How to price your work to earn five times more each month.

I am frequently asked how freelancers should price their services when working with clients.

What should your price be? Where does one begin?

How do you set a price that keeps a client interested, maximizes the amount of money you receive for your planned (or completed) work, and allows you to maintain your self-respect?

I've been an illustrator for nine years and have provided a variety of other services for which I've received payment over a number of years.

When determining my fees, I have never referred to a specific template. I've always relied more on instinct than on instructions, but I've learned to keep the following in mind:

The price you establish should not be determined solely by the client.

Price is a tool that you have complete control over and that demonstrates the value of your creative expertise.

You are not trading actual time for cash. It's significantly more than that, especially as you gain experience.

The best freelancers recognize that although they estimate the amount of time it will take to complete a project, this "time" expense does not define them or their rate. You should be included.

Your price is not solely based on the "quality" of your work.

It reflects everything else you have invested in your brand and business over time, such as your professionalism, authority, influence, client alignment and targeting, and the countless hours you spent developing a style.

Never forget that you are responsible for your own overhead and expenses, which cannot be ignored.

These expenses include rent, taxes, computer costs, and everything else necessary to operate your business.

The price you charge must reflect all of this, and you will need to negotiate as much as possible.

This is negotiation, and you will get better at it with time and practice.

Always consider your price in terms of the need that your service satisfies.

For instance, what is the value of an image that directly aids a business in gaining thousands of new followers?

If you can solve a problem for someone willing to pay anything, you are irreplaceable. This is obviously an exaggeration, but it does apply to a lesser degree.

This is why billing by the hour is typically not a viable option for you.

Too much emphasis is placed on the notion that you are simply exchanging real time for money and not enough on your intrinsic value.

If you charge by the hour, clients will compare you to other, lower-value workers and may be turned off if your value does not compare.

Instead, you adopt a "value-led pricing structure" (thanks to Liam at "Freelance Lift"), which means that the price you charge is based on the client's results, as supported by your value, rather than the minute-by-minute time you spent on it.

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When determining the price for a project, you should consider this.

Which outcomes will your work have for the client?

Based on your knowledge or estimation of their budget, how much is this item worth to them?

You believe in your work and understand how you are a real solution to a problem; therefore, you believe in the results it can produce and the price you set.

Avoid being a wage slave. Position yourself so that you can comfortably set your own prices.

I understand that it may be more difficult to negotiate a fee that exceeds a client's budget in certain industries, such as editorial illustration.

But with greater value and effective client acquisition, you will be in a better position to have more prospect options and to choose the quality clients you want to work with who "get it," as opposed to those who don't.

With variety comes the ability to charge premium prices. Aiming high may limit your options, but it will always place you in a favorable light in terms of your worth and limits.

A few times in the past, I was forced to reduce my prices because I was out of inventory.

This is why I've always worked to keep prospects aware of me and my income flowing, so that I have options and am not forced to make decisions out of desperation.

For longer-term projects, aim to charge in installments for "blocks" of completed work to avoid having to charge by the hour if possible.

The greater your understanding of your value, the more you will communicate it to yourself when setting prices, as well as to prospects and clients.

Always be aware of your value and the benefits you provide; continually increase your value; and seek out clients who can initially afford your prices.