I have a client right now who is paying an almost embarrassingly low rate... I set it thinking the relationship would involve some very minor work in 15 minute increments, it's now 10 - 15 hours a week (for someone consulting part time like I am that's "full capacity"). I also set it right before I made a huge hike in my rights to bring myself in line with market value. That being said, the customer is so easy to deal with, pays up front (they actually *pre pay* if you can believe that), and laid back, and the work is interesting enough that I don't mind the rate. And given the number of hours they have me working, I am doing quite well. Not "quit my day job" well, but well. And I've used the confidence from this particular job to greatly increase my rates to levels that I thought were "loony bin" a few months ago. It turns out, what I consider "loony bin" others consider "quite reasonable" especially given that my time to deliver is literally 20% - 50% of what competitors (who charge about the same) are doing (hint... you know that "Agile Platform" thing I keep talking about? MAJOR competitive advantage!). Basically, I show them what they can get done in one "iteration" and all of a sudden, the price per feature delivered is so ridiculously cheap, I'm a bargain despite the hourly rate. It's a win-win all around.

J.Ja