Question
How can I find clients that pay $50-100/h for web/mobile development, while even with huge experience I always get $10-15/h?
I've been a web developer for the past 14 years and a mobile one for the past 5. My portfolio is very big (and it includes some big enterprise work) and I can work with almost any language, framework and platform.
Still even after all those years I never managed to charge what I think I am worth. All my client projects run around from US$ 10 to 15/h. Every time that I try to charge more I lose the contract because there is always someone that offers smaller rates.
Note that I am from Brazil and the rates I put are converted to USD, but still they are very small even in the BRL currency. I already got advice from people saying that my rates should be at least US$ 50/h and I also even read some questions in Clarity with the same advice for WordPress, Ruby on Rails and iOS development, which is what I do mostly.
But I still fail to charge what I want and what I find it is reasonable. Even recently I lost a deal with a big company because they preferred a cheaper option.
Points to consider: all of this from remote projects and remote clients (mostly from the US, Canada and some European countries). Is it because I'm from Brazil so international clients are indeed looking for cheaper rates when they are dealing overseas? How to definitely get reasonable rates?
Answer
I always use comparative pricing. don't get one contract at a time. Get 2 or 3. The second one gets priced higher as it requires overtime (effectively). So 15$/hr for the first project, 20$/hr for the second and 25/hr for the third. As time progresses, your rate naturally goes up if you are busy or if you are uncompromising.
Lately, I have been offered a lot to do some very specific jobs. I realised that I can't take one person's money and then offer the same for much less to others, so I have raised my overall rates and it is working really well.
If the client needs to compete for you, they will understand paying you more.
