Starting a Side Hustle Part 3: Pricing Your Work & Getting Clients

It’s finally time for Part 3 of my 3 part series all about starting a side hustle!!

In this post, we’re going to talk about how to actually get clients and price your work (don’t be scared!), but this is part 3 for a reason.

There are 2 more important posts before this one.

In Part 1 we talked about all of the things you should do to get yourself set up for success.

In Part 2 we talked about the actual logistic tasks you should do before getting to this part…

So at this point, you should have all of that worked out and you’re ready to actually start making some freekin MONEY, amirite?

We gotta talk about 2 things if that’s the case…

Rather watch than read? No problem! You can watch and listen in real-time by clicking the video below!

Let’s Get Started!

We deeeeeefinitely gotta talk about a couple of things.

Number One: How to find clients…

Number Two: How to price your work.

Both can be overwhelming, so let’s dive in one at a time.

NUMBER ONE: FINDING CLIENTS

I have a full post about this over HERE where I go a bit more in depth, but let’s go over my basic tips on how to find clients when you’re starting out.

1- TELL PEOPLE. Word of mouth is seriously so crucial. I see so many people hop into a new business and are too afraid to tell people what they’re doing because they’re self-conscious. Your friends and family will be your biggest assets in growing your business and getting clients! Don’t keep it to yourself. You can’t just hope strangers will find you. Your friends and family will tell people who will tell people… When I first started, all my clients were my friends. They started telling their friends and family, and eventually people I didn’t know started to hire me. You have to start somewhere. Don’t be afraid to tell people!

2- SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING. If you don’t like social media, I’m sorry to say you’re going to need to start using it. It’s SUCH a powerful tool in getting clients. Even if you don’t like ALL the platforms or don’t have time for all of them, pick ONE to start with. Pick the one where your people are hanging out and start there. If your people like photos, try Instagram. If your people like quick videos, try TikTok. If your people like conversations and talking with each other, try Facebook. Figure out where your people are hanging out, and go hang out there – have a presence! There’s so much that I could say here

3- NETWORK WITH OTHER PEOPLE IN THE INDUSTRY. Especially in the lettering and calligraphy industry, there are so many opportunities to network with people to get jobs. If you want to do store-front windows, you need to network with store owners. You need to meet people and put yourself out there. People need to know who you are and what services you offer. If you want to do wedding jobs, you need to align yourself with people in the industry – wedding photographers, wedding planners, etc. SO many opportunities to network and connect. The more people you know, the more referrals you’ll get. You can help them, they can help you – it goes both ways.

It may be slow at the start with clients, but trust me… as that word of mouth starts growing and you get testimonials, photos of your work, and all that jazz, it will be like a snowball effect!

However… getting a client isn’t the only consideration here.

NUMBER TWO: PRICING YOUR WORK

Once you find a client who is interested, you need to figure out how to price yourself so that the client says yes, and so that you’re actually making a profit and valuing your worth!

So where the heckkkkkk do you start with knowing how to price your services or products?!

First of all, I want you to go to www.thehappyevercrafter.com/pricing because I have a free workshop for you.

Second, I have a bunch of pricing related posts on my blog (and related videos on my YouTube channel) you should watch.

Third, I want to give you my biggest tips right here right now.

1- KNOW YOUR WORTH. When you’re first starting out with selling your work, or services, or products, whatever it may be… it’s soooo tempting to just say “okay well this project is costing me $50 in materials, and it’ll take me about an hour… so I think $65 is fair.” Or, even worse, “I personally wouldn’t pay more than $30 for this, so that’s the most I can charge”.

Listen. If you’re an artist, who is being commissioned for something (whether its your art, your services or your products), your SKILL is valuable. You cannot put a dollar amount on that the same way you can put a dollar amount on a pre-made product from the store, ok? If someone is coming to you, it’s because they place value on the quality of the product you can provide for them, and they’re willing to pay for it. If they’re not, they could go buy something pre-made. So you need to charge accordingly. Understand what your time and skills are worth, and don’t be afraid to ask for them. You should never be basing your pricing off of what YOU think you’d pay, you’re not the client! And you don’t need to ever feel bad for making a profit from your art– which brings me to my next point…

2- CALCULATE YOUR HOURLY RATE. So many beginners never ever do this, and then when they do, they realize they’ve been actually making less than minimum wage. It is insanity. You haaaaave to do this calculation for yourself! And you might be like “k but how do I calculate that?”… I’m gonna tell you in just a sec! But first, thing #2…

3- RESEARCH WHAT OTHERS (IN YOUR AREA) ARE CHARGING. And I don’t mean so you can charge less to get clients more easily. I mean so that you can get an idea of what the going rate is, and not undercut the market. You need to figure out where you fit as a beginner on the scene, without devaluing yourself or others. And you might be like “k but how do I know where I fit in…” and again, I’m about to tell you.

5 Keys to Confident Pricing

I mentioned it earlier, but I have a free workshop all about pricing. It’s actually taught by Joanne (who taught ME calligraphy and was basically my business mentor) and myself, and it’s called “5 Keys to Confident Pricing”.

In it we go over how to calculate your hourly rate (and we even give you free worksheets to do your own calculations!), how to position yourself in the market so you’re not undercutting anyone, how to present your pricing to clients so that they say yes, and a BUNCH more.

Essentially, it’s our goal in that free workshop to have you leaving feeling super confident in pricing yourself, your services, your products. etc.

If you wanna join us for that go to www.thehappyevercrafter.com/pricing, I would love to see you there and I feel like it’s the perfect way to round out everything you’ve learned in this 3-part side hustle series!!

And That’s A Wrap!

I hope all of this has been helpful – if you need to re-visit anything at any point, all 3 parts of the series are on my blog and on my YouTube Channel.

Wanna learn what pricing mistakes you should avoid? Find out HERE.

And finally, your dad joke…

I just bought a beautiful boat for half price.
It was on sail.