When the big client pays late for the third time
A listener's biggest client is 60 days late again. Marielle and a guest accountant from Manila talk through deposits, late fees, polite escalation and when to let a client go.
The rate card you are afraid to send
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Show notes
The rate card you are afraid to send
Most freelancers underprice for years because the alternative feels rude. Marielle shares the exact way she built her first rate card, how she raised it three times, and what she says now when a client pushes back.
- Working backwards from the income you need, not the market rate you fear
- Hourly versus project pricing and when each one protects you
- The email script Marielle uses to announce a rate increase
- What happened when she quoted double for a Dubai agency
- Why the first no is not a verdict on your worth
This week's task: write down the number you would be embarrassed to quote. We start there.
Transcript
Hi, I am Marielle Dizon and this is Invoice Due Friday, a show for people who work for themselves and sometimes lie awake at night wondering if they charged enough. Today we are talking about the rate card you are afraid to send. I remember sitting in a cafe in Cebu nine years ago with a quote open on my laptop, deleting a zero, adding it back, deleting it again. I sent the lower number. I regretted it for two years. So this episode is everything I have learned since then. How to work out a rate from the life you want rather than from fear. When hourly protects you and when it punishes you. And the exact email I now send when I raise my prices, including the one time a client in Dubai said yes to double without blinking. Grab your calculator. You are listening on Witspeak Podcasts.
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