That guy at the shared workspace who gave me a killer tip on pricing

I was at this coworking space in Austin called The Village last month, just grinding away on some freelance graphic design stuff. This older dude named Mike noticed I was staring at my screen like a zombie and asked what I was working on. I told him I was stuck on how to quote a logo project for a small bakery, and he just laughed and said "Stop pricing by the hour, charge for the value you bring, not the time it takes." He walked me through how he breaks down his own bids into problem solving and design work separately, not clock watching. It was weirdly refreshing because I've been lowballing myself for like 2 years straight just trying to land gigs. Has anyone else had a random stranger in a coworking space drop some game-changing advice on them? I'm curious if that's a normal thing or I just got lucky.

3 comments

3 Comments

the_daniel6d ago

Remembered a guy in a laundromat once who showed me you can untwist the cord on a vacuum cleaner by holding it up and shaking it.

fisher.jessica6d ago

But doesn't pricing by value just let clients decide what your work is worth?

val9746d ago

I've been charging by value for about 6 years now, so I've definitely run into that worry before. Here's the thing - you're not just handing over a blank check to the client. You still set the price based on what you know the outcome is worth to them. In my experience, most clients actually have no idea what your work is "worth" in dollar terms, they just know they have a problem they need fixed. When I started doing this, I realized the real trick is to ask them early on what it would cost them if the problem kept going or what a solution would be worth to their business. That usually gives you a range, and then you can pick a number that feels fair to both sides. But yeah, your mileage may vary depending on the client, sometimes you get people who lowball no matter what.