Getting What You're Worth

If you do a job for others -- writing, teaching, babysitting, cleaning, whatever -- are you charging what you should? This post argues that we (especially women) often shortchange ourselves...and then sigh about how we're underpaid. And put up with it. (Thanks for starting me on this, Personal Finance Advice.)
    I had to learn this the hard way when starting my business, Brickworks. I would take any job, and when asked about my fee, gave them the lowest amount possible. (And I didn't ask to be reimbursed for mileage, room or meals, either.)
    Result: I was constantly behind on my own bills, and had to take from our family bank account to pay for business expenses.
    Ami Simms, a good friend and colleague, came to stay for a visit -- and I poured out my sad tale of woe. She looked at me strangely and said, "People understand money. If you charge little or nothing, you're saying that's what you're worth. People expect to pay for quality." She then urged me to double my fees!
    I would have said she was nuts -- that no one would hire me if they had to pay so much. How in the world could I keep on teaching, if I didn't get any gigs?  (Bear in mind that I wasn't a rank beginner at this point. I'd spent years teaching and writing in the quilting world. Four years at Quilter's Newsletter were under my belt, and I was getting ready to certify as an AQS appraiser. My first book, the Fabric Dating Kit, was close to being published.)
    In the next few years, my teaching gigs -- and income -- roughly doubled! Ami was right.

It's not that I've become Little Miss Perfect in this department. What I charged as a quilt restorer was way under what it should have been. However, I've been doing better on that recently. (I rationalized the lower fees on the grounds that I was teaching, and needed to 'keep my hand' in the techniques, totally ignoring the fact that I'd been doing it for more than 25 years. An appraiser buddy who also restores rebuked me -- and I deserved it.)

Take a look at what you charge for your hard work. Are you experienced? Are your skills better than average...or expert? Do you have certification, training, references? Are you asking at least the average of what people in your area or region are?

If not, then ask yourself why.