8 Ways To Double Your Rate As a Freelance Squarespace Designer
Squarespace is a great platform for creating your clients’ sites, but regardless of which site-building platform you use, there are quick ways to double your rate as a designer without much effort. In this article, we provide eight great tips to help you increase your income easily.
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Increase Your Income … You’re Worth It!
As a website designer, you spend a lot of time on details like:
Marketing your business
Explaining the process
Providing updates
Answering questions
Learning new tools
And more
You need to charge a rate that compensates you adequately for your time as well as your expertise.
The following tips reveal how to increase your rates easily so you can double what you charge as a web designer and enjoy higher compensation for your efforts.
1. Ask Before You Tell
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On your initial client consultation, ask some variation of this all-important question:
What is your budget for this project?
If your client isn’t sure, take the time to learn more. Have they worked on a project like this before? How did it go?
In that exploratory process, you can vet the client’s understanding and get clarity on what they’re looking for. Your goal is to have the client provide you with a number before you present a price so you can get a clear sense of the price range they’re willing to work with.
2. Share The Highest Number First
If your client won’t share their budget and you have to provide a price range, be sure to:
Reverse the numbers to state the higher value first.
It’s a little trick that helps anchor a price in your client’s mind. For example, you might say, “A project like this usually costs between $12K and $7K.” By presenting it this way, you’ll anchor your client to the higher number.
3. Sell A Customer Experience
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Staying at a five-star hotel is a completely different experience than staying at a two-star hotel in terms of service levels. This idea also applies to web development:
Great customer service factors into your rate.
Don’t be shy about charging more for a higher level of customer service.
4. Know Your Client’s Industry
Figure out your client’s type of business, location, and business model. This helps you to:
Understand what they can reasonably afford.
If your client is a brand-new cleaning business, they might not have a big budget to work with. But if they’re an established luxury firm in the middle of the Hamptons, their budget is likely bigger.
The needs of the client will vary, therefore, so will the pricing, scope, and budget.
5. Never Bet On Future Work
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Some clients try to bet on future work to offer you a smaller up-front price. Don’t accept this tactic.
Future work may never materialize.
If a client tries to get a discount on the current project in exchange for work that may become available in the future, remain kind but politely decline. Don’t undercharge based on future hope on a project that may never come.
6. You Are Selling Expertise
You may be used to working for hourly rates, but it’s time to shift your thinking. You’re not selling your time. You’re selling your knowhow.
Time doesn’t matter; your expertise does.
As far as the client is concerned, how many hours you put into the project is irrelevant. What’s important is your ability to bring their project to life and help them take their business to the next level.
Image Source: Unsplash
7. You Are Meeting Needs
You are selling services relative to the client’s needs. This means that:
You can charge more for premium services.
If your client needs the site up quickly or wants to build in special features, you can easily charge higher rates.
8. Price Is A Story
Be mindful of the experience your client will be getting, and charge accordingly.
Clients tend to place higher value on higher prices.
A bid of $3K implies better service and attention than a bid of $199, which may imply a rushed job and impersonal service.
Bonus Tip: Price Is Always A Scale
If you offer clients only one price, you are missing out on opportunities.
In the proposal you send your client, include a price range.
If your client’s budget is $8K, send in a proposal with a range of $6.5K to $9.5K with possible add-ons.
Need Squarespace Help?
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