Billed $150/hour for 3 years. The better I got, the less I earned. Switching to project pricing doubled my income.

💼 Freelance & Serviceby hourly_no_more · 7w ago

▸ What I did

Marketing consultant for small-to-mid businesses. For 3 years I charged $150/hour for everything: strategy sessions, campaign planning, competitive analysis, brand positioning. Averaged about $7,500/month working 50+ hour weeks.

▸ What I expected

As I got more experienced and faster at my work, I'd either work fewer hours or take on more clients.

▸ What actually happened

The opposite happened. As I got better, I worked FASTER — a competitive analysis that took me 10 hours in year 1 took me 3 hours in year 3. But that meant I billed $450 instead of $1,500 for the same deliverable. My expertise was literally COSTING me money. Hourly billing rewards slowness.

▸ What I've tried so far

Tried raising hourly rate to $200 — some pushback. Tried $250 — lost 2 more. Then I read about value-based pricing and project-based billing.

🔗 StrategyPacks

Progress Updates (3)

First full month of project-based pricing: $14,200. Three Growth packs ($5,000 each) + one Starter ($2,500) - overhead. Working hours: about 35/week. For comparison, my best hourly month was $9,100 at 52 hours/week. The numbers are absurd when you line them up. Hourly: $9,100/month, 52 hours/week. Project: $14,200/month, 35 hours/week. Same clients, same expertise, same quality. The only change was how I structured the pricing. I genuinely believe hourly billing is the biggest financial mistake freelancers make. You're selling time, which is limited. Sell outcomes instead.

✓ How I Fixed It

Ditched hourly billing entirely. Created three "Strategy Pack" tiers: Starter ($2,500), Growth ($5,000), Premium ($10,000). Same work I was doing hourly, but priced by VALUE to the client, not by my TIME. My income went from $7,500/month to $14,000/month with FEWER working hours. I stopped tracking time entirely. Getting faster now makes me MORE profitable, not less.

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3 Replies

freelance_cfo · 3w ago

"Hourly billing rewards slowness" should be printed on every freelancer's first invoice. I advise freelancers on pricing and this is the #1 mistake I see. The math always works the same way: as you get better, hourly billing punishes you. Project/value pricing rewards you. The only time hourly makes sense is when the scope is genuinely undefined (like ongoing advisory work where you don't know how much time will be needed). For everything with a clear deliverable: project pricing, always.

scope_creep_slayer · 3w ago✓ the fix

The client being HAPPIER with project pricing is the part people don't expect. Clients hate hourly because they never know what the final bill will be. Every question they ask you becomes "is this billable?" anxiety. Project pricing removes that friction entirely. "It costs $5,000 and you get X, Y, Z" — client can budget, plan, and ask unlimited questions without watching a meter tick. You earn more AND the client experience is better. It's genuinely win-win.

startup_therapist · 2w ago

Next level: once you have the 3-tier model working, start tracking which tier sells most. If 70% of clients choose Growth ($5,000), it means your Starter is priced right as an anchor and your Premium might be priced too high or not differentiated enough. Tier pricing psychology: the middle option should always be the most attractive. Make Premium feel like a luxury and Starter feel like "just enough" — Growth becomes the obvious choice.

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✓ fixed

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