Insider Tips: Increasing your rates

How to do it strategically, so you're not deeply stressed about it

Hi Friend,

Photo by Ken Reid on Unsplash

Yesterday, I wrote about why freelancers often hestitate to increase their rates, and signs they should increase their prices. Of course, knowing you should do it and actually doing it are two entirely different matters.

It’s stressful to think about meeting a client one day and charging $100 and meeting a different client later in the week and charging $300.

What if no one is willing to pay my rates? What if I can’t find any clients? What if the clients I have now are the last clients I’ll ever have? What if we’re all just living inside a unicorn’s dream and that unicorn is about to wake up?

Okay, maybe I’m the only one wondering that last thing. But if you’re worried that increasing your prices means you’ll be run out of business, you’re probably not alone. I suspect very few freelancers in the history of freelancing (which goes back approximately 600 million yeaars, I assume), have increased their fees without some level of stress.

One great thing about being a freelancer is you don’t have to increase your rates across the board. You can do it strategically, to help yourself and enable your clients to adjust.

Here are a few ways to raise your rates (without giving yourself a stroke the next time you send out a quote):