Good Clients Are So Rare They’re Iconic!

When I started doing some freelance design in college (in the mid-1990s), one of my first paid projects was creating some sixteen-by-sixteen icons for a piece of software. Each one took maybe an hour. The guy offered me $15 an icon, and I was ecstatic. I was at that “I’ll take whatever you’ll offer me, even if it’s just exposure” stage, and most people offered a LOT less than $15 an hour.

When the project was done, he referred me to a friend at a small software company. They needed the same type of icons — but more of them.

Client: “How much do you charge?”

Me: *Sheepishly* “$15 an icon.”

I expected them to say that was too high. Instead, they said:

Client: “That’s not enough. Your work is worth more than that. You need to charge at least $25.”

So, I charged them $25!

Many years later, I’m still grateful to that client for helping to give me the confidence to charge what I’m worth!