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Shoutout to the guy who told me to raise my rates at a coffee shop in Austin
I mean, three years ago I was charging $35 an hour for graphic design and barely getting by. I was at a coffee shop in Austin, working on a logo for a client, and this older guy next to me just asked what I was doing. I told him, and he straight up said, 'Kid, you're in a major city. Double it.' I laughed it off, but last month, I finally hit $75 an hour for a steady client. The weird part is, the work didn't really change, but the clients got way more serious and the projects got better. It took me a long time to believe I was worth that much, you know? Has anyone else had a random push from a stranger that actually stuck with them?
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jesse_green555mo ago
What if raising your prices just filters out the clients who actually need the work and leaves you with people who have money to burn? Seems like a good way to end up with nothing but vanity projects.
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elliot_barnes5mo ago
That thing about "filters out the clients who actually need the work" kinda hits different when I think about my buddy Matt. He used to do wedding photography for like $800 a set and got tons of couples who haggled over every little thing and wanted him to work 12 hour days. Then he took a random workshop where the instructor told everyone to triple their rates or quit. Matt doubled his to $1600 and suddenly his clients were all people who booked him six months ahead, paid deposits on time, and actually respected his creative input. He still does weddings but now he has time to actually edit the photos right instead of rushing to the next cheap booking. The crappy clients don't disappear, they just go find someone else who's still learning their worth.
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