5 Techniques to Double Your Freelance Rates

1) The Briefcase Technique

I’ve used the briefcase technique to earn thousands of dollars in salary and freelance negotiations. It works so well when you’re going into a client meeting where they are going to get to know you and you’re potentially going to work together. They are going to ask you some questions, but you’ve already understood what their problems are how to solve them (see technique number 4).

The client says, “I’m curious, what’s your price” and you say, “Before we get to that let me show you something I’ve put together”. This is when you pull out a proposal document about things you’ve found in their business that you can improve and exactly how to do it. To the business owner, it’s the most compelling menu they’ve ever received. It’s a list of problems they already know about and you’ve identified them from the outside and they realize that you’re the person to solve them.

2) The Power Referrals Technique

Don’t expect someone to do it for you. Reach out to them individually. Here’s a script to use with current or past clients to build a stack of referrals:

You: “Hi client, would you mind if I get a referral from you?”
Client: “Yeah, uh, I can probably do that.”
You: “No need to worry. If you prefer, I can write it up for you and then send it to you for your review. Or if you want to write something, feel free, but I’m happy to write it up. Does that sound good?”
Client: “Sure, that would be great — email me a draft this week.”

You can’t afford to be shy about this — it will cost you money over time. Most people don’t even think to go out of their way to just send you a referral. It’s up to you to take care of it for them.

3) Higher-Value Technique

Move up the value chain by providing higher-value work. So, you work with an existing client. They like what you’re doing. You’re doing freelance work for them, and you’re making $20/hour. Here’s what you say to start getting higher value work:

“You know what? I’ve kind of got this under my belt. I’ve noticed a couple of other areas that are areas that you could actually really improve, and I think I can help you. Would you mind chatting about this later this week?”

Then send over a project proposal. Because they already trust you, because you’ve got this halo effect, they’re going to give you more leeway to experiment into other areas of the business, and that is how you can progress from just writing copy, for example, to doing high-level sales strategy.

Here’s a phrase I use. You can use this right now: “Just to note, I’ve always wanted to get more involved in affiliate management, and I had a few ideas I think I could help you with. Would you be interested in talking about them at our next meeting?” They are most likely going to say yes. Why?

1. They trust you.
2. They want to keep you happy.
3. The client has a problem with affiliate management, and here you are, offering to solve it for them. Of course they will talk to you about it. If you’ve got a client, figure out what you can offer them to move from where you currently are into something even more valuable.

For example, one of the freelancers on my team started out doing simple tasks for me. I noticed she was really good at communication and a variety of other skills so over time she started taking on more responsibility with different advertising projects we were working on. Now I have all these new business challenges and I just throw them her way and I know that when I send her an assignment, it’s going to get done well. She systematically went from entry-level work to taking on high value projects that earned her tens of thousands of dollars.

4) The Client’s Head Technique

Pay attention to your clients, and get inside their heads. It’s important that you understand that 80% of the work happens BEFORE you enter the room with your potential client. You must understand their problems, understand what they value, and ask them about it. I teach my students a technique called “ask without selling” where you ask your clients simple questions like:

“What are your three biggest business challenges?”
“What are the three metrics you measure?”
“What did you try in the past? Why didn’t it work?”

Then tie your deliverables back to the answers they give you. For example, instead of pitching a potential client, “Hey, I’m a writer, hire me!” (what 99% of freelancers do) you would say, “I’m a writer, I understand your challenges are X, Y, Z, and I can help you solve X. Here’s how … ”

If a potential client says, “I’m swamped. Every day, I have to write something new. Every day, I have to edit a video. Every day, I have to respond to employee concerns. In six months I want to have things under control so I can have more time with my family.” Well, guess what? What you’re doing right now on your note pad is you’re taking notes. Then when you go to make your pitch you’re definitely going to say, “I know time management is important to you. That’s why we can do one of two ways. One, I can do a call with you once a week in your car, as you’re driving into work. Or two, I can simply send you an updated spreadsheet of what I’ve been doing this week and any questions I have. That way, you have more time with your family and you never have to worry about handling any of my concerns after 5:00 p.m. I will do the work. That’s why you’re hiring me.”

Can you see the difference? It’s a key distinction between the freelancers that consistently work with high-value customers and those that are stuck getting paid low hourly rates.

5) Cautious Free Trial Technique

So many people worry about free vs. fee … Should you go with a lower rate? There’s actually two ways to think about this. Some clients are going to haggle your rate down, no matter what. So, what should you do? The first option is to stand firm on your rate, which you will do if you know that the client is very, very interested in working with you. And that’s typically because they’ve gotten really excited, they’ve said yes a lot, and they are excited. When you say, “No, I don’t discount my rate, if it’s out of your range, that’s OK, this probably isn’t for you,” smile. You can actually hear the smile over the phone. It really, really works.

Here’s how you might say it: “You know, it’s not ideal, but I’m willing to try a discounted rate of $35.00 for the first three weeks. If I agree to that, I think you’ll agree it’s fair to write down some key results that we can work towards. And after three weeks, assuming I do an extraordinary job, I’d like to discuss working at my standard rate. Does that sound fair to you?” These are ways that you can think about accepting a lower rate, as long as you set a date in the future where you and the client are going to discuss it again.