Master the art of freelance pricing

For most freelancers, pricing can be one of the most difficult steps in a project, but also the area that can make you the greatest profit.

Without clarity on pricing, it can be such a source of stress at the beginning of every project, and even throughout it as you see your time logs growing past your original estimate and the project eventually bleeding money instead of earning it. 

But it shouldn’t be that way!

Imagine if you could feel confident in your pricing, knowing that it reflects the value you provide and will also make you money instead of losing it. 

To that end, I’ve gathered here a host of pricing resources for designers where you can learn from the experts about different pricing strategies, what works best in each situation, and what the industry norms are in our community. So that you can continue to improve your pricing process and state your rate with confidence!

Disclaimer before we jump in: I don't own most of these products, so I'm going based on others' recommendations and the quality of their freely-given content to assume that their paid options are also high-value.

Jewish Resources on Pricing

As always, I like to start off with any Jewish resources out there so that we can support our community as much as possible.

Malka Porges/Glick - Flawless Designs

Designer's Pricing Guide - $97

Malka has put together a great guide on pricing for designers within the frum market. It's split up by different experience levels, is backed by years of experience, and is sure to make you feel more confident in the social proof behind what you quote to your client.

Michal Eisikowitz

Pricing Guide for Copywriters - $197

Michal is always a wealth of knowledge and education to the freelance community - mostly copywriters but a lot of processes overlap between copywriters and designers (like her Profitable Freelancer course). This guide is specifically for copywriters, covering a spectrum of projects that designers might never touch, but there could still be some value in it for designers.

Non-Jewish Resources on Pricing

The Creative Business Kitchen

I've been on Jaz's email list for the past few months and her free content and fun, upbeat personality, has been high-value and a pleasure to interact with. Her content is all focused on helping freelancers with pricing and running the business end of their studios. (She also offers a membership community with a monthly focus and 1:1 consultations).

Billable Hour Calculator - FREE

Add in all of your expenses, working hours, and profit goals and it will tell you how much you will need to charge per hour to reach those goals.

Money Mindset Masterclass - FREE

Change your mindset when it comes to money so that you feel confident charging your worth and don't hand out guilt discounts. (affiliate link)

Membership Group Content - FREE

She has a tiered membership group where even at the free level you get a ton of resources on pricing! (affiliate link)

Pricing Masterclasses - $37/class

She has a slew of reasonably-priced classes on pricing where she is committed to providing value and no up-selling.

Blog - FREE

The Futur

Chris Do's The Futur YouTube channel+podcast is just a wealth of information on all things business and design. I basically binge-listen to these all day while doing client revisions that leave my brain free to think.

YouTube - How to Price Your Creative Work

I'll point you to one of his pricing-related playlists, but there must be thousands of videos on his channel and a whole bunch of them will talk about pricing, so you can also just follow along with whatever YouTube recommends to be a similar topic.

This playlist covers topics such as:

1. Value-based pricing 

2. How to respond to low client budgets / clients saying you’re too expensive 

3. How to use pricing options 

4. How to estimate the cost of a project

Painless Pricing Course - $1499

Quite pricey, this is a more comprehensive guide to pricing with videos, guidelines, examples and homework.

Freelance Cake

He's actually a copywriter, but a lot of the principles remain the same for designers. He has a weekly email with great content and links to informative articles and resources.

Blog - FREE

Well thought out articles on topics related to running a freelance business.

Book: Free Money - $10-27

He's coming out with a book soon! It's on pre-order only right now, but if his current content is anything to go by, will be packed with clear, organized, valuable content.

Michael Janda

I've never really gone through his content (there are enough The Futur videos to keep me busy for a lifetime!) but he's very popular and is considered an authority in the industry.

Blog - FREE

Pricing Creative Services Course - $159

I don't know too much about it, but looks like this course can be purchased either stand-alone or as part of a larger program. It's quite a reasonably cheap price, as well, compared to the others.

The Psychology of Graphic Design Pricing - $20

This is considered a staple for all designers and has been on my TBR list for a while.

The Brief Collective

This is a cute group of designers who offer courses, resources, products, and programs to help people enter into the field - from courses learning design principles to coaching and programs for leveling up your business.

Pricing Guide for Designers - FREE

This free guide is a really fascinating read. It's a spreadsheet of pricing based on levels of experience with details on what each level provides in their package and their skillset along with their price range.

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Know of a great pricing resource not listed here?

Let me know!