Raising Your Freelancing Rates Without Making Enemies
This is a classic problem that every person in business faces at some point. You have a good thing going and you don’t want to accidentally jeopardize future business.
The thoughts go through our minds… “what if I raise my rates too much and lose all of my clients?”
We stall taking action and keep the same prices for longer than we should, simply because we don’t want to risk the momentum we already have going. I can totally empathize because this was me for too many years as a freelancer. I was so happy making my 60k per year and being able to work wherever I wanted, that I didn’t want to possibly ruin that.
To be honest, I think I still undercharge even today. It’s a classic problem for women — actually, one study in 2019 calculated that women undercharge 47% less than men in the freelancing world. Yikes! This stat bothered me, so I wanted to be sure to speak to pricing to ensure everyone is charging what they are worth.
So how can you raise your rates without making enemies? How can you be sure that your price hike isn’t going to bottom out your business before you even get started?
To kick this off, we’re going to head into the mindset zone. Remember the following: our thoughts become our reality. If we are constantly feeling anxiety and desperation and worry, that’s going to manifest in your business. If you are practicing hope, faith, gratitude, and courage, then that’s going to manifest in your business. The same holds true here. Even the phrase “raising rates without making enemies” already is tapping into this idea that there are going to be enemies if you raise your rates. You have to throw that idea out the window. There are no enemies to your business — there is just you and your business, and there are your clients. No one has to be an enemy if you decide to elevate where your business currently stands.
In order to raise your rates and have it work, you have to first believe the following concepts:
- You are worthy of a price increase. You have worked hard, you have returning clients, you have happy customers, and you have something to work off of here. You have showed up every day and you haven’t made excuses. You are worthy of a price increase. Your hard work has paid off, and you need to understand that you are deserving of all of this.
- Next, you have to envision your business in the future with these new rates before you raise them, and you have to envision people buying them nevertheless. You have to put out into the quantum energy field that you can already see your successful business with price hikes — and clients are still buying. You have to believe in your heart that you are worth it, and that this is possible in order for it to come to pass. Don’t tell yourself it’s impossible for these people to love these new prices — you will think that into existence! As you guys know, I just read Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Dr. Joe Dispenza, so I am hot on the quantum energy field right now. Our cells can quite literally send out energy into the world around us and physically manifest what we believe we deserve. So always keep that in mind.
- Lastly, you have to be grateful for all of it. You have to hold gratitude at the center. You have to be grateful to have this business in the first place, to be making money that so many people around the world would be so grateful to make. To even have the opportunity to raise your rates is incredible. I believe putting gratitude at the core will make all of this easier and give you the confidence you need to raise your rates with class.
Now that we have the mindset portion out of the way, it’s time to raise those rates. So you’re sitting there looking at your Fiverr gig. Maybe it’s $20 or $40 right now. You want to raise it to $30 and $50 respectively. You’re worried your current clients are going to be hurt by this price increase. I get it — I think about the same things. So this is what you’re going to do.
Message Your Current Clients FIRST
First, you’re going to message your current clients that keep returning for more and more work. You are going to let them know about the price increase before you do it. You are going to create this feeling that they are part of an ‘inside club’ with you and that you care deeply about how they feel. This is going to make them feel connected to you. After you let them know that you are going to raise the rates, this is what I do. I tell them I am raising them, but that I am offering them a special price increase that is 50% less than what everyone else is getting. So if I plan to go from $20 to $30, I tell them I will honor $25 for them since their business means so much to me. You are now letting them know that they are getting a price break by staying with you — they are gong to respect you for this.
When you roll out the price hikes, you are going to retain about 80 to 85% of your clientele with this method. It’s inevitable to lose 15 to 20% of people. And guess what? That’s ok because look at this… let’s say you were previously offering a service that came to about to about $25/hour for you. This price change is going to increase it to $35 per hour. If you lost three clients at $25 but gained three at $35, you just made $30 more than you would have with those old three clients. The price increase will make up for lost clients and then something else amazing is going to happen — you’re going to get more time back. What took you five hours to earn a certain amount is only going to take three to four hours now. With that extra time, you can offer more services, more add-ons, or start another side hustle. This is how you really start to build something lucrative and sustainable. Plus, you’re probably tired from ramping up your freelancing business so intently and want a break — you deserve it!
Knowing all of this going into the price hike will make the process as painless as possible. Be sure to go out of your way to keep your most loyal clients in the loop. From doing this, I have some clients that have been with me since 2015. They have stuck with me from $5 per blog to $100 per blog, because I have been open and honest with them and always willing to lower the price ever so slightly. Everyone wants to feel like they are special and being given a discount or deal.
As a freelancer, it’s up to you to create this specialness with your clients. It’s the same things as owning a barber shop on Main Street and remembering all of your customers names when they come in. It’s the little touches that go a long way.
There’s only one way to go from here and it’s up. Price increases are part of growing a business as a successful freelancer. You are going to raise your prices many times in any business, so it’s important to get comfortable with the process and flesh out how you approach it effectively. When in doubt, be open and transparent with everyone in your business. I find that 99% of the time, when freelancing orders go south, it’s from a lack of transparency. And taking accountability as the freelancer is the number one thing you can do to really take your business to the next level. Taking accountability isn’t always fun, but it’s the fastest way to level up — truly.
Now, if you still aren’t sure how to get started messaging these people, I do have PDF prompts and templates now on my website as of this week with my exact responses I use with clients. I also have a brand new website out at alexfasulo.com if you all want to go check it out! I forced myself to learn SquareSpace and made it — I’m proud of it because it was hard to do! See, I listen to my own advice too and push myself out of my comfort zone.
