What if offering a better price than all your competitors wasn’t the best way to go? What if simply being the cheapest wasn’t a way to success?
Meagan Fischer, the owner and web designer at Owltastic tweeted this story:
Real thing that just happened to me: I quoted a client a rate, and the project manager responded with “how about we triple that, so it better matches what we’ve paid our male designers for the same work?” 1. This client is heroic. 2. Female designers: ASK FOR MORE MONEY.
— Meagan Fisher (@owltastic) February 2, 2018
Dan Kaminsky, Chief Science Officer at WhiteOps replied:
If you’ve never priced yourself out of a job there’s a good chance you’re not charging enough.
— Dan Kaminsky (@dakami) February 3, 2018
It’s a good lesson for all of us. Fischer was undercharging and wouldn’t have known had a kind project manager not brought it to her attention.
To keep reading, click here: If You’ve Never Priced Yourself Out of a Job, You’re Not Charging Enough
Don’t you have to get jobs consistently as a a self-employed contractor to be able to evaluate the why? Yes you should be pushing to sell your produc/service at a reasonable price but nether should you undersell if it means you will have to cut product/service quality. Fine line to walk.
Know what you can offer and don’t accept a lower than your cost price unless you are donating services to achieve status. Never give less unless there’s a return expected. Each new contract should develop your services future.
I heartily recommend Gerald Weinberg’s “Secrets of Consulting” to all of your readers, particularly (in this case) the section on how to set your rate. It’s worth reading in detail, but the quick summary of his advice about rates is, “Charge a price such that you’ll feel the same whether you do or don’t get the job.” At times when I’ve had to negotiate a rate with someone, that advice has stood me in good stead.