It’s worth what I say it’s worth.

A client and friend once told me that how I price my creative work or time is entirely up to me.

It should not be influenced by social pressure or someone else’s opinions about the value of the work.

And when someone says ‘that’s too expensive’ it’s ok to say ‘I’m sorry you feel that way’ and just walk away.

Ok, so that’s potentially a tricky situation given the economic climate and the need to sell, earn and survive that many people find themselves in. And also, many people genuinely cannot afford to pay for many things that they either want or like or feel they need. There are some hard truths here. We just changed our car and we had a spend limit. Of course we had.

Imagine if I’d said to our car dealer, “here’s how much we want to pay for that car” and then been bold enough to offer £10k less than the real price.

There’s an element of trust in all of this as well. I trust our car dealer because we have worked with them for a while and have no reason not to. Several clients I work with have been with me for a while, they trust me, they value the work. They pay the rate!

But, I have had people dictate to me what my hourly rate should be due to us being “in Northern Ireland, not London.”

That’s really just code for “here’s what we are willing to pay you and what we think you’re worth.”

Thankfully I am in a season where new clients never question my worth or value or dictate to me what my hourly rate should be.

It’s worth what I say it’s worth.