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amaterasu

Lets talk about pricing models.

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Do you guys work alone or own a company with employees? I work alone.  I thought we could talk about our business model, what we do, and how. Share some experience etc.

I want to charge my customers for logo design but I keep making free logos because Im afraid to lose a potential customer.

Do you guys remove old vinyl and clean windows/cars for free?  I do it for free.. What about delivery/application ? I do that for free too.  :( :lol:

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I work from home and do nothing for free . . . your customers are training you :)

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I'm a 1 man band.  I charge for what I do because my customers don't know how to do it or they don't want to.  

You need to sit down and re-adjust your thinking. Hell you and @JLS Design need start talking and with both of you researching I'm sure you guys can come up with a better business plan.  

You're working for free because you don't want to lose a customer.   They aren't customers if they aren't paying.  They are called master and you're a slave.   

If you're serious about doing this and making real money you need to turn off the cutter, shut down the graphics program, and google the hell out of "How to run a business."

I'm no pro but I'm learning.  I can make graphics and install them but you want to know the hardest thing about it all?  Actually learning how to run a business.  My sales are going up and my GOOD paying customers are coming back to me.  

It just takes time.  

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When making signs (which is all I do) my design expertise is included within the price, and I calculate in a charge of $80/hr.

Normally, a sign requires very little effort (first or second proof gets approved) and I can live with adding a cost of only $20. for 15 mins. just to type in and arrange words in SignBlazer.

 

 

 

cleaners v2.JPG

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9 hours ago, Go-C Graphics said:

I'm a 1 man band.  I charge for what I do because my customers don't know how to do it or they don't want to.  

You need to sit down and re-adjust your thinking. Hell you and @JLS Design need start talking and with both of you researching I'm sure you guys can come up with a better business plan.  

You're working for free because you don't want to lose a customer.   They aren't customers if they aren't paying.  They are called master and you're a slave.   

If you're serious about doing this and making real money you need to turn off the cutter, shut down the graphics program, and google the hell out of "How to run a business."

I'm no pro but I'm learning.  I can make graphics and install them but you want to know the hardest thing about it all?  Actually learning how to run a business.  My sales are going up and my GOOD paying customers are coming back to me.  

It just takes time.  

@Go-C Graphics is right on.  Check out my thread here: 

I've been researching myself on pricing and rates.  The responses in my thread are pretty good pointers, and well worth jotting down.  I've learned not selling yourself short for your services that either a.) no one wants to do, or b.) no one can do.  I have a rate already set, for now, for my graphic work.  I'm self taught, so I only charge $50 for the first 3 hours, and $25 each additional.  Most of my customers are OK with that rate, and I've had several repeat customers.  Now, I'm working on rates for decals, cutting & prepping, and installation.  

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21 hours ago, Dakotagrafx said:

PS why 3 profiles? purple cuts, mangekyousharingan and amaterasu:huh:

I made my accounts with dummy mail addresses to avoid spam, then I lost my login info. This one was fortunately synced to iCloud.

 

18 hours ago, Go-C Graphics said:

I'm a 1 man band.  I charge for what I do because my customers don't know how to do it or they don't want to.  

You need to sit down and re-adjust your thinking. Hell you and @JLS Design need start talking and with both of you researching I'm sure you guys can come up with a better business plan.  

You're working for free because you don't want to lose a customer.   They aren't customers if they aren't paying.  They are called master and you're a slave.   

If you're serious about doing this and making real money you need to turn off the cutter, shut down the graphics program, and google the hell out of "How to run a business."

I'm no pro but I'm learning.  I can make graphics and install them but you want to know the hardest thing about it all?  Actually learning how to run a business.  My sales are going up and my GOOD paying customers are coming back to me.  

It just takes time.  

Im thinking its better to make a little money than to make 0. Thats why I do almost everything for free.

For instance the last job I did, I designed the logo for free, installed the graphics for free, cleaned his windows and removed the old vinyl for free, charged nothing for delivery.. He asked me to make him 3 posters, I dont own a printer so I offered him to design the posters for free so he could print them out at a printshop. 

16 hours ago, slice&dice said:

When making signs (which is all I do) my design expertise is included within the price, and I calculate in a charge of $80/hr.

Normally, a sign requires very little effort (first or second proof gets approved) and I can live with adding a cost of only $20. for 15 mins. just to type in and arrange words in SignBlazer.

 

 

 

cleaners v2.JPG

Im afraid they will turn my offer down completely if I charge anything like that

 

8 hours ago, JLS Design said:

@Go-C Graphics is right on.  Check out my thread here: 

I've been researching myself on pricing and rates.  The responses in my thread are pretty good pointers, and well worth jotting down.  I've learned not selling yourself short for your services that either a.) no one wants to do, or b.) no one can do.  I have a rate already set, for now, for my graphic work.  I'm self taught, so I only charge $50 for the first 3 hours, and $25 each additional.  Most of my customers are OK with that rate, and I've had several repeat customers.  Now, I'm working on rates for decals, cutting & prepping, and installation.  

Ill check your thread 

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if the milk ain't worth the squeezin then sell the cow - working for free doesn't pay the bills 

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2 hours ago, Dakotagrafx said:

if the milk ain't worth the squeezin then sell the cow - working for free doesn't pay the bills 

I dont work for free, I charge a price that I just randomly come up with, I just offer a lot of my services for free. I know other companies charges a lot for those services but they can afford losing some customers, I cant. I still haven't tried charging for those services though. Maybe I should but I dont want to scare them away.

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I am amazed by this thread.  The only service I offer for free is a quote/consultation.  Granted, this is my second job so if I don't get business from a customer it won't hurt me in the least.  I am far from a professional here but I do a good job and I expect to get paid for it.

amaterasu, my advise, take it or leave it -

1) prepare a strategy to properly price your product

2) execute on that strategy

3) consult with your customers - if you loose a job just ask them why

Why not create the logo, show it to the customer, then tell them if they want it the price is $xx?

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8 hours ago, amaterasu said:

Im thinking its better to make a little money than to make 0. Thats why I do almost everything for free.

For instance the last job I did, I designed the logo for free, installed the graphics for free, cleaned his windows and removed the old vinyl for free, charged nothing for delivery.. He asked me to make him 3 posters, I dont own a printer so I offered him to design the posters for free so he could print them out at a printshop. 

Quit thinking dude and look at the facts.   You didn't make any money off this deal.   You wasted your time.  

You're not a business.................  You're a Charity.  Not a bad thing if that's what you're going for.    

I'm sorry......   can you please point me to your references that state if you're self taught your time isn't worth as much. I don't believe I've read that book.  

Considering I'm self taught also I might need to read what you are.  If you're producing high quality work it doesn't matter how you learned it.  

6 hours ago, amaterasu said:

I dont work for free, I charge a price that I just randomly come up with, I just offer a lot of my services for free. I know other companies charges a lot for those services but they can afford losing some customers, I cant. I still haven't tried charging for those services though. Maybe I should but I dont want to scare them away.

Read your quote above........  You're working for free.

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14 hours ago, Go-C Graphics said:

Quit thinking dude and look at the facts.   You didn't make any money off this deal.   You wasted your time.  

You're not a business.................  You're a Charity.  Not a bad thing if that's what you're going for.    

I'm sorry......   can you please point me to your references that state if you're self taught your time isn't worth as much. I don't believe I've read that book.  

Considering I'm self taught also I might need to read what you are.  If you're producing high quality work it doesn't matter how you learned it.  

Read your quote above........  You're working for free.

I charged him 350 dollars for this job and it was a very easy job so I did make decent money. But the thing is, other companies in Norway would charge 800 dollars minimum for the same job.

I am self taught, not to brag but I believe my work is worth a lot more than even what those companies charge. It is impossible for them to compete with my skills without paying their graphic designers a ton of money. I know they have a collection of clip arts they use, and download from Google. 

I would love to charge more but cant risk losing a potential customer and earning 0

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So, I'm not as experienced as alot of guys here, but i have been doing decals for a few years as a side job.   

So with me being somewhat new, let me fill you in on my thoughts.    When I started, I was like you.  I was cheap.  Free design, and sold cheap. I figured making 10 bucks was better than 0 bucks.   I was wrong.   First, you really need to add your time to the charge.  You don't work for free.   You may have all this vinyl, a big roll of transfer tape, and plenty of time, but once you start running low on tape and vinyl, then start thinking about making a new order for supplies, you realize you wernt charging enough because you end up digging in your own pocket for more supplies.   You end up losing money honestly.  A few of my first clients are starting to come back needing more stuff, and when I give them a higher quote than when I started, I let them know i was making no money before, so I had to start charging more.  Not one of them turned away believe it or not.  They respect the fact that you are in the business of making money, and they are willing to pay your price. Most of them have a business, so they understand where you are coming from. 

One thing that was not mentioned, and some people here may not like this, but i do not install.  Sure I will if they are a buddy or something,  but by not installing the decals, I see it as a way of making more money.   If they mess up putting it on, I ask them to send me a picture and maybe I can walk them through how to fix it, but if they can't fix it, I offer to make them a new one at a discounted price, which i still make money on, so it's a win-win, and they think they're getting a good deal, but i always ask for a picture for proof so I know I'm not getting ripped off. 

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