c/tales-from-the-gig

Tried that "just raise your rates" advice everyone gives and lost my biggest regular gig

After reading it nonstop on here, I bumped my hourly from $50 to $65 for a video editing client I'd worked with for 2 years. I sent a polite email explaining my costs went up, and he just said "okay, we'll go with someone else" without even countering. That's $1,200 a month gone, just like that. Guess I learned that blanket advice doesn't apply when you're in a niche with tons of competition. Anybody else have that advice backfire on them?

Why does everyone say to never post your rates on your website? I did and it worked great.

I put my hourly rate right on my fencing installation services page six months ago, figuring it would scare off cheap clients before they even called. Instead I got three serious jobs in the first week from people who said they appreciated knowing the cost upfront, no haggling. Did anyone else try this and have it actually help or was I just lucky?

Three years back I was coding WordPress sites for $200 a pop in Denver

Last week I got a call from a guy in Portland who wanted me to rebuild his whole ecommerce store for $150. I laughed and told him I charged that much three years ago when I was still figuring out PHP. He got mad and said freelancers in 2024 are greedy. Has anyone else seen clients expect 2020 prices for 2024 work?

That stat about 70% of small businesses failing because of cash flow issues finally got me to switch from net-30 to upfront payment for my dog grooming gigs.

I found it on a random SBA blog last Tuesday while I was waiting for a matted poodle to dry, and it hit me that waiting a month for $400 was basically asking for trouble, has anyone else changed their payment terms after reading something that scared them straight?

Best gig week ever then a total crash landing

Last month I had three days of easy editing work for a marketing agency that paid $900 total, then the next day the same agency dropped me for missing a style guide detail they never showed me. Has anyone else had a dream week suddenly turn into a nightmare for something that small?

I rolled my eyes at hourly billing for years but now I think it's the only fair way

Always thought hourly was for amateurs and flat rate was the professional move. Then I took a $2k flat job for a retaining wall that ended up taking 3 extra days because the ground was full of roots and I basically worked for minimum wage. Has anyone else been burned by flat rate on a job that went sideways?

Grabbed the wrong USB drives for a wedding shoot

I was covering a wedding in Portland last summer and grabbed what I thought was my backup card. Got home and realized I had pulled a blank card from my glovebox instead of the one with the first half of the ceremony. Had to call the bride and ask if anyone had video on their phone. She was cool about it but I felt like an idiot for a week. Anyone else ever mix up gear like that?

The barista at my local coffee shop convinced me to raise my rates

Hit 100 Upwork jobs this week and it made me rethink my whole rate structure

I always thought staying at $50/hr kept me busy, but looking back at 100 completed projects, I realized I left at least $15k on the table by not raising prices after job 30.

That old diner on Route 9 where the wifi actually worked better than my home connection

I stopped into Mabel's Diner last Tuesday because I needed a break from my kitchen table setup and their coffee is $1.50 a cup. Sat in the back booth near the pie case and got through three hours of editing without a single drop or lag, which never happens with my home ISP. Anybody else find a random spot that somehow has better internet than what you pay $60 a month for?

Compared working from a houseboat to a library for a month

Spent two weeks freelancing from a friend's houseboat on Lake Union and then two weeks at the downtown Seattle library, and the library was way more productive. Has anyone else found that weird or quiet locations beat trendy spots every time?

Used to take every rush job for double pay now I say no even at triple rate

Back in 2022 I took a web design gig from a guy in Austin who needed a full site in 48 hours. Paid $3,000 which felt like winning the lottery. Spent 32 straight hours awake, delivered it, and the guy changed his mind on everything three weeks later. Now I just tell people no even when they offer 3x my normal rate. The money sounds great until you realize you're just paying for your own burnout. Anybody else learned to stop chasing the big rush paychecks?

The day I went full boomer by printing out 50 pages at the library instead of paying for a printer

Last Tuesday my home printer decided to eat my invoice template for the third time and I had a stack of receipts that needed scanning and a contract that needed signing that day. Library is two blocks away, cost me $1.25 total for the prints. I have no idea why I put up with ink cartridge scams for so long. Has anyone else just given up on owning a printer and switched to library runs?

My worst freelancing week: 3 projects, 2 meltdowns, and 1 deleted file

Last Tuesday I was juggling three small design gigs when my laptop froze and I lost an entire mockup for a local coffee shop in Portland. The client messaged me 10 minutes later asking for it "by tomorrow" with a crying emoji. I spent the next 4 hours redoing it from memory while my toddler played with my backup cables. Has anyone else had a project bomb so hard you just closed your laptop and went for a walk?

Picked the $200 coworking membership over my home office for 3 months and now I can't focus without background noise

I figured my home setup would save me cash but the constant laundry pile staring at me made me choose the loud coffee shop vibe, and now I'm weirdly productive with strangers chatting - has anyone else paid more to work somewhere slightly inconvenient just to trick your brain into focusing?

Switched to a $20 headlamp after a gig in a dark basement in Portland

I was setting up a small art show in a basement with terrible lighting near Hawthorne Street. A buddy from another gig handed me his headlamp and I couldn't believe how much easier it made things. Why was I holding a flashlight in my teeth all those years? Anyone else stubbornly stick with a tool way longer than they should?

That 'reply within 24 hours' promise I made to clients finally bit me hard

I had been freelancing for about two years and always told my clients I'd reply to emails within 24 hours. I thought it made me look professional and reliable. Last month I got a email from a client in Orlando at 9pm on a Friday about a small change to a design. I figured I'd wait until Monday since it wasn't urgent. Well they emailed again Saturday morning saying the deadline got moved up and needed the file that weekend. I didn't check my email until Sunday night and by then they had hired someone else for the rush job. I lost a $400 project just because I stuck to that 24 hour rule too rigidly. Has anyone else had a standard policy backfire on them like that?

The client who asked me to 'just Photoshop out' a whole person from a wedding photo

I was editing a batch of wedding photos last spring for a bride in Cleveland, and she asked me to remove her ex-boyfriend from every group shot... he was the best man. There were 47 photos where he was standing right next to the groom, and she wanted him gone from all of them. I told her it would be an extra $300 and take about 6 hours of meticulous cloning work, and she actually said yes. The weirdest part was when she sent me a follow-up email asking me to keep his hand in one shot because he was holding her purse. Has anyone else gotten a request that was this specific and bizarre?

Trying to replace a single ceiling fan took me 8 hours

So I picked up a gig rewiring an old house in Austin, just a simple ceiling fan swap. The junction box turned out to be some weird oval shape from the 70s and none of the brackets fit. Ended up having to cut drywall, reinforce the box with a 2x4 brace, and then wire the whole thing from scratch. Anyone else run into nightmare old-house wiring that makes a simple job take all day?

Spent 8 hours on a "quick" edit that should've taken 30 minutes

Client asked me to "just tweak the margins" on a 200 page document, and between them not knowing what margins are and me having to redo half the formatting, it ate my whole Tuesday. Has anyone else had a tiny fix turn into a full day mess?

Debate: Should you tell a client when you're working from a coffee shop or just fake it?

Last month I took a Zoom call from a Starbucks in Denver because my apartment had no power. The client asked if my background was a frosted window and I lied, said it was a new co-working space. But now I'm wondering if that was dumb. On one hand, being honest about your setup might make you seem less professional. On the other hand, maybe clients don't care as long as the work gets done. Has anyone else dealt with this - do you disclose your actual location or just let them assume?

Hit 500 invoices last month and realized I'm giving away too much free work

I was going through my records and saw I've sent out exactly 500 invoices since 2020... that's a lot of jobs. What surprised me is how many of those were for tiny tasks I should have charged for, like fixing a typo or answering a quick question. Has anyone else counted their invoices and noticed a pattern like this that made you change your pricing?

Took a job at a warehouse in Tulsa last fall and totally flipped on how I organize my tool bags

I always just threw everything in one big pouch. Then I worked with this old timer who had separate bags for rough-in vs finish work and I saw him finish a whole floor in half my time. Has anybody else had that moment where you realized your setup was slowing you down?