Should your first client pay full price?
Yes. The first price you charge becomes the price people tell their friends, so a discount for the first client sets it for the next ten. If you want to make the first booking easier, make it smaller: a shorter engagement at your full rate, not the full engagement for less.
Your first client is the one most likely to send you the second. They’ll say what they paid, because that’s what people say. Half price becomes your price in that conversation, and the friend who books expects it too.
Make it smaller instead
- One session at the full rate, instead of a package at a discount.
- A half-day at your day rate, instead of a full project at less than it’s worth.
- A paid first conversation that counts toward the package if they go on.
When free is the right price
A short first call, free, is a conversation and not a session. Keep it to twenty minutes and to one question: is this the right person for the problem? Should a discovery call be free? has the case both ways.
If you’ve already given a discount
Say the real price in writing with the next booking: “My rate is $X. I offered the first sessions for less while I started.” The client knows where they stand, and the next person hears the right number.
Checked 2026-10-11.