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Freelancers are screwing themselves over…

Not charging what they’re worth.

What they may not realize is having low prices only:

• Makes your work seem less valuable

• Makes you look unprofessional and amateurish

• Attracts the nit-picky clients who don’t know what they want and never pay on time.

Raising prices is scary…

I get it.

Our most common self-limiting beliefs are:

• I’m not ready

• I don't have enough experience

• I'm not good enough

I’ve struggled with these a lot.

…especially around pricing.

Today, I’ll tell you about the limiting beliefs I’ve had — and the solutions I’m using to overcome them.

How I Raised My Rates by 400%

A while back, I knew it was time to start charging more.

I had been learning from coaches, studying the pros, and talking to other freelancers.

…and realized I was undercharging for my work.

So with one new client, I was able to charge 400% more!

I quoted $2,500 to design his logo and identity.

(Before that, I was only charging around $300–500.)

Quoting that much for the first time scared the shit out of me!

Surely, he was going to say it was too expensive, right?

Wrong!

He accepted the offer.

My jaw hit the floor.

I’ll Never Sell Myself Short Again

The project went super smooth.

I got a fantastic testimonial…

And a few months later, he even wanted another logo done!

Sweet!

Talk about validation!

From then on, I never sold myself short again.

As I started attracting bigger and better clients…

I wondered why I hadn’t raised my rates sooner!

My Limiting Beliefs and How I’m Squashing Them

I’d like to tell you about some of the sabotaging thoughts I’ve been struggling with over the years…

And how I’ve been working to get rid of them.

Hopefully, these points will also help you on your journey.

→ Fear of losing clients

I was afraid of losing existing clients by charging more for my services.

And I thought it was going to be exponentially harder to find new clients at higher prices.

But I realized that holding onto cheap clients would never allow me to grow my freelance business.

Here’s what I did:

• Clarified my messaging to communicate my value and client benefits.

• Updated my portfolio with more professional mockups and only included my best work.

• Explained to existing clients why I had to raise my rates (i.e. more financial responsibility; started working with bigger clients)

→ Feeling I’m not worth what I want to charge (i.e. imposter syndrome)

I tend to wonder why people would choose me over the competition.

Even with years of experience, I’ve often felt I couldn’t justify higher rates.

Recently, I’ve gotten way better at this, but the feeling still hangs around.

Here’s what I’ve been doing:

• Getting feedback from clients and peers to validate the quality of my work.

• Learning to ignore negative thoughts and just press send anyway.

• Reflecting on all the appreciative people I’ve helped.

• Strengthening my skills and practicing my craft.

→ Personal beliefs around money

I have an awkward relationship with money that I’ve been working on for a while.

Plus I love helping people for free.

So I occasionally feel guilty taking money from people…

Even though I know I’m providing a valuable service.

Here’s what I do:

• Stop using negative language (e.g. Money is the root of all evil, etc.)

• Discuss prices as early as possible in conversations with prospective clients.

• Remind myself that working for free isn’t sustainable. Even with a full-time job, I need the extra money to support my family and live a comfortable life.

The Best Help I’ve Found

I’m determined to get rid of all of these irrational thoughts.

So I work on improving myself little by little every day.

What has helped the most?

• Working with mentors and coaches

• Being active in supportive communities

• Consuming great books and podcasts

And most importantly…

• Ignoring my inner dialog and just fucking doing it 🤘 

What About You?

We all deserve to be paid what we’re worth.

If you have your own limiting beliefs…

Then I encourage you to reevaluate where you are and where you wish to be.

Want more quality clients that value your work?

You’ll need to have clear positioning.

I built a simple step-by-step worksheet that helps you position yourself.

When you’re done, you’ll have a single-sentence positioning statement you can use in all of your messaging.

If you find this helpful, I’d love to hear about it. You can reach me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

(…a 5-star rating on Gumroad would be super awesome too.)

Till the next episode…

🤖 Robert

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