ASLU 055: Raising the Rates on Your Creative Services
Editor’s Note: Some links in this article may be affiliate links. Full disclosure is located at the end of the article.
Does the thought of raising your rates on your creative services make your stomach twist into a knot and fill you with dread? We get it and you're definitely not alone!
In this episode Melissa and Heather talk about easy and gentle ways to raise your rates with little disruption to your clients while putting more money in your pocket. This is a great episode for anyone who provides creative services like photography, design, writing, digital content creation and more.
Raising our rates can feel very uncomfortable and it’s more than likely that you’re currently charging too little for your creative services. But at the same time, we’re betting you have no problem telling your fellow creatives when they’re pricing themselves too low!
Why is it always easier to to see the value that our friends and colleagues bring to the table, but so hard for us to see the value that we bring? This is one of the great mysteries of creative self-employment!
The truth is, pricing is ever evolving. It changes with the market we’re in, advances in technology, inflation, and our own evolution as a professional creative. You bring much more skill, value and experience to the market today than you did when you started out and you’ll bring even more a year, 5 years, 10 years from now. And your pricing needs to keep pace!
For a lot of us, pricing is a mindset issue and in this episode, we talk about some simple strategies you can implement to raise your rates without a lot of drama for you - or your clients!
Are you a maker, artist or crafter who sells physical items born out of your creativity? Don’t worry, we’re going to be talking about raising your prices on your products and “productized” services in next week’s episode!
If you just want the links to the resources mentioned in this episode, scroll down to the bottom.
Listen To the Episode
Here’s a direct link to Episode 55 . You can also listen via the player below or on your favourite podcast app (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, and more). Just search for And She Looked Up!
you are worth more…
…than you think.
how to raise the rates on your creative services
There’s an old adage that if a person asks you your rates and they don’t even blink or flinch before saying yes to working with you - or worse, they say yes before you finish your sentence - then you’re pricing yourself too low. (or even more embarrassing, they flat out tell you you’re not charging enough!).
We all want to attract good clients who value what we do and who do need to think a moment before deciding if they are ready to invest themselves fully in working with us. And that means pricing ourselves correctly. Too low, and you are opening yourself up to working with clients who won’t value your expertise, style, skill or your experience and industry knowledge. Or worse, you exclude great clients with healthy budgets who pass on working with you because they think your services must be lower quality.
Pricing is as much psychological as it is about margins, costs and profits - both for your client and you!
In this episode we discuss:
when you should raise your rates
the importance of revisiting your rates annually and making adjustments based on inflation, cost of living and any increases in your cost of doing business. Do not subsidize your bank or your suppliers when they raise your fees and costs by keeping your rates the same!
the importance of knowing your margins and maintaining them.
the importance of leaving room for negotiation. You can start high and negotiate down through changing the scope of work or the deliverables but it’s very hard to negotiate up!
why your brand and your brand value should be part of your pricing plan. If your branding, marketing efforts and customer experience look or feel like a bare bones budget experience, you’re going to find it very difficult to raise your rates. If you want to raise your rates considerably, take a look at how you can amend those parts of your business to reflect a higher value experience
project based pricing allows you much more flexibility and ease when it comes to raising your prices - you can more easily demonstrate the value that you’re bringing to the project in a project quote and gently raise your rates - even with existing clients
raising your rates without raising your rates! Instead, rejig your offerings or your packages so that you have fewer deliverables. Instead of delivering 25 high quality, edited images in your base wedding package, offer 15. Instead of 3 logo revisions in your branding package, offer 2.
hiring employees, subcontractors or VAs who can fulfill specific parts of a project or do specific tasks in your business at a lower rate than your hourly rate. If your skills and higher rates are better utilized elsewhere this allows you to take on more projects and have a higher profit margin overall.
why it’s important to have the budget conversation with a client right from the get go - this is a great way to form a project plan that ensures both you and your client get value out of working together.
have a “minimum investment” to work with you
ensure that you are in a position to communicate the value of what you do to your potential client. People will pay a lot of money if they feel the value is there. Work on your value proposition and how you communicate that.
Next week we’ll be talking about how to raise your prices on your products, courses or “productized” services!
Mentioned In This Episode
This site is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for the site to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites. This site is also a Canva affiliate.