Undervaluing creative expertise: the Public Relations Specialist's pricing and positioning problem
High openness and intrinsic motivation make Public Relations Specialists undervalue their work systematically. Here's how to price and position based on outcome, not effort.
Creative freelancers underpricing their work
78% of creative freelancers report charging below market rate in their first 3 years
HOW Design / Creative Professional survey, 2022
Intrinsic Motivation Creates a Pricing Blind Spot
The same openness and creativity that makes Public Relations Specialists excellent creates a pricing vulnerability: because the work is intrinsically rewarding, it feels dishonest to charge for it at full market value. This underpricing pattern is common, invisible, and compounds over time into a career that's creatively satisfying but financially constrained.
What Actually Helps
- Price based on client outcome value, not your time or effort
- Anchor your rate against the business value your work creates, not against peer rates
- Develop a 'this is what this creates for you' statement for every engagement type
- Raise rates by 15-20% on new clients first — existing clients follow more slowly
- Stop justifying rates — present them, then pause and wait
Why this happens
High openness and intrinsic motivation mean Public Relations Specialists often do the work for the love of it — which creates systematic underpricing. When you'd do the work anyway, it feels wrong to charge a premium. But the market doesn't price effort or passion; it prices outcomes and scarcity. Decoupling your pricing from your enjoyment of the work is a professional skill, not a moral failure.
Do and don't
Do
- ✓Price based on business outcome delivered, not hours invested
- ✓Present your rate without immediately justifying it
- ✓Raise rates on new clients first
- ✓Build case studies showing ROI, not just deliverables
Don't
- ✗Price based on what you'd accept if you had to
- ✗Over-explain your pricing as if expecting rejection
- ✗Apply any rate change simultaneously to all clients
- ✗Use a portfolio that shows what you made but not what it achieved
Exercises to work through this
Clean feedback receive (30 seconds)
30 seconds- 1.Let them finish — no defence, no nodding to rush them.
- 2.Repeat the core point back: 'So the main thing is [X] — is that right?'
- 3.Say: 'I'll think about that and come back to you.' Then do it.
Outcome
Feedback lands as data, not as threat.
Role-fit reflection
5 minutes- 1.List the 3 tasks in this role that energize you.
- 2.List the 3 tasks in this role that consistently drain you.
- 3.Pick one adjustment you can test this week.
Outcome
A clearer signal of day-to-day fit.
Common questions
Q
How quickly can I fix a career problem like imposter syndrome or visibility?
Most people notice a shift within 2–4 weeks of a consistent daily practice. The problem isn't information — it's repetition. Reading about confidence doesn't build it. Running the drill before every relevant situation does.
Q
What if I try these tools and they don't help?
Run the drill for 10 consecutive days before evaluating. Most tools fail because they're tried once in a high-stakes moment — the opposite of how they're designed. They're built for low-stakes practice first, real-situation use second.
Q
Is this career coaching?
No. This is self-directed skill training using personality science. For major career decisions, job loss, or clinical anxiety, work with a qualified coach or therapist. These tools are for building specific, measurable work behaviours.
Related pages
PersonalityHQ · Assessment