Graphic and Brand Designers ask us all the time—how much am I worth?

How much are you worth? Okay, we want to stop you right there.

Pricing a design project has absolutely nothing to do with how much you are worth!

Let’s re-write the script to—how much is this project worth? ↑

This subtle change in this question allows you to detach with love—allowing you to remain neutral and objective when you are quoting.

Without a doubt, this is the million-dollar question in our industry! Honestly, it’s one of the main questions that we get asked.

So, how much do you believe your creative IP and business process is worth? Because that, beautiful designers, it the key to how others will perceive the value of your offerings.

And before we go any further, we are here to tell you that your creative IP is worth so much more than an hourly rate. We don’t want you to get stuck in the rut of swapping out time for money.

Yes, there are ways to quantify and qualify value, but there is also the creative and conceptual intellectual property that you offer—the ‘x factor’…we call it ‘transformation value’.

Transformation Value is a percentage we recommend you add to your baseline prices depending on the perception of the value you believe you can add to the project. Are you quoting on a logo? That could be pretty damn transformative. Do you have years of experience? Well, that adds to the perception of value too. 

Understand the power of  ‘you’, that transformation value, that ‘wow factor’ that comes from your unique offering.

High-end brand designers bring more than pretty graphics to a brand. The strategic, considered and highly conceptual solutions we create for a brand have the power to transform a business.

However, for some reason, so many talented designers get caught up in swapping time for money and lack the confidence that our industry commands—as a result, we see designers constantly undercharging.

So, coming back to the million-dollar question—how much is this project worth, how do I charge for the transformation value, how do we measure creative and conceptual intellectual property?

It has become abundantly clear to us that the reason so many beautiful designers are struggling with what to charge is that they don’t really know their own numbers.

Because, when you know your numbers—and we mean holistically and intimately understand your numbers, you are able to tap into actual facts about how you work, how long things take you, what your profit margin is for certain offerings, what your overheads are, how many hours you can dedicate to a project, etc etc…this knowledge is powerful and will directly inform how to charge appropriately and fairly…and most importantly when applied consistently, will result in a profit.

At the end of the day, that’s why we are in business—to make a profit.

When you know your numbers—how to charge and be remunerated for the true value of your creative IP becomes crystal clear, and, quoting as a high-end designer becomes super simple.

If you haven’t got it yet, the first thing you could do is download our absolutely free pricing guide for graphic designers—this guide gives real examples and demonstrates exactly how to apply a transformation value to your costings.

In addition, to help designers conquer this issue in their businesses we have developed a ‘Design for Profit’ money pack. Containing all of the key tools for you to get to know your money.

Design for Profit Money Pack

Our Design for Profit Money Pack is a digital download containing 9 fully customisable, exquisitely designed google sheets. Including quoting templates that contain detailed figures for an extensive branding package, website and multipurpose estimate.

All accompanied by step by step videos.

It is available for purchase right now!

01. EASY BREEZY COST ESTIMATE CALCULATOR

Know what to charge for each and every project with complete confidence. And, have an understanding of the profit margin right from the get-go.

This pack includes in-depth and completely customisable examples for:
1. A Brand package Estimate
2. Website Estimate
3. Collateral Estimate

Each of these can be customised to suit your business model and hourly rate.

These examples are just the starting point, use this template to create cost estimate templates for all of your projects.

02. SWEET & SIMPLE TIME TRACKER

This is quite literally a sweet little tracker, because its super EASY and we love ease! 

To truly understand how much to charge and the power of an hour with ‘you,’ you need to track your time.

Really getting to know how you use your time is a powerful gift! When you understand how long tasks take you—you can confidently prepare your cost estimates with a deep knowing. And this sweet little tracker will help you identify sneaky time sucks that can sabotage a project.

Throw the mystery out the window—this clever little business tool tells all!

03. GET CLEAR ON YOUR OFFERINGS PLANNER

What is your desired annual turnover and how many hours you would like to work per month?

When you understand the answers to the above, this powerful tool can provide you with insight on exactly what offers will help you to achieve your goals.

Looking specifically at design hours, this worksheet will help you to map out; the price of your offerings, how many you’ll need to sell per month and how many hours you’ll need to dedicate to each offering to not only meet, but smash your goals.

Knowledge is power! And, in this case, knowledge is profit.

04. LOOK AHEAD CASH FLOW FORECASTS

Get out ahead of it. Having a killer forecast will ensure you have no surprises. 

This tool is mandatory for the smooth operation of any business. When you understand the ‘cost’ of business you are in a position of power.

This spreadsheet includes examples for:
1. 12 month Forecast
2. 12 week Forecast
3. Quarterly Forecast

05. WRAP IT UP PROFITABILITY TRACKER

Which of your offerings is most profitable?

Being clear on the what offering is your highest and easiest conversion means you can focus your efforts where it counts.

Which offering is the biggest time suck and leaves you feeling like you’d rather not!

This beautiful tool provides you with a crystal clear picture of where your profit lies—shining a light on your most profitable offerings.

Full disclosure…the results may surprise you!

CONCLUSION

With this juicy and powerful toolkit, it is our intention to demystify the numbers game for you.

To get your hands on it, head to our business resources shop designandprosper.co/shop

We are so excited to finally have our beautiful shop OPEN, and we are launching with LOVE—so wanted to share that with you by offering an introductory price of $147 USD for the next month (Normally $197 USD).

For our Aussie designers this cost includes GST.

You are worth it, beautiful designer.