Another common question I get, this time from Gary:
“Sir, I’m a self taught web developer with no job experience. My question about freelancing is how to price a website? For example do I need to let the client pay for the hosting website and etc.”
Perceived quality.
Note the emphasis on perceived. Here’s the analogy I use. Imagine you need to get a medical procedure done. So, you go to the nearest clinic. As you pull up, you notice the clinic is in a sketchy part of town.
The parking lot is cracked and littered with trash.
The clinic’s sign is old and missing letters.
The front door has big, iron bars on it.
Once you get inside, you see the office is dirty. The carpet is stained and ripped in spots. The receptionist is rude and unkempt-looking. The doctor comes out and his clothes are wrinkled. He’s got a stain on his shirt–
So, at what point do you say, “Oh hell no!”
Now, notice…
NONE of the things I mentioned had anything to do with his SKILL as a doctor. Instead, they were all “circumstantial” factors that make him look unprofessional and, therefore, unskilled.
He could be the best doctor for 100 miles.
But, you’d probably never get far enough to find out.
THAT is perceived quality.
Your website, your profile picture, your portfolio, the content you produce… every little thing a potential client sees in relation to you goes toward how good they PERCEIVE you to be… the good and the bad.
And, that has a huge impact on what you can charge.
Fact is, if you do all these things right…
You can charge way more for the SAME service…
Than someone who doesn’t.
So, don’t waste your time trying to find some “intrinsic” price for a particular service. Freelancers in the same market, offering the exact same services charge vastly different prices. And, perceived quality is a big reason why.
But, that’s 1 factor.
Competition also matters.
More (quality) competition means tighter pricing.
There’s also differentiation.
Do you stand out in some way?
But, here’s the more important point. Pricing is actually just one aspect of the thing that really matters… and that is the OFFER. It’s not just what something costs… it’s also “What am I getting? How is it delivered?”
It’s the client’s internal ROI gauge.
And, learning how to craft compelling offers is one of the most important and lucrative things you can learn how to do, as a freelancer. Because when you get it right, you not only make more, but selling your services actually gets easier.
In any case, I created a whole course on this.
That’s how important it is.
In it, you’ll learn what I call the “Fiverr Method” which is step 1 in how you package your services to make them more appealing to potential clients. Also, the 3 different pricing strategies you can use to beat out your competition.
How to KNOW, not guess, what the right price is.
Plus, how to build out your product line…
To methodically build a diverse and stable freelance income.
Anyway, the course is the first installment in my Freelancing 101 series and you can get access to it for nothing over on SkillShare. Link for all the details on the course and how to get free access to it is here: https://johnmorrisonline.com/niche
Later,
John
