How to Raise Your Freelancing Rates on Upwork
Introduction:
Want to raise your rates on Upwork but don’t know how? We know how challenging it is to raise your rates, but if you are a veteran freelancer on Upwork, then it’s the high time to kick off a new start and earn more.
Stick around to today’s blog post to learn the smartest way to raise both fixed priced and hourly rates on Upwork. Your time, years of experience and enriched skills tell you that you need to value your effort and give it a higher rate. That’s why we are here to encourage you to raise your Upwork rate. Let’s see what you need for it.
Understand Your Value
While many independent professionals undervalue their services, successful Upwork freelancers know they are the boss of their work. They can choose when and how to raise their rates and still remain in great demand on the market. Each time you want to raise your rate but you have lack of courage, think of the below ideas:
Your time is worth money.
You are independent and you are the boss of your job.
Your skills, experience and past work-style don’t remain the same for years.
Your productivity and quality improve by the time.
Your pricing can indicate your work quality.
Your rate isn’t permanent: you can compare your rate with your competitors to see whether you charge appropriately.
Everything becomes expensive with time: your service is not an exception.
Remember how you started as a newbie freelancer and what result you can deliver today. You’ll notice that you have become smarter and more confident and you work faster with more quality. your productivity has increased several times. Now, you receive job invitations more often which means you are in demand and clients value your skills. It’s the time for you to know your value.
Deciding on a New Rate
Before raising your rate on Upwork, it's important to consider several things such as your skill level, education, experience and portfolio. If you are sure you have enriched your skill set, qualifications, and portfolio items, and if you are ready to take on more complex projects, then don’t hesitate to increase your rate. now, let's discover the best ways to increase your rate on Upwork.
Scheduled Rate Increase in Job Proposals
Recently Upwork has added a new feature to job proposals. When submitting to a new job, you can show whether you want to keep your rate fixed or you’ll choose how often you want to increase the rate during your cooperation with the future client. You can choose how much of an increase you want to offer right from the start and the client will see this info in your job proposal. This is called a scheduled rate increase in contract terms. It is a great way to let the client know your vision and expectations related to the job. You may use this feature for long-term contracts.
Increasing Fixed Priced Rates VS Increasing Hourly Rates
There are jobs that are more comfortable to do at fixed priced rates and on the contrary, there are jobs that require hourly work-style. Your client requirements, contract details and some other nuances decide how you are supposed to work. But one thing is obvious; you can always increase both fixed priced and hourly rates.
There is no boundary to tell which one is better but negotiating can decide a lot. For instance, if you consider a small and short-term project, you may agree on a fixed priced rate that’s fine both for you and the client. But if you are planning to work on a long-term basis, it’s better to opt for an hourly-based contract.
Raising Fixed-Priced Rates
Explore the client’s average rate and history by project. Offer a reasonable rate and still leave some room for negotiations. You can choose to be paid either by project or by milestones.
Explore the rates of other freelancers working in the same field as you. Decide the average rate for fixed price jobs and raise your rate according to your current quality level.
Negotiating with existing clients; explain the reasons why you think you need to raise your rate. It can be related to the quality, value, additional tasks, new skills etc.
Raising Hourly Rates
Raise your hourly rate right on your profile and submit to new jobs with the new increased rate.
Look for hourly job announcements where clients offer higher hourly rates. Submit for those jobs mentioning a satisfying/average rate. For instance, if the client is ready to pay more, offer a rate that’s a bit low from what he offers but is still higher from your previous rate.
Negotiating with existing clients; tell your client you want to raise your hourly rate from (date). Let them know what other values you’ve added/are going to add to your work-style.
Other Ways to Increase Your Rate
Update your profile info: add more skills, certifications, education history, and qualifications. Create a specialized profile which will be a secondary one and will show your other skills.
Offer additional services: while chatting with your current clients, offer them new services relevant to the job. You can even explore other jobs by your previous/current clients and offer them services they are looking for.
Create a project catalog: this is another new feature inside Upwork that allows you to sell your service according to the rate you prefer.
Add testimonials: besides the reviews and feedback you have in your profile, you can also showcase other testimonials that you have gained inside or outside Upwork. You can request a positive testimonial from your previous clients.
Summing Up: Check the below video by expert Adam Palmer to learn the secret of raising freelancing rates on Upwork.