Latest / Freelance Careers with Fexingo: Independent Work, Consulting, and Self-Employment / How to Build Resilient Pricing as a Freelancer
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this brand strategist in Seattle—let's call her Claire—who had a pretty typical freelance arc. She started out charging $75 an hour, got busy, raised it to $100, then $125, and thought she was doing fine. Luna: That sounds reasonable. Where does it break? Lucas: She told me she did a full-year audit and realised she'd left about $15,000 on the table. Not because she wasn't booking enough work—she was fully booked. But because her pricing model was basically 'what the client wants to pay, plus a small push.' Luna: Oh, the classic anchor to the client's budget instead of your own value. Lucas: Exactly. And that's the core of why so many freelancers underprice themselves. They're not really pricing—they're negotiating against themselves before the conversation even starts. Luna: So what did Claire do to fix it? Lucas: She switched to what I've heard called 'three-tier pricing.' Instead of offering one service at one price, she created three versions of her brand strategy engagement: a basic audit, a full strategy, and a done with you implementation package. Each at a different price point. Luna: Right, so the client self-selects. The middle option becomes the default, the high option makes the middle feel reasonable, and the low option captures budget-conscious clients without discounting your main offer. Lucas: Bingo. And it completely changed how she talked about price. She stopped saying 'I charge $150 an hour' and started saying 'The full strategy engagement is $8,000.' That's a completely different conversation. Luna: That shifts the frame from cost to investment. But is it really that simple? I mean, a lot of freelancers worry that three tiers will overwhelm clients or make them seem indecisive. Lucas: It's a fair worry. But the data from Claire's first six months after switching—she tripled her average deal size. Because the clients who would have haggled on an hourly rate just picked the middle tier and moved on. And the ones who wanted premium didn't have to ask for it—it was already there. Luna: So it's a pricing architecture that does the work for you. What about the psychological side? How do you actually bring up a price increase to an existing client without it being awkward? Lucas: That's the part most freelancers dread. Claire's approach was to script it. She literally wrote down: 'I've adjusted my rates to reflect the value I deliver. Your new retainer will be X.' No apology, no justification, no 'I'm sorry but.' Luna: And how did clients react? Lucas: She lost one client out of twelve. The other eleven said okay or asked for a slight adjustment. One even said 'It's about time.' Luna: That's a great story. But I wonder if the small tweak matters as much as the whole framework. Could a freelancer just double their rate tomorrow and see what happens? Lucas: You could, but I think the framework matters more than the number. Because if you don't have a system behind the price—a way to justify it with scope and deliverables—the client will push back and you'll fold. The three tiers give you that scaffolding. Luna: So the price increase is really a value conversation. 'Here's what you get for this tier, here's what you get for that one.' Lucas: Right. And here's the thing: most freelancers underprice because they think of themselves as selling time. But clients don't buy time—they buy outcomes. A brand strategy isn't 40 hours of work, it's a clearer market position. Price the outcome, not the hours. Luna: That reminds me of something a consultant once told me: 'If you're billing by the hour, you're capping your income at the number of hours you can work. If you bill by the project, you can scale.' Lucas: Exactly. And that's the move from freelancer to business owner. Claire now has a waiting list. She's not trading time for money anymore. Luna: And I bet that $15,000 she lost is not coming back, but the new system probably made it up within a quarter. Lucas: She said she made it up in two months. And she's now teaching this to other freelancers as a side offering, which is a whole other revenue stream. Luna: Quick honest thing—and this ties right in—we keep this podcast ad-free and listener-funded. A handful of you chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that's literally what keeps us going. So if this show has helped you think through a career move or a pricing change, that's the way to keep it alive. Lucas: Yeah, and it's not about guilt—it's about community. We'd rather have 500 listeners who care than 50,000 who don't. Luna: And we mean that. So back to pricing—what's one thing a listener could do tomorrow to test this idea? Lucas: Pick one service you offer. Write down three versions of it: a stripped-down version at 60 percent of your current price, a full version at your current price, and a premium version at 150 percent. Then send it to three clients you trust and ask which one they'd choose. Their answer will tell you everything. Luna: That's a low-risk experiment. And if they all pick the middle one, you've validated your current pricing. If they pick the top one, you're leaving money on the table. Lucas: Exactly. And if they pick the bottom one, you either need to add more value or you're in the wrong niche. Either way, you learn something concrete. Luna: I like that it's a test, not a commitment. You're not raising rates on everyone overnight—you're just gathering data. Lucas: And data is what gives you confidence. Once you see that clients will pay more for a clearly articulated premium tier, it's a lot easier to stop anchoring to the bottom. Luna: Alright, I'm going to try this on my own consulting work. I've been doing flat-rate packages but never thought to tier them. Lucas: Let me know what you find. I bet you'll be surprised. Luna: Will do. And for everyone listening, if you try it, tell us how it goes. We're on social or you can find us through the show notes. Lucas: That's it for this episode. Thanks for spending time with us.