#379: 15 Reasons Why Hourly Billing Is Holding You Back
Release Date: 08/27/2025
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info_outlineHourly billing is the default pricing model for many writers. But it’s also a hidden trap that can sabotage your growth, undervalue your expertise, and limit your income.
If you’ve ever felt frustrated by the ceiling on your earnings or struggled to position yourself as a trusted partner rather than a hired hand, this episode will change the way you view pricing forever.
In today’s episode, I break down 15 compelling reasons why hourly billing is actively working against you — and what you can do instead to unlock your earning potential and build trust-based, outcome-focused client relationships.
What You’ll Learn
- Why hourly billing punishes efficiency and caps your income potential.
- How it undermines your positioning as an expert and devalues your unique expertise.
- The hidden costs of hourly billing: admin burden, client micromanagement, and trust erosion.
- The psychological traps that make it hard to raise your rates under hourly models.
- Why shifting to value-based pricing or project fees can transform your business.
- Steps to reframe client conversations around value and outcomes, not hours.
Key Insights and Takeaways
Hourly billing creates a perverse incentive against efficiency. The faster you work, the less you earn, which is the opposite of how a healthy freelance business should function.
It permanently caps your income potential. There are only so many hours you can sell, and raising your hourly rate eventually hits a ceiling.
It erodes trust and positions you as a commodity. Clients start focusing on hours rather than outcomes, leading to micromanagement and suspicion.
It fails to capture your true value. Your best insights often come from years of accumulated expertise, not the hours it takes to execute a task.
Fixed project fees and value-based pricing aligns your interests with your clients. When you price based on the outcomes and value you deliver, you can grow your income while building stronger client relationships.
Memorable Soundbites
· “Hourly billing rewards incompetence and punishes mastery.”
· “You’re not selling time, you’re selling outcomes.”
· “Hourly billing turns your business into a job you can’t quit.”
Action Steps
🔹 Reflect: Are you stuck in the hourly billing trap? Track how it limits your income and positioning.
🔹 Experiment: Try quoting your next project as a fixed fee based on value rather than time.
🔹 Reframe: Start asking clients, “What outcomes are you looking to achieve? What makes this project important?” rather than “How many hours will this take?”
🔹 Educate your clients: Share the benefits of non-hourly models and how it aligns your incentives with theirs.
🔹 Internal tracking only: Continue tracking your time for your own data and profitability analysis, but avoid sharing these hours with clients.
Listener Challenge
This week, pick one service you currently bill hourly and write down how you would price it based on the scope and value instead. You don’t have to roll it out immediately, but this exercise will shift your mindset toward value-based pricing.