Value-based pricing for freelancers: a worked example

Our guide to pricing a freelance project introduces value-based pricing in a paragraph. This post, part of the winning clients hub, walks through one project from the client's numbers to the fee in the proposal.

Worked example: a booking funnel for a physical therapy clinic

Why only 10% to 20%? The client carries most of the risk (the forecast may miss, staff have to follow up), keeps the gain in year two and beyond, and is comparing you with cheaper quotes. A share in that range usually leaves the client a clear return while paying you well above an hourly price. It's a working range, not a law; raise it when you control more of the outcome.

Never let the value math take you under your floor. The floor is the rate that covers your income goal, your expenses and self-employment tax, which is 15.3% on most net earnings in 2026 (IRS Topic 554). For a consultant, a useful outside check is the BLS: the median wage for management analysts was $48.97 an hour in May 2025 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook), and matching that employee's wage plus benefits takes about $95 to $119 per billable hour, as worked out in freelance hourly rates by profession. The example's $144 per estimated hour clears both.

Questions that surface the value

1. What does a new customer (or patient, or subscriber) bring you over a year?
2. How many do you get now from this channel, per month?
3. What would "this worked" look like in numbers six months from now?
4. What has this problem cost you so far: lost sales, staff hours, refunds?
5. What happens if you don't fix it this year?
6. Who else is affected inside the business if it works?
7. What have you budgeted, and how did you decide that number?
8. How will we measure the result, and who has access to the data?

Ask them in the discovery call and write the answers down in the client's words; you'll quote them back in the proposal. The discovery call questions post has the rest of the call.

Value-based vs hourly vs fixed price

When value-based pricing fails

• No measurable outcome. A logo refresh for a business that just wants it to look current has no number to price from.
• You don't control the result. A landing page can't fix a product nobody wants, and the client will blame the page.
• The client won't share data. Without their numbers you're guessing, and so are they.
• The value is small. If the expected gain is $5,000, a 15% share won't cover the work; quote fixed or decline.
• Procurement wants hours. Some companies can only buy by the hour or by deliverable; give them a fixed price built from your estimate.

How to write it into the proposal

WHAT THIS PROJECT IS WORTH
Today: about [80] inquiries a month, [8%] book an assessment, [55%] become patients worth about $[950] each.
Goal: lift bookings to [16%] with [the new funnel].
If we reach it: about [3.5] extra patients a month, roughly $[40,000] in the first year.

INVESTMENT
Option A, Funnel: $[6,500]
Option B, Funnel plus 3 months of testing and reporting: $[8,900]

How we'll measure it: [booking rate in the scheduling tool, monthly, starting [date]].
These figures are a forecast based on the numbers you shared, not a guarantee.

Present it as a fixed price with options, as in three pricing options in a proposal. Don't show your hours; the client is buying the result, and an hours line invites them to divide.

In SoloWOS

Write the value section in a text block and the options in the pricing table, then send proposals clients accept online and watch for the first open. Keep a timer running while you deliver: when you track billable hours per project, you see the hours behind the fee, so you can see the effective rate you earned. Check the floor first with the project cost calculator or the freelance rate calculator. Every tool is included in Solo for $15/month.