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Pricing your work
Raising your rates without losing your best clients
A script, a timeline and the numbers to check before you send the email.
Lena ParkFounder, Parallel Studio · 7 min read
Most freelancers raise rates too rarely and by too little. A yearly increase of 8–15% is normal, and clients who value your work expect it.
Do the maths first
If you raise prices by 15% and lose one client in ten, you earn more and work less. Write down what each client paid last year before deciding who gets the new rate first.
Give 60 days' notice
Tell existing clients two months ahead, in writing, with the date the new rate starts. New clients get the new rate immediately.
“Short, specific and without apology. That's the whole script.”
- Thank them for the work so far.
- State the new rate and the start date.
- Offer to lock the current rate for any project signed before that date.
