Hey there, Solopreneurs~

How’s it going, everyone? Welcome to the second edition of K.I.S.S., the newsletter built by business owners for business owners. 🌠

(And, of course - Aspiring business owners are especially welcome!)

The purpose of this newsletter is to break down high-level business concepts into easily understandable chunks of knowledge. No need to dive into Reddit or YouTube holes anymore!

Today’s Topic: Valuing Your Services

The moment of truth arrives: You finally get an inbound client, someone who’s not just curious about but genuinely interested in your services.

You talk for a bit, things go smoothly, and then they hit you with the question, “How much is that going to run, do you think?”

You freeze! You’re paralyzed!

Say a number too low, and you’re a joke. Say a number too high, and you might have just lost that sale. What do you do when the time comes to set your prices?

Lucky for you, that’s exactly what we’re here to discuss. Here’s a quick peek at today’s docket:

• Weekly Resource Recommendation

• The Main 3 Ways That Rates Are Set

• “Is This A Crazy Amount To Charge?”

• Disclosing Rates Vs. Keeping Them To Your Chest

• Raising Rates: How To Keep Your Clients

Weekly Resource Recommendation

This week, I want to give a shoutout to one of my favorite newsletters for freelance writing opportunities, Freelance Framework! (This is NOT sponsored btw, I just truly think this is a super helpful resource.)

Chris Bibey works every night to put together this daily, that’s right, daily, list of new freelance opportunities!

So, while you’re on the hunt for more inbound work, consider shooting out a pitch or two using Chris’ list!

The Main 3 Ways That Rates Are Set

Before you decide the actual value of your services, you should think about how you’re going to quantify that value. Meaning: What method are you using to set your rates?

There are three primary methods that self-employed workers typically use to set their rates (though one is pretty writer-exclusive.) Let’s compare and contrast them to see which one is the best for your business.

Method One: Charging By The Hour

This is a classic, right? You can always charge clients by the number of hours you spend on a project, whatever that project may be.

Here are some reasons why people charge this way:

• Charging by the hour is easily trackable. You simply time your work, plug in an agreed-upon number, and off goes the invoice!

• If something takes you extra long, you get extra money. Pretty simple.

• You have a solid idea of how much you’ll make, since you know how many hours something can roughly take.

But, there are definitely some cons to charging this way, too:

• Time tracking is annoying, and tedious. Does the discovery call count? What if you forget to hit “pause” on your timer, and now you don’t know what the actual number should be?

• Your earning potential is fixed to how slowly you can get something done. As you progress in your career, you’ll get quicker at your work. That isn’t something you should be inadvertently punished for.

• There’s always a chance of client wariness, the occasional “I think that this is an absurd number of hours to complete X and Y task.”

Method Two: Charging By The Project

This is my preferred method, and it’s one that’s become a lot more standard.

Here’s what makes it so popular:

• Before beginning the project, you and the client both know exactly how much money is involved. Things can be done according to that number.

• Instead of efficiency being punished, it’s instead rewarded. You won’t make less money by completing a project sooner. In fact, both parties will leave feeling much happier.

• The rate is flexible, fixed not on an arbitrary amount of time but rather on the specific requirements of the project at hand.

However, no method is perfect. There could be potential snags:

• There’s always a risk of you undervaluing the project at a glance, signing the contract, and then being stuck doing more work for less-than-adequate pay.

• If you do think that things weren’t priced correctly the first time around, you and the client will have to revisit the contract. With hourly rates, though, you’d just tack on more hours without this extra step.

In my eyes, though, the pros definitely outweigh the cons!

Method Three: Charging By The Word

This one is pretty exclusive to my writers and editors. For now, everyone else can skip on over to the next section.

Charging by the word might be an impulse brought on by the days of writing for content mills you found on Upwork. But now that you’re dealing with your own clients, why use a system that might work against you?

Anyhow, the pros should still be mentioned:

• Quantifiable workload agreed upon at the start of the project.

• An easily understood rate system.

• Conciseness is encouraged.

Now, the cons (there are several):

• The payment in question does not account for the time it takes to research the topic at hand, which most writers know is the majority of the time spent on any given project.

• It can lead to unintentional fluff. If you agreed on a 1,200-word blog that comes out to be 1,100, best believe that you’re going to go back through and add in random sentences.

• You can’t use this system for any other project than plain old content writing or editing.

“Is This A Crazy Amount To Charge?”

First and foremost, I want to say this: THE ANSWER IS PROBABLY NO.

I have seen and heard of some pretty obscene rates in my day, and the fact of the matter is that those individuals are some of the most booked and busy folks I know.

There are a lot of things that you should think about and ask yourself when setting your rates, especially if you’re convincing yourself they’re too high.

• How much value am I giving to my client? (Leads? Revenue?)

• What is the lifetime value of the service?

• Will they be able to use what I give them for years to come?

• Will it be a permanent fixture of their brand, website, or strategy?

This is where research can really come into play. It’s also the reason why you should focus on building a strong network of people who you can ask these sorts of questions to. (Don’t worry - Building a network will be covered in a future issue!)

Disclosing Rates Vs. Keeping Them To Your Chest

Once you’ve locked down your rates, either mentally or pen-to-paper, there comes another important question: Should I list my rates on my website?

This depends on a few factors. It’s a question that truly varies on a case-by-case basis, but I’ve found a few solid reasons why one would want to go in either direction.

(Full disclosure: I do have my rates listed out on my website.)

Why Some People Disclose Their Rates Upfront:

• Publicly sharing rates helps filter out prospects who prioritize cost over quality, saving valuable time.

• It keeps discovery calls focused and efficient, avoiding uncomfortable rate negotiations and allowing more time to understand the prospect's goals.

• While some prospects try to negotiate rates, it's rare, and adjustments are usually made by altering the project scope rather than reducing the rate.

Why Some People Wait To Reveal Their Rates:

• Rates can be adjusted based on workload, with higher charges when you’re busy and lower charges when you’re slow.

• Not publishing rates provides flexibility, allowing consideration of lower offers for desirable projects.

• Higher charges can be applied to difficult clients who require numerous revisions and are challenging to work with. (Though, my revisions are ala carte anyway, and I do disclose my rates.)

Raising Rates: How To Keep Your Clients

When I started writing, I was changing my rates CONSTANTLY!

In fact, every time I got a new client, my rate would go up little by little.

Nowadays, I only change up my rates every six-ish months. That’s because I’ve found a solid comfort zone that keeps clients coming while still making me a meaningful amount of money.

What do you do, though, when you’re changing your rates for an existing client?

Here’s some advice and words of encouragement from the R/FreelanceWriters subreddit (also a really great resource):

That’s All, Folks 👋

That’s all for this week’s edition - I hope that this gave you some clarity on how you can successfully set your rates!

In a lot of spaces, talking money can be taboo. But, in the self-employment world, it’s important that we have conversations like this to better the community as a whole.

If you have any further questions about today’s topic, or any general insights/inquiries, don’t be afraid to shoot me a message on LinkedIn or simply reply to this email!

Until next time - Remember to keep things simple!