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Comment by wprapido | Hacker News Reader

Charge more for future work

It is hard to do. You can explain that what should have taken x hours, took x+y hours because of his many changes. You cannot work for such low-income. So your new rate is what is reasonable in light of the past experiences with him. If he doesn't agree then so be it. You do not need an unreasonable client who won't pay a fair price.

To make a profit in any business, you need to charge a fair price. That is, deliver good work and know the value of what you provide. Subsidising other people's businesses is not healthy.

Yes, but how should I tell him in a convincible manner

By impressing them with your work, it's easier when they think they are getting a deal already

You are good. You can discuss all the things about the page the client likes and how you were so happy to get it just the way he wanted.

Then you offer to do subsequent pages at your working rate. Big smile (even over the phone), big enthusiasm. Your rate and revision policy are what they are going forward, but help the client envision how amazing the end result will be!

Make sure they understand that they were previously receiving the hugely discounted introductory rate, that you love working with them, and give them your "normal" rate, which is whatever price structure you think will work better going forward.

They may try to negotiate your new rate. Give yourself a little wiggle room so that you can accommodate a negotiation if necessary. If they flat out refuse, then take it as a learning experience and spend your time finding a new client.

If a potential client doesn't value your work, you can't convince them to value it. No matter how good your work is, the client values it based on what it is worth to them. A worse website might be good enough for their needs.

The only thing that you can convince a potential client of is that you won't work for less than your proposed fee. It's hard to walk away from potential work, but more volume of money losing projects doesn't make up for the fact that they are money losing. And a client promising lots of money losing work isn't worth keeping as an active client.

That's not to say never take a money losing project. Big established organizations with ample budgets often have orbital rings of larger and larger projects. The minimum overhead of working with them makes small projects in the outer orbit produce small losses. But small projects are the route to the orbits with bigger projects with obvious profits.

Often times the only thing you can do is walk away. When individuals have no understanding / concept of time or they simply don’t care a choice has to be made.

I think about it as business to consumer versus business to business. B2C is about status. B2B is about lasting relationships. By default, anyone searching for services on freelance aggregators is using a B2C model. Status can be about spending lots of money, but it defaults to being a saavy shopper or hard negotiator and such. Basically people with a B2B view of web design and lots of projects already have a relationship with a design provider.

People on the freelancing aggregators are businesses. It really often comes down to being able to do what you can afford to do. When a client doesn’t understand the time it takes to put together what looks good, often there can be an ultimatum. It’s extremely hard when the individual doesn’t have concept of time or design.

Your introductory rate is discounted because you recognize the risk the client was taking with their time by hiring you with scant evidence you could do the job and do it well.

Your new rate reflects a reduction in their risk since they know you can do the job.

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