The Value in YOU

This is an unpopular opinion but let me say it anyway…

Having bookkeepers that charge less than $5 does not affect your chances of getting a client let alone charging a premium.

Telling people to charge higher because it affects you is like Jollibee telling a sidewalk vendor to stop selling Php20 fried chicken.

Or high-end restaurants losing sleep over the Php22 “Buy 1 Take 1” offered by Angel’s Burger.

Or Nike not getting over the Php399 shoes in Divisoria.

Flip the coin, either way, I definitely bet they don’t care.

Because they know there is a market available for each and every one.

And here’s the bitter truth…

For some, $5/hr is all they need to lead a comfortable life.

In certain parts of the Philippines, that amount is all they need to send their kids to school, have food on the table, and take their family out on weekends.

I honestly don't see anything wrong with it.

Now, I know this may sound weird coming from me since I’m a huge advocate of charging premium fees.

But that’s the thing…

We can only go as much as to ADVOCATE, EDUCATE, and INFORM others on how to charge higher fees.

COMMANDING them to raise their fees will only create a bigger divide between those who do and those who don’t.

But let’s say ‘commanding’ them DOES work and we did manage to get people out of the $5/hr range…

?????? What’s next?

?????? ??Do we start telling our counterparts from other countries to raise their prices too?

Because here’s the thing…

Whether we like to admit or not, the RESPONSIBILITY actually lies on us.

Not on freelancers charging below $5/hr.

And I know it’s easier to blame others than to look inside ourselves and see what we could do better.

Especially when you’re getting rejections left and right from clients trying to bargain your rate.

I know because I’ve been there.

I even have lived freelancing life blaming others for my misfortune.

So yes, I do understand.

Which is why I’m writing this.

Because more often than not, our inability to get clients at the rate we want often falls into one of many reasons.

?????? Let me give you THREE (3).

The first one is not knowing how to ‘MARKET’ our services.

One time, I was looking for website design help and I received CVs and email applications that all looked like this:

?????? ??Here are my skills: Javascript, Jquery, Angular, Ajax, Jason,

Custom CSS, PHP, DOTA, Counterstrike (lol! Last two ones aren’t included of

course.)

The sad part is, I didn't even understand a single thing of what he said in that paragraph.

What's sadder is, no one (and I mean not a single one) even bothered to ask me what I need.

When in fact, all they have to do to get me as a client is ask me about my problem and suggest how they can help me solve it.

It’s simple if you think about it but rarely done.

The second one is POSITIONING.

Let me ask you…

If you own a podcast and you’re looking to hire someone to transcribe every episode, which of the two freelancers would you choose?

The one who says…

?????? ??Freelancer #1: I'm a fast and accurate transcriptionist. I have a

bachelor’s degree in communication arts and completed 2 years of transcription

training.

Or the one who focuses on what they can help you with?

??????Freelancer #2: I help Podcasters increase their brand awareness,

engagement, leads, and traffic through carefully planned transcribed content.

As a podcaster, which one will you get?

It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?

This is what real 'positioning' looks like.

 Someone who can articulate who their ideal client is and what value they can provide.

And in a sea of freelancers where everyone calls themselves by the skill they have (e.g. I’m a website designer), doing this will make you stand out like a sore thumb.

Speaking of VALUE…

The third reason is that most of us don’t even know the VALUE we provide to our clients.

Whenever I ask freelancers what VALUE they provide they come back with these responses…

“I make their website”

?????? ??“I help them post on social media”

?????? ??“I create processes for their team”

While those are awesome, that’s not really the VALUE your clients are looking for.

Take SEO experts for example.

Why would clients want to hire them?

?????? ??

Is it to rank #1 on Google?

But why would they want to rank?

?????? ??

Is it to get more people to visit it?

??????

But why would they want more people to visit their website??

We could go on and on about this but the bottom line is they want more customers.

Yet most SEO experts don't even mention a single thing about getting customers.

How will our clients know what results in we can give them when we ourselves don’t know exactly the value our services provide?

Listen…

I know how frustrating it is to study and train for a skill for months (or even years) and just see it taken for granted and bargained for.

But as I've learned from multiple years of freelance failure... ?????? ?????? ??

It’s not my skills.

?????? ??

It’s not my experience.

?????? ??

It’s not my credentials/portfolio.

It’s not other freelancers charging less than $5 that’s the problem.

It’s my inability to market my services, differentiate my services from every other freelancer offering the same, and communicating what I can help my clients with.

Now, this isn’t a ‘knock’ on anyone.

In fact, if you’re one of those who really want others to raise their fees, I applaud your commitment to raising our local freelancing standards.

But like the old saying goes…

?????? ??

If we like to change the world, we should start with ourselves

first.

GOOD DAY!

P.S. For those who’d love to know more about how I help business owners with their bookkeeping, feel free to send a DM or email me here – [email protected]