Why You're Worth It and Overcoming Self Doubt

Have you ever heard the saying, "When you learn how much you're worth, you'll stop giving people discounts"? I've heard it...but it didn't stop me from undervaluing myself or from letting other people undervalue me. As a professional graphic designer it should come as no surprise to anyone, let alone those who hire me, that I charge a fee for my services. Custom design fees are not cheap, but I don't believe my fees are unreasonable, either. But it never fails. A potential client will contact me and say, "I love your work, your style is exactly what I'm looking for. BUT can I get a discount?" These emails would always frustrate me and leave me questioning my prices. Were my prices too high? Was my service not worth the price? Logically I felt like my prices were very accurate to the service I provide. I know any entrepreneur can relate to the rigorous calculations made to come to an end price for our goods and services. So why would someone expect a discount if my services were accurate to what I provide AND they love my work?


I later realized it wasn't just frustration I felt from these emails, it was: self doubt. Frustration quickly subsides, but self doubt follows you around, festering under the skin. And that is what those emails did; they followed me around and nagged at me. I would find myself responding back to those emails and offering a discount, all because that self doubt convinced me that I wasn't worth what I was charging and to make the sale I needed to offer a discount.

The self doubt is then replaced with regret. Regret for underselling my services, regret for not believing in myself, and regret for not telling this potential client that they love my work because I'M WORTH IT! And I think that is a huge problem in the creative industry is that we start to undervalue ourselves because someone else doesn't believe we are worth it. If I don't believe I'm worth it, why would a complete stranger? We have to learn to rise above self doubt and respond to those requests with the reasons why we are worth it.

It's taken a long time, but I've finally learned to stop giving discounts and to start pointing my clients in another direction. If they can't afford my custom services, I offer a wide range of premade and affordable branding options. If that is not satisfactory, as sad as I am to not be able to work with someone, there is always another designer out there who may charge less. Do you go to Neiman Marcus for a pair of shoes and ask for a discount because you can't afford Manolo Blahnik? No. You go to a store that offers what you can afford. And that's what we need to tell our clients. As sorry as we are that they do not value or time and services, there is always someone who offers a price that is a better fit for their budget. We've got to develop a mindset where we stop apologizing because someone undervalues us, or we will never value ourselves!