Wednesday night I attended The Runway Project’s brainstorming session that brought together a group of independent workers for a discussion about how to determine your prices. As a person who is just starting out on my own this is the biggest challenge I am dealing with.

Here is what I learn:

• You must have a vision of where you want to go and how you going to get there.
• Know what your cost of living is. Also make sure you have at least 6-8 of living expenses to live off just in case you hit a dry spell. Knowing how much you need on a month-to-month basis would allow you to assess what your minimum rate should be.
• Be honest about what you are good at and what you can accomplish in the allocated time.
• Don’t devalue your own services. Giving away your services pass the point the point of building your portfolio will bring down you value. Also doing work for next to nothing will not only hurt your bottom line but your business won’t be able to survive.
• Think about other things that you can do in between projects that can bring in additional income.
• When it comes to discussing price with a client, allow them to tell you what they can afford or what they are expecting to pay for your services. Your rates shouldn’t be the first thing discussed.
• Doing a job for free? Presents client with an invoices with the balance of zero, but include the lines items to show the worth of your services.

Cool Quotes:

“A friend of mine applies the ‘bitch’ factor.” When a client is a particular pain, she pads the numbers in anticipation of fickleness.

Regarding potential clients who lowball you: “There has to be a point where you just say f*** you.”

Brainstorm: Factors to Consider When Determining Your Price
The Runway Project
Twitter: @runwayproject

This event was hosted by the good folks of New Work City, a community coworking space in NYC. For more info please check out or their twitter page at @nwc.

Related Posts:
Stepping Out on My Own: The Chronicles of a First-Time Entrepreneur

This is the first in a series of posts about one woman going out on her own, making money and bringing home the bacon. Enjoy!

Picture this: You are just months away from your college graduation and you get offered an opportunity of the lifetime. You seized said opportunity and feel that life couldn’t be better. Then the economy starts to tank and you are personally affected. What is a gal to do went she loses her job? The answer: Go out of her own.

This is exactly what happens to me about eight months ago. I landed a great internship, was able to stay on pass my college graduation but then the recession hit. So while looking for a job (and I am still looking) I thought why not make my own money. Being your own boss is not easy task. There is a lot of researching, time, and planning that goes into becoming successful. The only plan I had in place was to get a job before graduation. I had no back up plan. I kept putting off the idea of freelance on the side. It wasn’t until I was put into a situation where I had to start thinking on my feet and get my act together. So the past couple of months I been doing my homework and making a game plan.

So tip #1 to my fellow women who have found themselves in the same position, is have a game plan and at least two alternatives just in case plan A falls apart. Tip #2: network, network, network. No one would know that you are looking for a job and/or clients if you don’t get out there and tell them. And last but not least tip #3: believe in yourself. Believe that you can do anything that you set your mind to.

Until next time.

Women & Wine: Summer Networking Social

WITI’s passion is for the unique ability women have to connect and create solutions both personally and professionally. Please join us for a relaxing summer evening at Olana Restaurant in the heart of the Flat Iron District. This will be a perfect time to deepen the friendships and business connections while also enjoying a sampling of wines from Olana’s extensive wine list. Event Date and Venue
This event will be held from 6:00pm -8:30pm on Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at:

Olana Restaurant
72 Madison Avenue (btw 27th/28th)
New York, New York 10016

Tickets are $25 for member and $35 for nonmembers. Register here.