How to make more money as a graphic designer.
Vol. 087
How to make more money as a graphic designer.
Understanding how to convey your value and interpret the difference between what your client wants to invest vs what your client will invest.
A quick bite:
Have the budgets of your graphic design clients been plateaued at the same price range for a while? It seems that most of your clients have a similar amount of money — and it’s not as much as you’d like it to be? Learning how to decipher the difference between what someone wants to spend versus what they’re willing to pay is a crucial difference that could help you more than double your rates!
Continue reading below…
Have the budgets of your graphic design clients been plateaued at the same price range for a while?
You’ve been putting in the hours, getting better at your craft, working faster, delivering for more clients…but you’re still getting clients who always “can only afford” the same price range?
In my experience, when you ask a client what their budget is they will often respond with how much they want to spend as opposed to how much they are willing to pay.
These are two very different numbers.
For example:
I would like to buy a diamond ring for $100. But I’ll probably have to pay 100x that.
I would have liked for my car to cost $3,000. But it was 10x that.
I would like to pay $5 for my large pizza. But I’ll probably have to pay 5x that.
The difference between what someone would like to pay vs what something actually costs, are two very different things. People are often willing to pay fair market value for products and services, which is often far more than they would like to pay.
We recently picked up three new branding projects. In early conversations, my clients told me what their budget was for each project. After further and deeper conversations where I was asking questions and working to understand what the project would truly entail, I realized that the scope of work needed for these projects would actually cost more about 2x what their budget was.
For three different projects we quoted 2x more than they said they had budgeted.
We landed all three.
I think we landed these projects because we were honest and up front that what they’re asking for will not be cheap, we had multiple long conversations with each client enabling us to convey our value, and we sent over a well designed proposal that breaks down the problem, the solution, relevant work and a pricing.
When quoting projects, it’s important to remember your audience. Speak to and present to them the way they’re used to be spoken or presented to.
Big decision makers love excel sheets and organization. If your creative work is presented in this context, they’re more likely to be receptive to your proposal.
3 important things to remember when quoting graphic design projects:
Warm them up.
If your client tells you they have $300 for a logo, and your minimum logo rate is $3,000, don’t surprise them with a proposal a few days later that is 10x+ higher than what they said they want to spend. Consider mentioning to them via email or call that “our starting rate is normally about 10x what you’re hoping to spend — is that something you’re interested to invest in?” If you’re able to convey why your work is valuable, this is often very helpful in getting clients to spend what the work is worth. And, if not, then they’re maybe not a good fit client for you. Transparency and honesty are everything. Start your relationship off on the right foot.
Present professionally
Especially for bigger projects, I like to send over an organized and line-itemed project proposal and estimate. This helps them understand what they’re getting and what individual project components cost. Doing so professionally will make your client trust you and take you more seriously. A resistance to your pricing is oftentimes due to your client not understanding the value you offer. Your creative work is incredibly valuable — you simply need to show how and why.
Convey value before talking price
If you’re able to quickly talk on the phone with your prospect and explain why your work is valuable and how you could solve their problems with your creative work, they will be far more receptive to your project quote. The Double Tree Hotel gives you a free warm cookie on arrival — this will immediately make you more receptive to any complications throughout your checkin process. What kind of “warm cookie” can you give your clients before you actually start working together?
If there’s a misalignment with how much your client has to invest in a project and the services they’re asking for, you can either ask them to increase their budget or reduce the scope of work.
Remember, people are willing to pay more than what they want to pay.
Get out there and get paid today!
Cheers,
Adam
