Am I charging too high for design?

If you don't want to call them "packages", that's fine -- but if you're giving fixed-price quotes of $3000-$3500 irrespective of the client when all they really want/need is 10-20 hours of your time you might be doing yourself a disservice.

By the same token, if your experience tells you that you really need the 75 hours to do a good job for a client, then don't sell yourself short.

Maybe you need to ask your clients to clarify what their expectations are in terms of hours and incorporate that into your quotes?

Maybe you need to clarify that you can be flexible with the overall price in exchange for less time (e.g. maybe do fewer revisions, simpler designs, whatever -- I'm not really a design expert).

Or maybe it's time to start billing by the hour? :)

Of course, you may hold yourself to a high standard and feel that you require that much time to do a "good job" by your clients. That's fine too, but understand that's a business decision that will leave you with fewer clients.

Just my two cents, but hope it provides some food for thought.

The problem with offering a "lower price product" is that none of the clients want them, although it is possible that I simply haven't marketed it properly.

I would update your website itself also. To me your website doesn't speak the same level of sophistication as the piece you see in the portfolio. Your website represents your self and your identify as a designer. Dress it up a bit, this is your best chance to really showcase your design sense and originality. As many other people mentioned before, package your product well.

As a full time freelancer, you should spend at least 30-50% of your time marketing yourself and networking with potential clients. Building a solid customer database and having these customers refer you to perspective employees are most important if you want to have a consistent flow of work.

Are you really putting your work out there? Here's a quick checklist to get the ball rolling.

1. Do you regularly update your portfolio with new pieces? 2. Do you have a profile on all the designer networks? (behance.net is a good one to start with). 3. Do you keep in touch with your past clients and make sure they're happy with your work? 4. Have you considered starting a blog that would attract potential customers with valuable information about graphic design and design theories that they could use for their own projects?

I think with the quality and level of work in your portfolio you certainly deserve to get that rate. I've worked with other designers who charge twice as much as you do, but then again, they all presented their web presence really well. When a customer tells you your rates are too expensive, it doesn't necessarily mean that they don't have the budget. It could mean that they don't perceive your value at the price you quoted. As long as you can convince your clients that you're worth every penny and MORE, you should have no problem getting the rates you want.

So the question to ask yourself is this: do you have enough work? If you have more work than you want, raise your prices until you have less work. If you have less than you want, consider lowering your prices. If you are already taking less than you feel you should, then focus directly on who you are targeting and how you are approaching them.

Additionally, you have the problem of people expecting you to be cheap because one of the few things your site tells me about you (other than showing me some sound enough finished work) is that you're based in a low income country and know how to use the right tools.

People that want a cheap offshore guy that knows their way around Photoshop go straight to the enquiry form. People that are prepared to pay more care about whether your design goes through multiple iterations before the final version, whether you'll work with them to make it reflect their company image, whether you understand usability, whether you've worked with the same clients over a number of years etc. - they'll probably skip your site altogether in favour of the next one with more marketing fluff.