Simply put, you can charge whatever you want for your time but the market will only pay what they think you’re worth. It’s not simply a matter of setting your price at what you’d like to be worth, it’s finding out what value the market places on your time.

The great thing about being a consultant, or a freelancer, is that each new project provides another opportunity to test a price point. Because there are inevitably differences between projects you will never want for a justification for your price adjustment. Unlike assembly line products where homogeneity is expected, consulting work is always unique.

By experimenting with price points a consultant can begin to build a picture of how the market values his/her service and then charge accordingly. It is always a good idea to push for the upper limit of what you can charge but setting a rate far above what’s expected can leave you wanting clients.