The bee's knees of the biz

Lessons on pricing your services from the SheTalksAsia x Bumble Bizz Tribe Meet Up.

People often think that being a freelancer is a dream. I mean, sure, we get perks like having full control of our schedules and working in our pajamas from time-totime, but it can also lead us down a spiral of questioning our own worth and skill sets. Pricing your services is tricky when you have thousands of competitors out there who can do things way faster, way easier and way cheaper.

This is the exact dilemma that SheTalksAsia and Bumble Bizz tackled at their Tribe Meet Up last July 13. They invited Maxine Casaclang, strategist for digital and social content at Globe Telecom, Postpaid and Platinum; Pam Begre, managing partner of Frangipangi El Nido and Three Coconuts El Nido; Liz Lanuzo, CEO and founder of LLB Inc.; and Arriane Serafico, founder of The Purposeful Creative, to discuss how you can negotiate your fee or salary and how to get the courage to actually do it. Here’s what we learned:

don’t just work for passion

“When you’re a fresh graduate, there’s a tendency for you to compromise on the things you feel like you should get,” says Max. Just because you’re working on a job that you’re also passionate about doesn’t mean it’s okay for you to get less for it because “you get paid in happiness and satisfaction.” At the end of the day, a job is a job and it pays for your bills and Netflix subscription.

reverse-engineer it

If you don’t know how to price your services, try to base it on your monthly expenses or goals. Arriane suggests you ask yourself this question: “If I charge this much and then my goal is to earn x amount for this quarter, how many products do I need to have to be able to get to that goal?” Just keep in mind that you still need to price things fairly to land a client.

Money is not the only currency

Some jobs offer more than a good paycheck. “What are the opportunities in the position? The company culture matters too,” says Liz. “Is it the kind of company that helps you become a better person?” A good paycheck won’t take you far if you can’t stick to the job. Besides, a good company will recognize your talent for what it’s worth so it will be easier to negotiate then.