freelancing rate

How to negotiate a better freelance rate, without negotiating

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Photo by mentatdgt from Pexels If you’re a freelancer, the chances are that the prospect of negotiation fills you with dread. When we hear that word, a pretty clear and consistent picture is conjured, and it goes something like this. You state your price, they laugh and counter with something far lower, you gulp and wish you’d never gone in so high (even though it wasn’t) and reluctantly agree to work for pennies. That’s the perception, but there’s no reason that it needs to be the reality. Life as a sole business owner is tough enough without having to fear that any conversation about money is doomed before it begins. But if you shy away from discussing money, you’ll probably miss out on lots of opportunities to charge more effectively and ultimately command a higher rate. Establish a bare minimum The first time someone asks you how much it costs for a logo, you might experience a frisson of excitement followed by panic. Usually, the price that we pluck from the sky is about as much as we feel comfortable asking for, without risking the other person baulking and rescinding the offer in disgust. That’s not an effective way to price any kind of creative work and certainly doesn’t make it financially sustainable. Instead, as a bare minimum, you need to be fully aware of what your overheads are and have a feel for how long the piece of work might take. Whether you opt for an hourly/daily rate, a flat/project fee or a value-based approach, without first knowing what a realistic baseline is, you stand to make freelance life harder than it needs to be. The good news is that you can work all of this out before speaking to any client. The first and most challenging part of the process of charging effectively is calculating a base rate that honestly and adequately compensates you for your time and skills. Often, that first assessment of the numbers is daunting as they seem so large. Don’t let that put you off. Your annual salary expectations need to be based on the assumption that you won’t be working every single day of the year. You should also account for the tax that you’ll pay on your earnings and the savings you’ll need to make along the way. For a swift ballpark figure, you can use a tool like this , but be sure to drill down those numbers to make sure you’re accounting for all outgoings. Understand the value of your work As a creative freelancer, quite often, you’ll be in a situation where a potential client dramatically undervalues your work in a monetary sense. Don’t take it personally and don’t see it as a fixed position. There is a broader cultural perception that you’re up against here and no doubt you’ve experienced it before. Non-creatives often seem to frame what you do as “hobby-ish” or somehow not real work. One of the primary goals of any potential first meeting […]

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