Mike S.

99% of designers who are starting out literally can’t afford to lose clients, that’s why there is usually a gradual increase in pricing over the course of months, years, decades I experienced it for a long time until I could start charging what I was actually worth Monthly retainers of 3.5k/m, brand identities at $2-3k… I’m easily charging double that now but only because of the grind There is a lot of nuance to this debate but I just want to reiterate on the point that most designers who are just getting started in this business should not be letting a client/lead go because they wouldn’t be getting 5.5k off the bat. Having a portfolio piece that was done for (let’s say an arbitrary lower number) 3k and gets a lot of attention on socials and client interest then you can think of raising prices because you build rapport