Money. Let's talk about it.

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Money is important in business, and unfortunately, it always becomes the least spoken about topic, and is usually only spoken about awkwardly or in secrecy.

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The thing is, if these conversations don't surface to the scene, this will continue to leave a lot of Creatives frustrated as their value is not being compensated accordingly, especially if they have gained more experience.

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As a freelance designer myself, I had this issue of how I could charge more for my work, rattling my brain trying to find a way to make that happen. It just so occurred that when I spoke about this same issue to my friend Kwaku Amprako, he had a similar experience.

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Kwaku is a freelance logo design specialist that has now been able to work with brands such as FIFA, BET, Space Force & Fatsoma.

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Looking back, we were able to come up with a few useful ways that can really help you to confidently increase your rates.

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Niche Down

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Now I'm sure you've probably heard this before, went I first started getting to know the ropes of the freelancing world I heard this term a lot but really did not know what it meant. In its simplest explanation, niching down means to focus on what specific type of work you will be offering and sometimes to who. For example; I specialise in logotype design (add on in you have a specific audience) for startup fashion brands.

As you start out you're most likely going to be a generalist, that's fine, but by learning what you really like to do early on, you can find your niche; and that opens up a whole lot more doors than generalising, here's why.

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When you niche down, you can do more of what you like and become very skilled at that one thing, meaning you are someone that is not easy to replace. This now gives you the opportunity to charge more as you have the ability to position yourself as an expert in your chosen niche. It's like going to eat at a restaurant that does the best Chinese roast duck dish in your city over the local buffet that does a bit of everything to an okay standard.

So find that dish that is your specialty and get cooking. Get good, really good and you'll have customers that will happily pay a lot more than you could imagine.

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Practice, practice, practice

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Time to roll up your sleeves because you've got work to do. Time is what you're going to have to invest before the money starts coming in.

As a Creative you should know if you want to stay in this for the long run, you have to continuously sharpen your skills by practicing regularly, reading, asking questions to the right people and being self aware.

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When I say as a Creative it is key to become self aware is for a few reasons. One is that you need to be aware of what your strengths are as well as your weaknesses. By understanding what you are good at you will be able to make progress faster and most likely enjoy learning more around that skillset, so it's only going to motivate you to get really good. On the flip side, do not think for a moment that you have learnt everything. Becoming complacent kills.

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Your weaknesses are not to be neglected, there are a lot of things that we like to put off as Creatives, and doing so will only hold us back. This was something I experienced as my pride was getting in the way of me learning, which was really pointless, not how I want you to spend your time. You don't need to be great at everything, so ask yourself what you need to work on and make a plan to ensure you make that happen.

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These sound like insignificant acts, but the compound effect is real, and your future self will thank you for what you did when you look back.

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“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”

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Invest in the right resources

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This is an investment that will only fuel your motivation to grow. Software/equipment, books, and online courses are great forms of investment that will help increase your value and provide a strong foundation of knowledge.

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Software and equipment are essential to ensure that you are able to produce work to the relevant industry standard and to make sure you become more efficient as a Creative. You'll need to do some research into the what is the appropriate equipment to have for the tech that you use to create. Notice that I said 'appropriate' equipment - I know how expensive it can be, especially when you are first starting out, so please do yourself a favour and do some research on what works for you.

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Books, whether hard copy, e-book pdf, or audiobook, can pack a lot of value. Books are great as they challenge your thinking as well as supply you with new knowledge. This is particularly helpful if you've found your niche and are now looking at ways to improve your weaknesses, such as marketing or pricing.

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Online courses are also a great resource to invest in, this has helped me a lot over the years from watching courses on Skillshare, LinkedIn Learning, and Udemy to improving my design skills. I also have found a lot of articles and blogs written for Creatives and the business side of it. Along with that YouTube has always been a great source to use. The Futur has become one of the market leaders for teaching Creatives the business of Design, which I highly recommend taking a look at.

See yourself as a business owner

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Simply put, businesses need to make real money to survive, and you need to be thinking that way too if you really want to make good progress. This means factoring in your costs and living expenses into your rates so that you can cover these.

One other thing that people don't tell you but notice is that higher-priced products and services are seen as more premium than competitors that are charging lower rates. As long as you have your positioning and branding in good shape, this is something you should definitely consider implementing within your business. As you grow, you'll begin to realise that there is more way than earning your income from just trading your time quite quickly.

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Take the bull by the horns and make sure you are the one that can be firm in what you can and cannot do, along with your rates. Negotiations are not to be avoided as this comes as part of the business but do ensure that you are not lowering your rate if the client is not up for decreasing the amount of work they require. This will be where you learn a lot from others and take practice to get all these business practices under your belt if you're currently solo. However, nothing great comes easy, but the rewards that can come from carefully working on your business will pay you more than you could imagine, plus your freedom too.

This article was bought you by Jonathan Clarke-Ezzidio (@jce.design) and Kwaku Amprako (@amprako.co)