Comments on: Back to low pricing self-esteem

By: Online Self-Improvement Resource » Plump models may actually lower women’s self-esteem

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 14:50:48 +0000

[…] Back to low pricing self-esteemSitePoint, Australia - Mar 4, 2006… What advice would you offer? I want to cure this problem of low pricing self-esteem in the technology world, and would be grateful for your unique perspective! … […]

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 09:24:21 +0000

This is kind of tough for me too, but right now my rates are about where they should be.

Something I did that helped a lot was pitch for one particular project that I knew could get a large budget, and I made sure my bid was about 10 times as much as I usually charge. I didn’t win the bid but it made me MUCH more comfortable with going for an appropriate price tag after that, and as I result I have been making more money.

By: busyboy

busyboy — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 00:01:48 +0000

He must learn to accept praise. Praise leads to self-esteem. Self-esteem leads to confidence.

Praise from industry peers and co-workers, praise from clients, praise from his own wife (if applicable).

By: 1Lit_com

1Lit_com — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 22:30:32 +0000

$10,000 an hour? Phew! Much of the world’s population doesn’t earn that in a lifetime.

By: EagleEyesDesign

EagleEyesDesign — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 19:16:20 +0000

How is your qualified developer’s energy level?

My rates and my husband’s rates improved in proportion to our health improvements over two decades. I remember dragging myself through each day in the 90’s, and felt like my time was NOT worth the same as the other developers.

And without good energy, the thought of learning better people and sales skills could feel like an impossible mountain to climb to your developer. Plus, people respond well to someone who is healthy and energetic.

By: AnandC

AnandC — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 01:27:50 +0000

Like everyone else has mentioned there can be a multitude of reasons why this guy is under charging. Does he deliver on time? Is he only sticking with the same group of 3-4 clients that “can’t afford” to pay him? It is very possible that he is seeing wage deflation due to outsourcing and does not command a presence is any niche market but rather a general space with global competition.

By: Gamermk

Gamermk — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 22:53:21 +0000

He is not marketing his services correctly. He isn’t establish himself as the expert would be your take on it I’ll bet. He probably hates public speaking or avoids it.

I would say its time for him to start a campaign to market what he knows and get his face all over the place. Futhermore, he needs to notify all of his clients that his rates are going up by 25% this year, but that because they are long established clients that he will offer work for them at his current rates for the next month.

By: dev_cw

dev_cw — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 11:26:06 +0000

From the reading I would guess that this person works alone.

Maybe this person is not a “people person” or is uncomefortable with the self marketing game. What I mean is that although he has great technical credentials and experience, in order to rise in the rate ladder he still needs to present, sell, deal with and confront the clients. It is one thing to deserve the higher rates and it is a much different thing to sell the higher rates to the clients.

Maybe a solution for him (in the case I described) would be to partner up with a seller, so he can just do his part and leave the selling to someone who enjoys it and can get him better rates and more work. Some people are just not good sellers.

By: wildscribe

wildscribe — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 02:58:45 +0000

I meant to add that his extensive experience along with his MIT degree should help him find new clients. I have found that big corporate types love to hire people with degrees from Stanford, MIT, Harvard, etc., even if their work and experience is not as good as someone with an IT degree from a lesser-known university.

By: wildscribe

wildscribe — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 02:52:04 +0000

I personally found myself with the same problem two years ago.

Here is my simple advice:

1.) Get rid of all the clients that he is charging less than the going rate. Yes, he could ask them to pay twice as much for his services, but he is better off spending the time on finding new clients who will pay more. See below.

2.) Get new clients who will pay more than the going rate. If he is good at what he does, (and he should be able to justify higher rates with his MIT degree) and can relate well with clients, he should be able to provide more value than the competition and charge higher fees.

It will take some time to build up a new, higher-paying client base, but he will have a much better business and make more money.