Nov 5, 2025 12:45 PM
(This post was last modified: Nov 5, 2025 12:46 PM by Hackers.)
If you ask for $20 per hour, you get a client who can afford $20 per hour, but maybe wants $15/hour.
If you ask for $200 per hour, you will get clients who can afford $200 per hour and are more likely to have an even higher budget if needed.
Now, $200/hour is a lot for certain types of work, so maybe $125-175 is more realistic, but the principle is the same.
Trust your expertise & output...
Ask for what you deserve and what can guarantee success and happiness for your clients.. If you offer low hourly rates, you can expect to make excuses or produce lower quality work, but your customer might not expect that.
Keep in mind that surprises happen... That $20/hour might seem fine, but what if you need to pay someone to help you finish the project? What if you messed up your estimate and are hours off? What if you need to use a service or product?
At $200/hour there should be enough padding for all of these risks, your own money, and enough to pay others too.
When you ask for millionaires, only millionaires come.
But if you ask for low budget clients expecting millionaires, prepare to be disappointed.
Exceptions exist... We had a guy come in with a budget of less than $100 for a small website update... but once he was on the phone, we showed him how we could replace a $20K cost elsewhere, and he came in as a client for 4+ years and did 6 figures.
> that's an anomaly, not the norm, but it helped me start my first company and really scale up much faster than expected about a decade ago
We charged $30-60 for hosting vs non-hosting customers, but once we asked for $60-80 instead, we did much better (not exact numbers, it was client specific).
Asking for more can limit your leads, but it also makes sure you can comfortably make your clients happy, at the budget you need to run a full operation.
If you ask for $200 per hour, you will get clients who can afford $200 per hour and are more likely to have an even higher budget if needed.
Now, $200/hour is a lot for certain types of work, so maybe $125-175 is more realistic, but the principle is the same.
Trust your expertise & output...
Ask for what you deserve and what can guarantee success and happiness for your clients.. If you offer low hourly rates, you can expect to make excuses or produce lower quality work, but your customer might not expect that.
Keep in mind that surprises happen... That $20/hour might seem fine, but what if you need to pay someone to help you finish the project? What if you messed up your estimate and are hours off? What if you need to use a service or product?
At $200/hour there should be enough padding for all of these risks, your own money, and enough to pay others too.
When you ask for millionaires, only millionaires come.
But if you ask for low budget clients expecting millionaires, prepare to be disappointed.
Exceptions exist... We had a guy come in with a budget of less than $100 for a small website update... but once he was on the phone, we showed him how we could replace a $20K cost elsewhere, and he came in as a client for 4+ years and did 6 figures.
> that's an anomaly, not the norm, but it helped me start my first company and really scale up much faster than expected about a decade ago
We charged $30-60 for hosting vs non-hosting customers, but once we asked for $60-80 instead, we did much better (not exact numbers, it was client specific).
Asking for more can limit your leads, but it also makes sure you can comfortably make your clients happy, at the budget you need to run a full operation.