Nice write-up, but a little too complex for me. I've taken a slightly different approach that I've never had to "talk myself into"...
I got the gig by charging something we both felt comfortable with. Then I raised my rates 10% every 90 days. No discussion, no debate, no permission, just, "Starting October 1, my new rate is x." If they said no, I'd walk away. That never happened.
I remember the first time I crossed $100 using this method. My client said, "Now we'll have to start treating you like a real consultant." I said, "OK."
> "Now we'll have to start treating you like a real consultant." I said, "OK."
That's funny... I bet it felt great hearing that. I remember when I had more than 1 concurrent client for the first time ever, I thought to myself: "Wow, now I'm a real consultant, not a wanna-be-consultant!"
Don't think he meant that the increase is cumulative across clients. I understood it as he charges more the longer he stays with a single client. Then resets back to a normal/usual rate for new/previous clients.
I got the gig by charging something we both felt comfortable with. Then I raised my rates 10% every 90 days. No discussion, no debate, no permission, just, "Starting October 1, my new rate is x." If they said no, I'd walk away. That never happened.
I remember the first time I crossed $100 using this method. My client said, "Now we'll have to start treating you like a real consultant." I said, "OK."