ICYMI, I’ve implemented a new feature this week: the À La Carte jobs thread! This will be a place that anyone can post a job opportunity, a job-finding resource, or anything else relevant to creatives on the hunt. I’ll still be doing my normal Thursday morning roundups, but I wanted to give ÀLC subscribers a place to share the things they find, too. You can access it through the Substack app or site — just click “Chat” and you’ll find it there.
Creative suggestion: I get lots of questions in my One-On-Ones about *pricing*. Figuring out what to charge as an independent creative is famously and unnecessarily complicated and there are very few industry standards. There’s a lot of sound advice out there (this article by Anoosha Syed sums up a lot of it) but still, it’s confusing for me, too.
A few weeks ago I stumbled on an Instagram post by Self Aware, a branding studio based out of Philly. The studio shared a doc where they listed every project they’ve done since 2017 and what they charged for each, from a portfolio site for $250 to an educational institution’s website for $150,000 (and everything in between.) Shortly after, a friend of mine who is a consultant shared a personal list she was making of other consultants’ fees — these were people she knew and asked directly.
Both of these lists were so illuminating to me — I was able to compare my experience and the work I do to someone else’s and adjust my rates accordingly. Having the context of what types of projects the agency does and what types of services each consultant offers gives me so much useful context to hold up against my own. And while I’m still only looking at a small pool of examples, the more people I talk to, the more of that context I gain.
There are a bunch of public resources like this where freelancers can share their rates for various projects across different industries (if you know of one, drop it in the comments!) But I also want to suggest creating your own list! I really believe that having open conversations with people about what we charge helps us all. Start asking your friends and colleagues to share and take a look at your past projects to assess where you have room to grow! This is a learning experience for me too, but openness around the topic makes it a lot easier to navigate.
Personal recommendation: Have you listened to Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ new podcast “Wiser Than Me” yet? Each week JLD talks to a notable older woman about how to live a full and meaningful life, and at the end of each episode she calls her mom to recap the conversation (which is my favorite part.) I’m personally pretty over celebrity interview podcasts but Julia moves through each conversation with ease, from topics like edibles with Isabel Allende to plastic surgery regrets with Jane Fonda. I had to write this one down: when discussing relationships with Fran Lebowitz, Fran pontificated that “families are, generally speaking, factories for the manufacture of insanity.” It’s full of gems.
Person to know: Contemporary artist Danielle McKinney. Often focused on a solitary Black female subject in a moment of leisure, Danielle’s work is intimate and warm, like you’re peeking in on someone’s quiet time.
“I wanted to paint this feeling of: When I get home and no one’s around, who am I? Who am I without this façade?” she described to Vogue last year.
Follow Danielle McKinney and keep an eye out for her next show here.
Next week’s newsletter will be the second edition of Side Order, my new monthly shopping round up. The theme is *easy summer dresses*, so if you’re not a paid subscriber yet but want the scoop, now’s the time to upgrade.
x
Ali
No. 13 — Getting paid, good advice, and moments of leisure
Yes to pricing transparency and LOVE Wiser Than Me. Both sets of conversations are so good & so essential! ❤️
Related to the pay transparency, I've been thinking a lot about "Build in public" content for freelancers. When I worked at my last startup, we tried to have a Build in public mindset, and could have pushed it even further, but I feel like with freelancers, we're more likely to be open in small communities or with each other, but not share vulnerable learnings as openly. I think it has to do with being scared we don't look like an expert, or maybe even some scarcity mindset (I need to keep this to myself). I'm trying to think through what my version of Build in public could look like...