How to charge more
Are you a designer or a freelancer, believing you are worth more than you charge? Are you wanting to know how to take your business to the next level by doubling your rates?
Look no further. The life of a designer/ freelancer can be a real grind. However, working smarter is always greater than working harder.
In this blog post, you will understand 4 main ways to charge more.
Designer and freelancer Kwaku Amprako (myself), has collaborated with Jonathan Clarke-Ezzidio.
Jonathan is a designer specialising in advertisement, whilst freelancing as a multidisciplinary designer. He has worked with companies such as Penguin Books & Nike.
Read more to understand how to charge more as a designer/ freelancer.
Niche down
You’ve probably heard this hundreds of times…
Niching down is the number one way to charge more. Designers typically tend to believe that niching down is scary and feel like they may be ‘throwing away money’. This is not the case. Niching down is certainly a process that takes a while for you to know what you want to do.
Think of it like school. When you first start learning, you're basically forced to learn everything available within the courirculm. As you grow up, going in to secondary school, you then learn fewer subjects. Until by the time you reach university, you study one course in order to become highly skilled in a specific field.
Niching down can be a short term loss, but certainly a long term gain. Understand that it is a process but always make sure you are working towards it.
When you are a specialist, you place your self in a position where eventually, demand for your services will go up. Being a specialist also makes it hard for clients to find another ‘you’. Where as a generalist, can typically always be replaced due to high competition. A typically example is Fiverr, where there are many generalists and extremely high competition.
Learn more about why you should specialise as a designer here…
Get better
Getting better is an investment - time over money.
Now you're focused and you have got tunnel vision, it’s time to work.
Being a specialist allows you to focus on only a few things, making your goals easier and realistic to achieve. Improving your skills and constantly learning is a ‘must’ as a creative. The industry is always changing and very competative. It is your responsibility to make sure your skills are up to scratch.
In order to get better, you must understand your strengthens and weaknesses. Be conscious to the fact that your weaknesses within your niche can be a problem if not worked on.
Clients who want a specialist like you can always request for anything. Be ready for any brief within your field. For example, if you are a logo designer who typically creates letter marks, prepare your self for being approached by a client who requests a representational logo design such as an animal logo.
This is within one creative field, but require two different skill sets.
Focus on your strengths as this can attract the clients that you want, but also make sure your weaknesses are above a particular benchmark. Read more about attracting the clients you want…
Invest in resources
Buying equipment, books and online courses are all forms of investment.
Equipment
Buying equipment allows you to perform and create at an industry standard. It’s understandable that when you start out, you may not be able to afford a lot of things.
Equipment of minimum standard requirements is always getting cheaper. I have put together a list of the best affordable equipment for graphic designers here…
Design books are also a necessity when it comes to investing.
Books
Books in general typically contain a lot of knowledge and value on a topic. Once read, it can sometimes enable a huge progress within a specific field. There are many graphic design books available, that can improve your thinking and design skills. If you are into logo design, I’ve also put together a list of the best logo design books available now.
Online Courses
Another valuable investment is online courses. There are many useful platforms that offer you great content such as free videos. The Futur, is a great company that provides this on YouTube. Not only design advice, but advice to the business of design is provided. You can access their content for free and even better content at an affordable price - Click here
The Futur often tends to emphasise on the importance of having businesses skills as a creative in order to succeed. Rather than seeing your self as a graphic designer, you need to believe you are a creative-entrepreneur.
See your self as a businesses owner.
Businesses need to make money to survive. Until you realise this, you and your clients won’t have a healthy relationship.
Breaking even and making profit always need to come to mind when running your business.
You don’t owe anyone free work...
I repeat, you don’t owe anyone free work or even discounts. Whether you're working with a family member or friend, it is important that you are comfortable with - If agreed, offering your services for free. Time is more valuable than money. Giving away your time for free is worse than burning money. You can never get your time back.
Be conscious to the fact that time is the most valuable currency, especially when you are a business owner. Free work is not forbidden, but only some creatives can afford to do so. To understand whether or not you should give your services for free, read more here: How to get the clients you want.
As mentioned earlier, being a freelancer requires you to constantly improve your knowledge and awareness within your field. Thats why staying educated with books in your creative field is compulsory. Expose your self to using appropriate language that your clients will understand. Once you think, talk and act like a business owner, your clients will treat you accordingly.
In a nutshell, there isn’t a magic trick to increasing your prices. it is as simple as focusing on one area in order to be a specialist. Constantly improving and keeping your skills sharp is compulsory as a creative.
In order to consistently stay sharp, an investment towards your self is also needed. Resources such as equipment, books and online courses is necessary as a designer/ freelancer. Books are great resources that can help you boost your knowledge, and inject it into your business. Online platforms such as The Futur is also a great resource enabling you as a creative to charge more for your services.
Lastly, it is key that you regards your self as a business owner. When this decision is made, this will take your business to another level. Businesses need to make profit in-order to survive. Charging more because a lot easier when you are a business.
This blog post was bought to you by Kwaku Amprako (@amprako.co) & Jonathan Clarke-Ezzidio (@jce.design)