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Ditching Hourly: A Web Designer's Guide to Value Pricing with Jonathan Stark
Jonathan Stark, known as The Ditching Hourly Guy, joins Shannon Mattern to explain why hourly billing punishes you for getting good at your job, and how he builds every proposal around three value-based pricing options instead of a single hourly quote.
In This Episode:
Why hourly billing creates a mismatched incentive between you and your client
The Why Conversation: the three questions Jonathan asks before he'll ever discuss price
How to respond when a client's desired outcome is outside of what you can control
Why every proposal should include exactly three pricing options (Goldilocks pricing)
How Jonathan built his business through writing and podcasting instead of social media
Why AI makes positioning more important, not less
Resources Mentioned:
Value Pricing Calculator
Hourly Billing Is Nuts
Ditching Hourly Podcast
Jonathan's Daily Newsletter
The Package Matrix™ Method
Related Episodes: Episode 189: How To Price Custom Web Design Projects with Shannon Mattern
Episode 90: Profitable Proposals and Processes with Cass and Amanda of Foxtrot Branding
Episode 164: The State of Web Designer Pricing in 2025
Jonathan Stark is a former software developer turned pricing consultant, known as The Ditching Hourly Guy for his mission to rid the world of hourly billing. He's the author of Hourly Billing Is Nuts and the host of the Ditching Hourly podcast. https://jonathanstark.com
Shannon Mattern is a Pricing Strategist, creator of the Package Matrix™ Method, and the founder of the Web Designer Academy, where she helps experienced women web designers book higher-paying projects, charge more with confidence, run projects without overworking and burnout, and break through to their next level of income and freedom.
Websites: webdesigneracademy.com | shannonmattern.com
IG: @profitablewebdesigner | YouTube: @profitablewebdesigner | LinkedIn: shannonmattern
