A lot can be said about pandemics.
Some people lose their jobs, others excel. That’s just how it is.
I’ve been questioned, it seems, a million times, about why I charge so much – per hour.
Let’s get this out of the way – again.
For about 15 years now, I’ve specialised in WordPress. I’ve built up my Brand, with theme developers and customers over many years.
The reality is, I could have employed other developers and built a big business, but chose to protect my work and name by doing everything myself. It has worked – Brilliantly. The downside, is that my income is limited to what ‘I’ can do myself.
Just like any business, there is a supply and demand issue that needs to be addressed. I addressed it my way – by increasing my rate, so that ‘demand’ drops to a steady supply. Do my clients wish they’d pay less? Obviously, they would. But, they know they can go elsewhere and pay less, or they can continue paying what I charge, and know their website is in safe hands – because I work when people are sleeping, so their website has no ‘real’ downtime.
I cannot understand why people, after seeing how much I charge (I don’t hide it), they seem to have the time to contact me, complaining about what I charge!
Isn’t it a life goal to get paid what you believe you’re worth? I say it is. People say in their complaints, that they can go elsewhere and pay $25 per hour. Well, do it. Go….it’s simple right? Not so, apparently.
I do provide FREE advice and assistance in some forums, and will continue.
Some clients that had websites built have told me the timeframe and cost of their ‘old’ website – prior to coming to me, and I’ve almost fallen back off my chair. Cheap isn’t always value. Value isn’t always cheap. Some clients have spent $60 per hour for two developers to build them a website, that were billed for about 3 times as many hours as what it would have taken me to build. They paid more, for less.
At the end of the day, if you aren’t happy with my rate – $121 per hour, you are free to go elsewhere. Like I’ve said many times in my blogs, I can get a lot done in an hour – more than most.
I turn 50 this year. and am currently looking at my options, one of which I may decide to give this away, but I’m not sure just yet. I have reduced my hours to around 12 per week, and I am still turning away work.
Demand for my work is not in short supply and I may even increase my hourly rate, if I decide to continue past my 50th.
I am worth what I charge. You may not think so, and that is fine, you don’t have to. To me, I am value for money, and I’m not cheap.
This whole discussion makes me uncomfortable, and will be the last time I write about it. Simply, if you don’t want to pay what I charge, go elsewhere. I really can’t make that any clearer.
