On today’s show I am going to talk about why you should aim for providing only project rates and how to go about setting those rates. A lot of us struggle with pricing, even those of us who have been doing this for a while. But here’s a secret: We’re all just making this up. The best pricing is often project based, and that is a made-up number when it comes down to it. You need to reframe your mindset and get your head around the fact that you are a freelance business owner. You are the boss. You are in charge of your own business. This means, you need to shift your mindset 180 degrees from waiting to hear what someone will pay you, and asking what someone will pay you, to telling someone what your rate is or telling someone what you charge for that project. It’s such a huge mindset shift in so many ways when you finally embrace the fact that you are in charge of your business. If someone cannot afford you, then you move on to the next potential client. When many of us start freelancing, we take what we can get and we allow the client to set the pricing and the parameters. Or, when the client asks what our rate is, we give them an hourly rate, often too low. But when you embrace the fact that you are the owner of your own business, you will start to think about pricing differently. Your overarching goal should be to think of every assignment and gig as a project rate and to propose project rates to every client. But first, let’s talk about hourly pricing and why it is such a problem. First, hourly pricing means you are charging for your time. And that is one thing we all need to stop doing—charging based on our time. Time is finite. There is only so much money you can make each week before you run out of time and energy. You will be unable to grow your business this way. Also, time does not equal the value you bring to a project. You need to base your fees on your value. Third, hourly pricing penalizes you for working fast. And, if you and the client don’t discuss how many hours a project might take, the client could be surprised and frustrated when they see the invoice at the end of the month. Since some listeners are writers, let’s talk about per word rates. Ideally, everything would be project rates, but sometimes you are in an industry that does dictate the style of pricing. For writers, that’s a per word rate. You can try to push back on this and suggest a flat rate for writing an article, but often editors’ hands are tied based on an antiquated system. With per word rates (and really, all projects) I build in systems to work faster while still providing top quality. For writing assignments, that could mean recording interviews. Sometimes I record only to listen to certain parts (I mark timestamps in my notes when the person says something great or that I want to check back on). Sometimes I record and have someone else transcribe the interview. It’s worth the financial investment because it saves me time and energy in the long run. (I also hate transcribing with a fiery passion.) Writers, please know that a per word rate exists often only in journalism. In content marketing, especially for companies, you can often charge a project rate. If you come from the journalism world and are accustomed to per word rates, leave that behind when you are pricing your projects. You might get stuck with a per word rate, but don’t suggest it up front. Start with a project rate. Now that we accept that we should all be charging by the project, how do we actually do that? I was serious when I said these rates are made up. Not one freelancer or consultant has it figured out and has created the perfect project rate every single time. No two projects are the same. No two clients are the same. Here are just a few things that go into creating a project rate: The expertise you bring to that particular job. The value the client will get from your work. The amount of energy you will need to put into the project versus doing an easy project. Wheth