Appreciation post: That moment your monthly retainer finally covers your rent

I bumped my rate from $45 to $60 an hour for new clients in Portland last January, figuring I'd lose half of them. Six months in, I've got three steady contracts at the new rate and my monthly income went from a shaky $1,800 to a solid $2,400. What actually caused the shift was leading with a simple project cost estimate instead of my hourly number - people stopped comparing me to the cheapest guy on Upwork. Has anyone else seen a cleaner pipeline after ditching hourly talk with new leads?

3 comments

3 Comments

grantc8010d ago

My buddy Rob did something similar and started charging for the full project scope instead of his hourly rate. He went from scraping by to actually saving money inside six months.

sullivan.quinn10d ago

Scraping by to saving money in six months sounds like a pretty big leap. Kinda doubt it's that simple for most people.

blair99010d ago

Yeah right next thing you'll tell me my lottery ticket is gonna hit next week.