Do you charge enough for your freelance services? (Part 1)
When I started freelancing 5 years ago, my hourly rate as a writer was $5 to $10 per hour. Looking at the current rates many local online freelancers charge their foreign clients, this may seem like a huge amount. Every time I visit Pinoy forums, I see local freelancers charging $1 to $5 per hour – sometimes even less.
Well, what can one do? Sometimes people can be desperate about having extra income that we’re willing to take any amount of money, no matter how small.
But let’s take a look at the average hourly rates of freelancers who took part in a survey by FreelanceSwitch.com:
Source: Freelance Switch Survey
If you can’t believe your eyes, I’m telling you that I know from personal experience that these rates (and higher) are possible. Even for us Filipinos.
In fact, especially for us Filipinos. The freelancers among us are generally well educated and have above average English skills. We can deliver quality work. At the same time, we don’t pay at least $500 on rent alone like our “First World” counterparts. Living here is much cheaper.
If you don’t want to start charging $50 per hour, you can at least charge something a little lower than what the freelancers from developed countries are charging, but aren’t slave wages either. Why not start charging $20 or $30? Then, adjust accordingly as your expertise becomes more in demand and you’ve proved your work to be worth those rates.
But you’re the first and most important person who has to believe that your work is worth more. If you don’t believe it, there’s no way you can convince your clients to believe it themselves.
So how do you convince yourself and your clients that you’re worth the higher rates? Stay tuned for the second part of this post tomorrow, where I’ll address that question.
Read More5 Money Lessons I've Learned from Freelancing
I’ve been a freelance writer for the past four years, making money almost exclusively online. The corporate world is definitely not for my personality, so I did everything I could to avoid it. Along the way, I’ve learned several useful money lessons that I wouldn’t have learned otherwise.
Bill early, pay late. This took me a while to learn, and it’s more important especially if you have very busy clients who remember to pay you only a week after you send your invoice. Now, I bill them on the 1st of the month, while I pay for business expenses (contractors, web hosting, subscriptions, etc.) mid-month. By practicing this, you’re making sure that you already have enough funds when it’s time to pay for business expenses.
Diversify skills and sources of income. I didn’t just depend on my writing, especially when I was starting out. I also did a lot of design work, search engine optimization, edited videos, some data entry jobs, sold some of my artwork, and joined ad networks such as Google Adsense. Having various sources of income ensures that you always had an alternative venture in case your main gig ran a bit dry.
Also, as a freelancer, the diverse skill set allowed me to upsell services to clients (“Do you want some new graphics to go with the articles I’m writing for you?”), and I would become their go-to person for most of their web needs.
Be frugal with your time, not just money. One of the big problems I had with my first years of freelancing was that I let it consume so much of my time. I would work longer and harder than 9 to 5 ‘ers, thinking that this was the only way for me to make enough money. Eventually, I became a productivity blogger over at Pimp Your Work, and had to learn some time management skills. Now, I have made myself efficient enough to only work 9 to 15 hours a week, and can now enjoy the freedom that freelancing promises.
Have a padded emergency fund. I probably sound like a broken record since I talk about emergency funds over and over. But it was a real lifesaver during those months when I would earn only P12,000 and had to feed and pay for a household of 3 people, and my tuition too.
Don’t undersell yourself. I used to charge $5.00 for a 500 word article. That’s okay as a starting point just to build up your folio, but I stayed around that price range for one or two years, even after I was getting so many happy testimonials from clients who kept referring me to others (meaning: my work was worth more than $5). Hindi ka talaga mabubuhay kung $5.00 per hour ang singil mo. Especially since I had dependents. It took me a while to realize that people aren’t just paying for the words I write, they’re paying for an hour of my life and the unique insight I bring to the table. Does that really just cost $5?
Competing with others on the basis of price alone isn’t a sound business model. Someone will always be cheaper than you! So I competed on quality and experience, and can now turn down work that I don’t find interesting.
Every job title, every industry presents its own unique money lessons. What are the money lessons you’ve learned as a result of your work? Please share them with other Frugal Pinoy readers 
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