Are You Secretly Punishing Yourself for Being Good at What You Do?

You got faster. You got better. So why does it feel like you’re making less?

Cheryl.wtf

Mar 18, 2025

∙ Paid

Welcome to the next installment of:
Pricing Alchemy: The Business Witch’s Guide to Turning Your Skills Into Gold

Somewhere along the way, you were sold a lie.

You were told that time equals money—that the only way to earn more is to work more. That raising your rates is the only path to success. That pricing your services should be a guessing game based on what “feels fair.”

But here’s the truth: your work is not measured in hours. It’s measured in impact, transformation, and results.

It’s time to stop pricing like an underpaid freelancer and start pricing like a business owner.

This series is your Pricing Grimoire—your spellbook for transforming the way you charge, shifting your mindset around money, and building a business that works for you (instead of chaining you to endless hours of labor). If you missed a previous release, you can catch up here.

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The Hidden Trap That’s Keeping You Underpaid

I was halfway through my second coffee of the morning when Ophelia materialized in a shower of sparkles, her tiny dragon wings fluttering as she landed dramatically on my desk.

"Cheryl! We have a problem!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Do we? Or do you have a problem that you are about to make my problem?"

Ophelia huffed. "Semantics! Listen—I've been talking to our students, and there's one who's stuck on this whole ‘charging by the hour’ thing. She’s a freelance graphic designer and swears it’s the only fair way to price her work."

I took a slow sip of my coffee. "Oh really?"

"Yes! And she makes some really good points! I'm so confused! Are you right or is she? She’s convinced that as she gets better, her hourly rate increases, so she’s still compensated for experience. Also, it means she doesn’t have to deal with people changing their minds a million times—because, you know, revisions mean more billable hours. If she charges a flat rate, she might actually lose money on picky customers! And," Ophelia’s scales flickered to a confused mottled rainbow of purple, pink, blue and yellow - it was hard on the eyes, "she struggles with time blindness and I SO relate! She says she literally can’t estimate project pricing ahead of time."

I set my coffee down. "Ah, I see your confusion. She does make some really good points. I suppose we'll need to continue the conversation about pricing in our next class."

Time Doesn't Equal Money: The Truth About Time and Value

Ophelia and the other students filed into the classroom, their excited chatter filling the air as the stained glass window above cast shifting rainbows across their faces. They settled in, eager for the next lesson.

"Ophelia," I said, "imagine you’re hiring a designer. One can create a stunning logo in 60 minutes, and another takes 10 hours to create the same logo. Which one would you choose?"

She tilted her head. "Well, if the quality is the same, I'd pick the faster one. Less waiting, quicker results."

"Exactly! But if both charge by the hour, who makes less money?"

Ophelia’s eyes widened. "Well, the fast one I suppose, but wouldn't the fast one just charge more?"

"Sure, the fast designer could charge more. Let's try it out. Designer 1 (the fast designer) tells you they can design your logo and have it to you by tomorrow. The cost will be $500 per hour. Designer 2 tells you they can design your logo and have it to you by tomorrow. The cost will be $50 per hour. How do you respond?"

"I suppose my next question would be, 'How many hours will it take?'"

"Neither designer is really sure about exactly how much time it will take but Designer 1 estimates that it will take an hour or two and Designer 2 tells you it will probably take most of the day. Now what are you thinking?"

Ophelia pauses for a moment, then responds, "Well, I'd wonder why the time frames for the same logo are so different! Is designer 1 rushing, sloppy and way over priced? I mean $500 per hour? That's ludicrous! Is designer 2 milking the job so she can charge me 10 times more than the 2 hours it will actually take? I'm more confused than ever! Which one do I hire and can I actually afford this work?"

"Right? And that’s the fundamental problem with hourly pricing—it punishes efficiency, quality, and experience and rewards slowness. The more skilled and experienced you become, the faster you work, yet the less you earn—because you're still trying to compete against the other guy who is charging so much less per hour."

Ophelia’s tail flicked as she processed. "But isn’t hourly pricing fairer? I've tried doing commission art for customers. It's horrible! They tell me they want 'modern' style when they actually want 'psychadelic 1960s flower power with a fantasy twist and a dash of pastel gothcore'. They ask for a million revisions and then they get mad at me when I want to charge them more because now we are 30 hours down the creative differences rabbit hole!" Ophelia huffed as her scales glowed white hot.

"You're right Ophelia, when every order is custom, one client might need something simple, while another wants something really complex and you might not figure that out until long after you've quoted them a price."

"This is why I don't do commission work anymore. So what's the solution? How do you set your prices in a way that is fair to you and to your customer?"

"Let me show you how productizing your business, even a service business, instead of charging by the hour—actually creates more fairness while also increasing your income."

Ophelia’s eyes narrowed with intrigue. "Alright, I’m listening."

How to Stop Selling Time and Start Selling Value

"Instead of pricing your work like a vending machine where people pay per minute, think of your services like a curated experience—a structured, high-value offering that delivers a clear result."

Ophelia tilted her head. "Okay, but how does that work for our student?"

The Library 📖 at the Business Witch Academy is a reader-supported publication. Knowledge is my product. If you ever have, or would, pay a college or university for sharing knowledge with you, and would like to find out HOW to create a structured productized pricing model for a service business, become a paid subscriber and get your library card today.

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Stay Magical,
Cheryl