Inspired by one of my readers, Melissa A who asked how to set the price point as a freelancer, which is very important to start off your freelancing career right, I decided to write a post about it.
Other than how to find your clients, another perplexing problem is how to determine your worth. To help you with that, there are a few questions you need to ask yourself. After all, we are all offering different services, from writing to telemarketing, to data research and web programming, to web designing and many others.
What is your experience?
This matters whether you are a newbie or you have actual working world experiences in the service you are offering. If you are a fresh graduate or a newbie, your rates should reflect that versus if you have relevant experiences, you can ask for a higher rate.
What is your track record?
There is a difference if you have published work under your name or if you are only beginning to experiment. The more you have got to show, the more the clients are willing to pay you.
Tip: If you have a personal website or personal branding, you will fare better with your clients.
Who are you?
Whether you are a fitness enthusiast or a fashionista, it will come into play for certain projects. Sometimes, the clients want a certain someone that is subject matter expert or in line with their company’s culture (yes, even though you are working offsite). A yoga studio might prefer someone who practices yoga to do telemarketing while a pet food company will hire an animal lover to design their website, not only because you know their customers but you are their targeted customer as well.
Where you come from?
The country you are in and the languages you have matters in the rates. Clients usually prefer you to be native in your the language you need to serve in. If you are bilingual or trilingual, your rates will be higher if translation is required.
Research Is The Key
Next up is to do a little homework of your own. Search around the web for a few freelancing platforms like Fiverr.com, Upwork.com and Freelancer.com just to name a few. Look at the bottom feeders and the top cream of the crop.
How much are they charging? Do they have ongoing clients? What their clients’ reviews say about their work?
All these will take into the factor on how you are going to price your services.
When You Determined Your Rates
Ask yourself honestly how long will it take you to complete the job to the client’s satisfaction? Is your rate worth the hours you going to put in?
Last but not least, don’t be afraid to adjust your rates. Knowing your rates are not fixed, you can test out the market’s response to it. Some clients do approach you to negotiate your rates. Listen to them and work your rates accordingly. I do lower my rates if I find a project interesting enough that I want to put into my profile or I think it will challenge my skills.
I hope the above will help those who don’t know where to start off with charging their freelancing services. Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
If you are thinking about starting as a freelancer, these are some of the articles that may help you:
7 Ways To Supplement Your Freelancing Income Regularly
Bad Habits You need to Change if You want to become a successful freelancer
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Hi miss Kally. Could you please help me out with some tips regarding how I can monetize my site? Wordads pays like $1.26 a month despite me getting nearly 2000-3000 unique visitors a month.. Any kind of advice is highly sought..
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Actually the best ways to monetize your site is through product write ups. Pay-per-click, referral, pop up advertising are usually slow and they pay very little unless your website is as popular as Buzzfeed. I don’t usually bother with these because they add very little value to my audience. For product write ups and endorsement, you can get anywhere from USD$50 to USD$300 per article but you’ll need to find the clients yourself. If you go through media houses, they usually will take a huge cut, leaving you almost nothing. To find clients, you can network around, go to networking events, knock on newly start ups websites offering your service. All these takes work and a little bit of luck.
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Thank you so much for this timely advice. I will work on it for sure and get back to you as to how it goes.
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Please feel free to drop me an email at kally@MiddleMe.net if you need any further advice. Always happy to help.
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Thank you so much. I will do for sure. Really appreciate it.
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Good advice. Do you have a post on how to establish yourself as a freelancer?
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Thank you! Yes, I have plenty of articles regarding my journey as a freelancer. It is all under the Freelancer Tab.
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Brilliant as always, my friend…
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Thanks a lot, my friend.
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Great post!
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Thank you!
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You’re welcome😊
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This is just what I needed to read!!! Thank you for compiling such a helpful list of things to consider!! As someone starting out, I really had nowhere to start. Thank you thank you!!!
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You’re most welcome! And thank you for letting me know that this post helped you. Best of luck in your new journey!!!
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Merci Kally,
Joyeux Noël et bonnes fêtes de fin d’année. Bises.
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This is really good advice. I think you and your readers will enjoy this post on knowing your worth
https://reallifeofanmsw.com/2016/02/10/know-your-financial-worth-pages-of-a-career-journal
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Thank you for sharing a wonderful post of yours with us
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Merry Christmas and Wish your Happy New Year 2018:D
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Have an awesome and amazing Merry Christmas!!!
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Thank you for sharing this out!
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