Dearest Creative,
This topic takes me back to a conversation I had with my team on pricing. Oyinda (not her real name) asked in the team about how to price for a social media management gig. There were different contributions around pricing based on the amount of effort she put in and the resources she used. While the cost should be considered, I disagree that you should price based on effort. For me, I would say fix your price based on the result you are certain can be delivered.
Take social media management for example. There are a lot of freelance social media managers. Each with different rates ranging from tens to hundreds of thousands, and they all have their target audience. Naturally, if a client is paying hundreds of thousands to an individual for social media management, it would be because he is certain of seeing results worth the amount he paid.
If as a social media manager with the price your worth mantra, you price two hundred thousand naira your service and could only end up delivering service worth thirty thousand naira. Would that be fair to your client? Or would you as the client be inclined to pay for such a service?
As a beginner social media manager who is still learning the ropes, it will not be prudent to delve into the usage of paid apps with the hopes of adding that to your charge seeing as it would add to the charge. At that stage, you are still trying out a lot of things which would make it wise to minimize cost as much as possible. And your first few clients are the ones through which you learn the most. Majorly, you should be considering charging for data and the time you put in, the result you can get at that stage. Clients are skeptical in the absence of a portfolio. What evidence is there that you can do what you claim? This is the stage you show while learning on the job.
After the beginner stage comes the experienced stage. At this point, you’re certain of the result you can give. There is evidence, past records to show you have done what you say you can do. Here, you can now start charging for the experience. You have a system in place and don’t need to spend as much time and effort as a beginner. It also means you definitely are sure of the result you are churning out. You’re charging for the experience. When you deliver what you say you can, the client would be delighted to pay for your stated rate.
So really, pricing your worth as a creative is pricing based on the result you can deliver. As you progress, it becomes based on the experience you have gained which by default makes your result even better.
Conclusively, we can take a look at Warren Buffet’s quote, “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” This quote basically summarizes value-based pricing. That customers would pay you for how much value they get from your product. It is putting yourself in place of your customer when pricing. Would you pay yourself that amount for the value you’re giving? People would pay your rate so long as they continue to see the value in what you’re providing.
Bye for now,
Alexis.
