Credit

So before people tell me my title is click-bait, I actually do get paid for most of my projects. But it is 100% up to the discretion of the ones who engage in my services.

I do not quote a price, I don’t charge a rate, and I do all the work upfront with zero expectation to be paid.

And sometimes I don’t even get paid. It’s a 50–50 curve-ball.

But why do I do this? Am I crazy?

Yeah, maybe a little bit. First off I want to mention that I am not rich enough to not care about money. I need money. I am not that well-off.

And yet I intentionally go against the pricing models and strategies mentioned often in The Futur, High resolution and other design educational channels that aim to help designers price their services better and strive for better impact.

So why do I do this? What benefit does this bring me as a design professional and how do I use this strategy for personal growth?

First off, this is not for everyone.

If you are a freelancer, a design business owner, or someone that relies on getting paid on design projects to survive, everything in this article would not apply to you.

Because the first insight I can give you is that I am always paid way below market rate for my work. It is not sustainable to rely on this method to make any sort of income. You will starve.

So if we’re clear on that, we can get into the story-telling aspects of why I do what I do, why it’s smart, and why it’s also very stupid.

When I first started my freelance career, setting up my pricing model and scaling it was one of the first things I did to ensure that I was always paid what I deserved.

This was something I learned from friend who did a business major in university; the importance of knowing your value and knowing how to get customers to pay you for it is something I practiced heavily during my freelance career.