Acting on fear closes your options and gives away your power to say No. The real only power you have in the market is your capacity to choose. You can choose what you do. You can choose who you work with. Most important, you can choose who not to work with. Sure, if you have bills to pay and there's only that non-ideal available, take it. Pay your bills. And find your way to get to your ideal. Where you can say No confidently. Free of fear.

You can set up a price on: the market your costs your desired margin your desired profit what you want to make at the end of the year your effort how long it takes you to deliver how long it takes you to produce the conditions of your competitors your passion your revenue goal what you feel your worth is what you time your time costs how long it took you to learn and excel at it Here's the pattern with all of these: they're all about you. They have nothing to do with your customer. Nothing to...

Pricing different than the convention (cost-plus pricing, hourly, input-based, market-based, etc.) is risky. It pushes you to think in different terms. Not only on what you do, but on what your customers actually get. It's harder, more complex and more fluid. It changes on the context, not on the work done or product itself. It changes on the customer. It pushes you to say no to most prospects. It pushes you to detach what you charge from what it costs you. This is all risky, as it means...