Update: I was charging way too little for my editing time

I had coffee with a friend who does freelance graphic design in Austin last week. She asked me what my hourly rate was for editing, and when I said $35, she just stared at me. She said, 'You're cutting together entire stories for less than I charge to tweak a logo.' It hit different because I never really compared my video work to other creative fields. I've been undercutting myself for years without even realizing it. How did you all figure out what to charge when you started?

3 comments

3 Comments

simon_carr3h ago

That moment of realizing your rate is way off is a gut punch. My buddy who fixes bikes told me he used to charge twenty bucks for a full tune-up, parts not included. He was basically paying people to let him work on their stuff. It took seeing a shop's menu board with a simple brake adjustment listed at sixty-five to make it click. Sometimes you just need that outside view to see the real value of your time.

ward.anna2h ago

Oof, that's so real. I did the same thing when I started freelancing. I charged like two hundred bucks for a logo that took me a week. I was scared to ask for more. Then I saw what other people were charging for way less work, and my brain just broke. It's crazy how you can't see your own worth until you see the price tag someone else puts on the same skill.

scott.olivia1h ago

Yeah, I once traded a whole website for a nice dinner. My time was apparently worth one pasta dish.