How skipping one question keeps your rates low
That’s Why You’re Underpaid
VijayWrites #235
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Many freelancers underprice their work not because they want to, but because they don’t fully understand the value of what they’re offering.
They think pricing is about word count, time spent, or what others in the market charge. They forget that clients aren’t buying writing. They’re buying a solution to a problem.
If you don’t know what that problem is costing them, how can you price your work fairly?
Most freelancers skip the single most important question in a discovery call:
What is this problem costing you?
It sounds simple, but it changes everything.
When you ask about the cost of the problem, you learn how big the stakes are. You stop guessing. You see whether you’re solving a minor inconvenience or a serious threat to their business.
If a bad landing page is losing them thousands each month, your work isn’t just writing. It’s revenue recovery.
When you understand that, you stop feeling guilty about quoting higher fees. You see your price as an investment, not an expense. And so does your client.
This is why so many skilled freelancers stay underpaid. They’re afraid to talk about money. They think asking these questions is pushy.
It’s not. It’s professional. It shows you care about solving the right problem, not just delivering words on a page.
If you want to start pricing with confidence, start with this one step:
Ask about the cost of the problem.
It will feel uncomfortable the first few times. That’s fine. It gets easier.
And it’s the difference between being seen as just another writer and being seen as a partner who delivers real business value.
Tomorrow, we’ll talk about the mistake freelancers make when they do the work but leave without harvesting the most important asset for future growth.