One of the best pieces of business wisdom that I have ever learned came from Andrew, a veteran copywriter whose companies specialized in marketing for pharmaceuticals companies.
Soon after I got laid off from my job at a marketing firm, a mutual friend agreed to set up the meeting. In preparation for it, I updated my portfolio and felt very bold in choosing my new freelancing rate: $40 an hour.
I believed that the quality of my work would speak for itself.
$40 an hour was over twice as much as I had been earning per hour in my salaried position, including benefits, but the firm where I had worked sold my services for $85 an hour. As a freelancer, I could offer the same product for half the price. Surely clients accustomed to paying $85 an hour would be eager to get twice as much for the same price—or the same project for 1/2 of the cost.
Andrew looked at my writing samples, while my heart fluttered in my chest, and then after asking me about my hourly rate, he asked if he could give me some unsolicited advice.
What he said next floored me...
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