One of the biggest challenges with a freelance business is getting paid what you are worth.
The root of the problem isn’t that the client doesn’t have the money or is unwilling to pay you what you are worth.
The root of the problem is often how you are charging and how you are creating value in the mind of the client.
First, you must create a business based on value pricing and not hourly pricing.
The number one worst way to charge (and most freelance business owners are charging this way) is by the hour.
The value to the client isn’t based in how long it takes you to provide your service.
What matters to your client is that you deliver the result.
The value is in your helping them to overcome their problem or achieve their result.
If you are creating value and you are giving them value, they will pay you for that value.
They shouldn’t be paying you for your time.
If you are charging for your time you are setting the ceiling to how much money you can make.
So your income is set by multiplying the number of hours you work by your hourly rate.
You can only work so many hours.
To break out of the confines of selling your time, you must determine the value of the result to the customer.
Set your price according to the value of the result, not how many hours you will work for that customer.
To do this, ask yourself the following questions:
- How do you impact that customer or potential client?
- What do you provide to them that will help them and helps solve their problems?
- How will solving these problems impact the customer?
- Is it a problem with high impact or low impact?
- What is important to the customer?
- Why is it important to the customer?
- How important is it?
- Have they had experiences working with someone in your type of business before?
- If so, was it a good or back experience?
- Why?
- Exactly what happened?
- Why is the client coming to you for this issue?
- What is the client’s definition of success with this project?
- Ask them to describe specific ways he will know he made the right choice in hiring you.
Get the answers to these questions.
Don’t guess what the client will say.
Actually get your the client to answer these questions.
You will have the information you need to create VALUE in the mind of the client.
If they perceive your work to be valuable, they will be thrilled to pay you.
If they do not perceive your work to be of value, they won’t pay you no matter how low you go on the pricing scale.
The Cost vs Value calculation is all in the mind of the client.
Get into the head of your client to understand exactly what they want.
Even more specifically, find out why they want it.
Once you do that, getting paid what you are worth is a piece of cake!
