4 Signs It's Time To Raise Your Freelance Service Prices
When starting as a freelancer in your own business, you most likely set your rates far lower than they should be. When you're just starting in a field, likely, you won't have the necessary level of expertise or reputation to attract high-end customers and set your prices accordingly.
However, every successful and growing freelancer is at a natural turning point when it becomes apparent it’s time to boost your pricing to bring in and keep fewer customers of higher quality to make your schedule work for you.
As a young freelancer, as I developed the quality of my work, I became much busier, but had little or nothing to show for it. It was then I knew customers wanted my high-quality service and I knew not all of them were ready to pay for its value. So I boosted my productivity by raising my prices to get a reasonable valuation for my services.
Read on to explore the 4 signs it’s time for you to raise your freelance services prices.
1. Market Competition
Take a look around the market, what are you seeing? Don’t charge fifty dollars an hour if the going rate for newcomers in your field has moved to one hundred dollars an hour. If you have the talents necessary to be regarded in your field, charging less than others does not prove you can provide more than your competition; instead, it only demonstrates you are offering less.
This one has nothing to do with you at all. It comes down to ensuring the credibility of your sector is maintained. In most fields, there is a "what you may expect to pay" rate. You should aim to achieve this rate because if you don't, you will decrease the expectations of what consumers are getting from you, reducing your sector's financial development potential.
2. You Are Overwhelmed And Over Scheduled
Do you go through each week with the impression you are constantly falling behind? Do you find it challenging to perform obligations assigned to you on a daily or weekly basis? Even if you improve your organizational abilities and give yourself extra time off, the fact remains you are trying to do too much.
Raising prices often results in a momentary decrease in the number of customers. However, you should adjust your rates so that even if you lost 10% to 20% of your customers, you would still be generating more money than before the adjustment. If you have fewer customers but more time on your hands, you will be able to improve the quality of the service or product you provide and experience less stress due to competing commitments.
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3. You Are Procrastinating
You have reached a point in your career when previously difficult tasks are suddenly child's play; you know what you are doing. If you are putting off working on things you no longer need to exert much effort to complete and you don't seem to like them as much as you used to, or they just aren’t fun and interesting anymore, it’s time to evaluate exactly why are you procrastinating.
It's essential to realize your experience and skill have developed so you no longer may be interested in some of the entry level projects you enjoyed when first starting you’re freelance business. Time becomes a commodity and how you spend it affects how you feel fulfilled and engaged in work.
If you are spending loads of time doing things you don’t really want to do, ask yourself why? If it’s because of money, start charging more so you can eventually start doing less of the things you don’t want to do anymore and more of the things you do want to do.
4. Long-Term Clients
If you’ve been consistent with giving your clients a high-quality delivery and you’re sure they’re happy with your performance and more assignments keep coming through on a regular basis, it’s time to raise your prices.
All you need to do is make them see how you've developed and how your services are better than before and why they should pay more! Build your case and be ready to stand your ground. No one likes to pay more for the same service but in longer term client relationships, if you don’t raise your rates regularly, you are falling behind the market and leaving money on the table.
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Meet The Writer!
Hi there, Favour here! I am a creative freelancer with a great wealth of experience as a content writer, copywriter and a graphics designer. I have worked with different individuals, businesses and organizations mostly in the freelancing space. I have a personal goal of adding value to companies and brands with my professional skills. For me, work is synonymous with creativity. It doesn’t matter whether I'm creating content or working on designs, I believe in giving my best efforts to tasks at hand. I also enjoy photography (check my Instagram) and exploring new places. Why not connect with me via LinkedIn? I'm waiting :)
