(www.inkthinkerblog.com) — Everyone’s favorite self-employed creative, Kristen Fischer, has a fantastic new article up on Freelance Switch about whether and how far to lower your rates during the recession (or, for that matter, any time clients are lowballing you).
She breaks her advice down into four key areas (supplemented by my comments):
- Gauge the Client. Not to be confused with gouging the client. (Heh.) Are they a regular client who pays promptly? Is it a project in an area where you need more experience?
- Be Polite—But Firm. Whether you say yes or no, be professional about it and stick to your guns. Don’t allow the client to take advantage of you.
- Consider a Trade-Off. Maybe you can lower the price in exchange for reducing the project requirements or lengthening the turnaround time.
- Be Prepared to Walk Away. If it doesn’t work for you, just say no. Don’t agree to something that makes you uncomfortable.
In the area of trade-offs, I’d like to add one caveat. I hear promises all the time that if this first project goes well, there will be all crazy kinds of work coming my way — if I just give them a discount to get started. Well, here’s the thing — two things, in fact:
- I don’t believe you. Dangling the carrot of more work to get me to reduce my already reasonable rates is like promising your high school girlfriend that you love her and you’ll be together forever to get her to sleep with you. Didn’t work then, ain’t gonna work now.
- Gee, TONS of work that pays far below what I know I’m worth? Why on earth would I want to cram my schedule with your cheap self so I have no time whatsoever to look for work that actually pays well? No thanks!
Do I reduce my rates sometimes? Yes, yes I do. But as callous as this may sound, I never do it out of the goodness of my heart. It’s always an investment like getting me a killer clip that I need to break into a new area or a compromise like adjusting the project terms to match the lower price. I’m running a business here, not a charity.
What would entice you to reduce your rates?
Contents Copyright © 2006-2014 Kristen King
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I offer a reduced rate for clients who bring in consistent work that isn’t too time consuming.
I haven’t been freelancing for long but have already heard the whole there will be a lot more projects in the future spiel – I’ve already grown very weary with that one. I am also planning on tacking on an annoyance fee when I am told that the project will be “simple”. It won’t be. ;-)
Do not reduce your rates! Once you do, you will find it near impossible to go back up. You can have different rates for different clients (nonprofit, friends). If you don’t value your work, the client will certainly not value your work. If they can’t afford you, they may not even be able to pay you. And no, you can’t work based on “possible projects in the future.”
Yes, the “there will be a lot more projects in the future spiel” – I see that at least once every time I go on a job hunt…
Alicia´s last blog post..R&B Star Chris Brown Pulled From Movie Marketing, Enters Anger Management
@Kim, @Alicia, I often do offer a volume discount once that regular work starts rolling in if it is genuinely a huge volume, but that seldom happens.
@Deborah, I love strong opinions, and I agree with this completely: “If they can’t afford you, they may not even be able to pay you.”
Reducing your rates is tricky. It all depends on if the client is existing, or new, what the project is, how long it takes you to do it, what the going rates are, if they give you regular projects, etc. I never fall for that whole “If you do good now, we may have more work for you.” In that case, I’m like, “Take a peek at my website. That says everything!” I find that clients who are hesitant to commit to a project are just a hassle–and most of the time, they’re the “check is in the mail” people, too!!
In the case of the client I mentioned in my FSW post, he had misquoted our set rate to his client and asked me to come down so he wouldn’t have to go back and jack up his rate. It was a few bucks, literally, and I had no problem doing it since he’s a great client and gives me regular work.
I don’t have rates per se, only broad ranges that I use in calculating a price for each book design and/or layout project that I take on. That way I can factor in everything that goes into a particular job and trim a little if it’s a book I’d really like to work on and I am convinced that the client cannot afford the full price.
Conversely, I can add on a premium if circumstances, the work, or the client give me the feeling that I am going to need more money to make the project worthwhile to me.
But the key is at then end of my last sentence: a project must always, ultimately, be worthwhile–both financially and as a project–if I am to take it..