Here’s how to transition from pricing creative services by hourly rates to value-based pricing models. I went from selling a logo for £150 to commanding £20,000+ for brand projects.

The Problem with Hourly Pricing

Hourly rate models penalize efficiency. If you sell service and you price hourly, you’re penalized for being an efficient creative.

The better you get, the less you earn. That’s backwards.

Understanding Value to the Client

The core strategy involves conducting thorough fact-finding sessions to understand prospective clients’ business metrics: revenue, capacity, growth factors.

The objective is demonstrating how creative services directly support commercial goals rather than focusing on creative execution details.

Don’t talk about your process. Talk about their outcomes.

Targeting High-Value Markets

Consider the water bottle analogy: identical products command vastly different prices depending on context and audience.

Strategic focus on affluent market sectors and larger organizations yields better results than broad approaches. Where you fish matters as much as how you fish.

Key Commercial Value Areas

Services can impact:

Connect your work to these outcomes, and price becomes secondary.

Confidence and Pricing

Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.

Confidence in demonstrated value directly influences successful premium pricing negotiations. If you don’t believe in your value, neither will they.

The Bottom Line

Repositioning from time-based to value-based selling enables sustainable, profitable creative businesses commanding premium rates.

Stop selling hours. Start selling transformation.

Want to Master Value-Based Selling?

Pricing transformation is one of the fastest ways to improve both profitability and agency valuation. If you want structured guidance on repositioning your services and commanding premium rates, explore my Scale coaching programme or the dedicated Selling Creative Services training.