Determining your prices?

Question

One thing I'm surprised to discover is that there isn't necessarily a strong correlation between the quality of one's design work and how much they make. I've seen mediocre designers pulling in lots of money from clients with deep pockets and I've seen good designers fighting over crumbs. I think the name of the game is having a good business sense more than your skill as a designer. My problem is figuring out how to price myself. I need a way of sizing myself up against other designers. Getting a feel for what they command in price vis-a-vis their quality of work and know-how. Problem is, I don't know of any resource that will shine any light on it. People are naturally uncomfortable talking about what they make so I don't bother asking. On top of it all, each client is different and must be billed accordingly. I'm not going to charge AT&T the same price for a tower banner as I would a mom and pop biz with small margins. How can I get guidelines on what to charge? Help someone!

Answer 1

Hi,

I have a lot of experience marketing small companies online (I have 3 companies).  One of the best ways is to sign up at business directories and protals.  These are basically listings of businesses (simliar to the phone book).  The advantage is that these portals usually get a lot of traffic and they're ranked high on Google because of all the quality links they contain.

My favorite portal is called Directory Exclusive.  I signed up a few weeks ago because they're giving a away a free business card holder when a person enter's their company info.  I received it in the mail 3 days ago =)

I don't know if they still have that promotion, but you can try to get the free card holder here:

http://www.my-exclusive-directory.info

Good Luck