How To Price Yourself As A Freelancer In 2024

You’ve taken time to invest in setting up the branding for your business. You’ve offered your services for free to gain exposure; you’ve honed your skill. And now it’s time to do what you really have set out to do as a freelancer: make the money.

But perhaps the question we dread the most as freelancers when engaging with potential clients is, “How much do you charge?”

Didn’t that question give you anxiety just thinking about it?

It’s perfectly normal. Rest assured that thousands of freelancers launching their freelance career journey this year are likely facing the same dilemma—worrying about how much to price their services.

What makes this so difficult of a question is that, on the one hand, you know how much your skills and expertise are worth, and you know exactly how much time and creative effort you’ve put into planning and designing your product or service. You know how many years of experience you bring to the table.

But on the other hand, you’re scared of coming across as being too pricey, and scaring your potential clients away, forcing them to a competitor to secure a bargain.

Consistent clients are your livelihood, so getting your pricing right is key to success as a freelancer if you want to continue to attract, win, and retain clients.

Factors To Consider When Calculating How Much To Charge As A Freelancer

Here are some factors to bear in mind when considering your pricing structure and how much you will charge:

1. Know The Market

First, research your competitors. Look at what other freelancers in your industry, geographical area, and with similar experience levels and specialisms are charging.

Platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr are helpful for gathering data on how others price their services, and places such as FlexJobs can be analyzed to understand how much contractors are paid for short-term independent contractual projects.

You can also understand and identify industry-standard rates though online forums and scanning through salary reports that share benchmarking data.

When looking at the market, it’s important to shape your perception of what your ideal customer base looks like. Their demographics—where they live, how much they earn, they age group, gender, what they like to do for hobbies, typical jobs, where they hang out on social media—all of these are critical factors that will weigh into how much they can afford and are willing to pay.

Otherwise, you will frustrate yourself—and waste time—expecting someone on a $40,000 salary to pay for a premium, high-end service that will cost them $2,000.

2. Calculate Costs

You shouldn’t be so concerned about not hurting anyone’s feelings that you fail to compensate yourself adequately. Otherwise you’ll just end up breaking even.

Ensure you adequately plan for costs surrounding the production of your service, such as licences, software subscription, equipment, marketing, everyday living expenses, and some buffer to be reserved for downtime when the flow of clients is not so great, vacations, and times when you may have sick days.

3. Factor In Unique Value

If you have a rare or unique skill set or are providing a very bespoke service, you can afford to charge a premium. Your pricing should always reflect your value—remember that.

If you under-price yourself, you teach others to undervalue you too, and to view you as a novice to the field.

But if you charge the right amount, some customers may not like it and may turn your services down—but then you have to accept that those are not the clients you want. Serious clients will value your worth and pay accordingly once they see that you are an expert in your field.

4. Research Different Pricing Models

Not only how much, but how clients pay, makes a huge difference in whether they will hire you as the freelancer to solve their unique problem or not. Consider various pricing models and research to see what strategies would work best for your freelance business, such as:

• Hourly rates
• Project-based pricing
• Retainer fees
• Recurring subscription
• Value-based pricing

Sometimes you may use one, or a combination of a few, depending on how many tiers and the breadth of freelance services you provide.

5. Start Competitively Low

When you’re just starting out as a freelancer, you may want to start at a competitively low price—not too low, but a fee that is just comfortable enough to begin with. This allows you to gain an influx of clients, land reviews and testimonials, and justify future price increases as a result.

6. Be Transparent

Last but not least, get straight to the point. Stop dancing around the question. If clients sense your discomfort with pricing, they will feel it too. Be confident throughout your entire conversation or meeting with them, speak positively and without apologizing for your fee structure, and never insert “if you can’t afford it” or “maybe” clauses.

You should also communicate openly on your website and portfolio so that potential clients know exactly what they’re getting into when working with you and have sense of what your price range and structure would look like. Always ensure your clients sign contracts or agreements, especially if the service (or part of it) is being performed prior to full payment. This offers you some legal protection and security and prevents misunderstandings in the future.

Following these six steps, you never need to dread the “How much do you charge?” question ever again.