[k-mcgrady]

It's tough. Personally I know that I severely undervalued myself but it allowed me to work via email and not have to interact on the phone or in person with people which I had trouble with for a few years. I was able to make enough money to 'get by' In other words I just about covered my basic living costs for a small city in the UK. We're talking about £800-1300 per month which was fine as a single college aged guy. Eventually I got a few long term clients from those sites (I've been working with one guy for 3 years now) who I gradually raised my prices with until I was valuing myself fairly. I've moved off them completely now and am working in a startup which I much prefer (although I've kept on that one long-term client as the work is easy and he's easy to work with). I've lost the tremendous freedom freelance work gave me which I'm finding difficult but I don't have to stress about where my paycheck is coming from.

[itl12]

Thanks for your honesty.

When you say you undervalued yourself, what was the rate you were charging on freelancer?

[k-mcgrady]

I charged a price for the whole project. At the end of the day it probably worked out to $10 per hour. I started this when I was 18 so imposter syndrome was a big deal for me but over the next few years I gradually increased prices. At the end of the day though if I had bills I needed to pay I would take whatever work I could get and sometimes that meant bidding lower than the other guys. Eventually I got better at selling myself and convincing people that although I charged more than other bidders I was worth more. I think my biggest mistake as a freelancer was not charging hourly. I screwed myself quite a lot taking on projects that ended up being WAY more work that I thought.