Hourly billing isn't low-value work. High-end services use it all the time. The key is a 10x ratio: deliver a dollar of value for every dime you earn, set rates that cover expenses, and you can work fewer hours at premium pay while building client trust through transparent costs.
Consider charging hourly. I talk to a lot of people who say, I don't want to be in the time-for-money business. I don't want to be selling my time simply for hours because that's just like a job. And it can be, it can also be a super lucrative job. Some of the highest-end professional services on the planet are largely charged hourly because profits can be found even in an hourly structure. It's when we push down our rates that we wind up with something that looks more like a job because we're not able to cover our expenses. And it really doesn't matter how the thing is priced at that point. What you want to do is create exceptional value to the client and be paid well for providing that value. I think of it as 10x. If you can deliver a dollar for the client and you're able to be paid a dime, you're in pretty good shape. But consider doing it in a way that is going to help the client understand how much they're paying for, help them build more trust early on. And hourly can really help with that because you can be paid well on a time unit basis and do fewer hours and everybody makes value money.
