Warning: that conversation with a freelancer hit me hard

I was at a coffee shop in Portland last week and this freelancer told me she bills by the hour and makes more than I do running a 5 person agency. She said clients trust her more because they see exactly what they pay for. It made me rethink my whole pricing model. Has anyone else switched from retainer to hourly and seen better results?

2 comments

2 Comments

lily_sullivan822d ago

Oh wow, I used to be totally against hourly billing. I was one of those people who said "value pricing is the only way to go" and really believed it too. But honestly, after talking to a few freelancers and actually running the numbers, it made me stop and think. The trust thing is real, clients do seem to feel more in control when they see exactly where their money goes. I tried switching my smaller projects to hourly last month and my close rate actually went up a little. It really messes with your head when you realize the model you thought was smart might actually be...

joseph_west592d ago

So you're saying the scalpers finally realized they were the ones getting scalped? Guess that's what happens when you run the numbers, @lily_sullivan82.