Freelancers and Entrepreneurs: Yes, You Charge For That

I've seen many posts here from freelancers, small business owners, and solopreneurs wondering if they should charge for something... or lamenting when they did some free work, the client loved it, and then hired someone cheaper.

Let me answer all of your questions at once. Yes, you charge for that. Yes, you do. Yes, every time. No, not sometimes.

Train Your Potential and Current Clients

The moment you do real work for free, you have trained this potential or current client (I'll just say "client") that your work can be had for free. Maybe it's just easy to do! Maybe it's of low value! Maybe you love what you do and don't need money for it! Maybe you're new to this and should be doing free work! The client will make up a story about why (even if you tell them it's a freebie in the hopes of winning real paid work).

Whatever story the client tells themselves, you have devalued what you do and you have taught them they never need to go with the price you quote. Or they can ask for free time because hey, you give it.

But Deb, don't I have to give something away for free to show I'm good at this?

Where is your confidence? You ARE good at this. And the client knows or suspects this because they are considering you, already working with you, or hoping to steal your ideas.

We must stop imagining that when we walk into a room, we have no credibility. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. When I meet someone who acts like they have no credibility, they have to build their cred, or they are trying to hard to prove themselves, I am wondering why they are trying so hard. Is it because they're not really that good at this?

Confidence isn't a bad thing. Children like to tease the kid with confidence, intelligence, or strength. But we're not kids anymore. Step out of those old clothes and realize that in an adult business world, we want the confident person. We don't want the arrogant jerk! But we want the person who gives off the capability vibes (and then backs it up with solid work).

But the client just asked for this small report or opinion.

What are your opinions worth? That's your expertise. You sell that. I don't have that expertise. My opinion is worth nothing. Yours is worth a lot. Your feedback, your report, your ideas, your plan, your strategy... they have HUGE value. Charge for them. If someone doesn't pay, they can't have this.

Yes, they will do your ideas without you. If you give them a plan, a strategy, a set of suggested changes, they can absolutely take that list to another vendor and have them do the work. That is why you charge for that. At least if they don't continue with you, you have been paid something for your expertise and time.

But Deb, I need the money.

OK but you just told me you weren't going to charge that guy. What money was not charging going to bring you? Did he tell you he'd hire or pay you after this free work? He's probably lying. Why should he pay you? He's just learned that when he waves the carrot of more work, you give time and expertise away for free. Giving work away for free is no guarantee that anybody later hires you for anything.

If you need the money, then you definitely want to be charging someone actual money. Do you bill $50/hr? $100/hr? Whatever it is, bill for the time. Great way to get money.

Are they a new client? Charge them up front. If they won't pay up front, they are sending you very strong signals about who they are, how they will treat you, and hard it'll be to get paid. At least charge half now and half later. If you take zero now, be prepared to end up with zero if this client is a true jerk.

You're also teaching the client how much you can do in that amount of time. "Wow, this business owner charged me for 5 hours and look at this amazing report we got! I definitely want to keep working with this person."

But then they might hire my competitor.

Good. Let your competitor suffer with a client who doesn't respect the people he hires. You don't want that client. They are often not worth what you pay. You resent them later and sometimes you're upset you ever took the work.

Let your competitor work with that freeloader.

Trust that your excellent work, expertise, attention to detail, and fair pricing will carry you forward. Word will get around: you are the best. You're not the cheapest. You can't be fooled into doing free work. You charge for everything. But wow, you get results.

And have a good contract.

Want to look like a serious business person? Have a real contract. One a lawyer in your area drew up. Not one you downloaded for free somewhere. Get a real contract you can use over and over for you business. You should be protected in case a client doesn't pay or causes other trouble. A contract is an insurance policy you hope you never have to use but if you need it, you'll be glad you had it. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.