find ways to get more projects so you have even more money and can raise your prices further without fear of losing out financially.
But I can’t just up my prices!
Every single freelancer I’ve spoken to has uttered those words..
My reply, why not?
Says who?
Did your rent go up recently? The cost of food? Cost of transport? Have you looked at the price of gigs??
Everyone in the world is upping their prices, why can’t you? There is lots of money in this world, we just have to work with the people who have it. That’s for another post.
Few businesses will baulk at a 10% increase in price. If you have an existing relationship with a client, they like your work and you deliver what they want within the perimeters you agree to, then there’s little chance they’ll leave over a small increase.
If you haven’t increased your prices since before you knew what a coronavirus was, then I demand you increase them now. I demand it I say!
Want more free time? Charge more.
I’ve mentored freelancers who’ve come to me stressed, tired and so close to burnout I could smell their singed hair. It was an outrage how little they charged for such quality work. Charging just 10% more gave them breathing room, headspace to think clearly about what they wanted to do next. That was all they needed to set their career on a healthier, more sustainable path.
I implore you, dear reader, the next time a client asks how much it will cost, add 10% to the number in your head and see how easy it is to get more money and more free time.
Have you struggled to up your prices? Message me and let’s chat about it.
Orwell
