Why you shouldn't post your rates publicly — and the smarter ways to share your pricing guide so you collect leads, qualify clients, and keep the door open for custom proposals.
I do not recommend sharing your prices publicly.
But it’s okay to contribute to things rates and salary databases like Freelancing Females or Glassdoor if you feel comfortable with that. Just note, these can come up in search and your data in there isn’t private.
I caution freelancers against putting their prices on their website, LinkedIn, other social media, or anything that can be found easily with a Google or AI search.
Instead, I recommend you create a pricing menu or pricing guide – either as a PDF or within your CRM – and sharing this with potential clients individually and directly.
(⬆️ templates and lessons for this in the Rates Chapter of the Freelance Resource Library!)
You can share this pricing guide a few ways:
- On your website: visitors to my “services” page can fill out a contact form directly on my services page to receive my pricing guide via email. You can do this manually or automate this with Flodesk or Zapier.
- Directly in emails: once a prospective client expresses interest in my services, I ask for their email (if we’re speaking on LinkedIn) and send them my pricing guide and a quick note letting them know how they can schedule a discovery call with me.
- Via an automated landing page: using Flodesk or something similar, you can create a landing page with a contact info form and a brief overview of your services that you can automate to send your pricing guide to anyone who inquires without you needing to do anything!
- Through your CRM: create a pricing guide in your CRM (Honeybook and Dubsado have options for this) and share that with anyone who’s interested in your services via email.
Why Not?
Email Addresses
By not sharing your prices publicly, you’ll get an email address for anyone who’s interested in working with you. That way, you can follow up with everyone who looks at your rates and potentially get more clients because of the follow-up.
It’s totally normal to need to follow up with prospects even after you’ve sent them your pricing guide. So, trust me, you’re going to want those email addresses!!
Qualify Prospects
If they're shopping around and comparing prices, this gives you an opportunity to make your case about your value. It also filters out potential clients who can't afford you so that they don't waste your time.
Custom Pricing
Lastly, you can price according to the client. So if they’re requesting an E-Book but your pricing guide only shows your rates for product descriptions and blog posts, it gives you the opportunity to create a custom proposal for them based on their needs instead.