Price your creative services to profit, not just survive
Underpricing is the most expensive mistake creatives make. Here is the math.
Know your numbers
Calculate your monthly costs, desired salary, and billable hours. Your hourly floor is costs plus salary divided by billable hours.
Most creatives undercount hours by half. Track everything for a month to get real numbers.
Price the value
Clients buy outcomes, not hours. A video that generates bookings is worth more than the hours it took.
Package your services into tiers. Good, better, best. Most clients choose the middle.
Raise regularly
Raise prices every six months or every ten clients. If nobody ever says no to your price, it is too low.
Next step: calculate your real hourly floor this week and compare it to your current rates.
Review pricing yearly
Your costs rise, your skills improve, your prices should follow. Annual reviews prevent stagnation.
Grandfather existing clients selectively. Loyalty deserves consideration, not permanent discounts.
Your Monday action plan
Calculate your true hourly floor including all costs and desired salary.
Compare it to your current rates and raise your lowest package this month.
Sources and further reading
Sources were checked for this article. Tool features, prices and availability can change. Product claims are attributed to their publishers.
