Ten years deep into your craft and yet it can still feel like you’re knocking on doors that stay firmly shut. Being self-taught can feel a bit like showing up to a fancy dinner party where everyone else knows the secret handshake — you know you’ve got the goods, but getting those bigger clients to see it? That’s another story.

Nick Hunter — CEO and ECD of Paper Moose — and Sarah Nguyen from Streamtime tackled this one head-on, offering some gentle truth bombs and practical steps you can actually do something with.

Your pricing might be working against you

Let’s rip off the band-aid: you might be too cheap. "Maybe you're too affordable," Nick points out. "You might be too cheap so clients are looking at you going oh well this other designer is charging twice as much they must be better."

It’s a weird quirk of human psychology — we trust expensive things. If you’ve got a decade of experience but you’re priced like a fresh grad, higher profile clients will assume there’s a catch. Like finding a designer handbag at the markets for 20 quid — you’re not wondering if it’s a steal, you’re wondering what’s wrong with it.

This doesn’t mean you should double your rates tomorrow, but it’s worth asking if your pricing reflects the real value you bring. Even if you learned it all on your own, a decade’s worth of craft is worth something.

Over-deliver, but do it strategically

Nick’s advice is a good reminder that sometimes the best way to get bigger clients is to squeeze everything you can out of the ones you’ve already got: "Sometimes over-delivering with those smaller budget clients to then have that body of work that can then sell you to the tier above that's definitely what we've done as a business."

But don’t go all-in for every single project. Be smart: "Deciding which opportunities are good linking mechanisms to that higher tier client" is key. Treat some jobs as stepping stones — put in that extra polish, push for better outcomes, and use that work to pitch yourself upwards.

It’s about who you know — not just what you know

If this makes you roll your eyes, you’re not alone. But Nick’s clear: "It's never about what you know it's about who you know right the same time combination those networks I think can be really helpful in exposing you."

Networks don’t build themselves, though. "Learning who's out there and kind of understanding what their experiences are like too in accessing high level clients maybe there's some niche thing that they like to have that you would have no idea unless you were in it yourself."

If you’ve been freelancing in your own bubble, this is your sign to get out there — go to industry events, reconnect with old contacts, and make yourself visible. Sometimes the next level comes from one conversation you didn’t see coming.

Know your why before you chase the what

It’s easy to think the big shiny clients are the answer to everything. But Nick flips that: "Always understanding kind of why you want to access them. It's nice obviously but what's the motivation behind it I think that can be a real key thing to ground you and as you go forward to those conversations."

Are you chasing better pay? More interesting work? A reputation boost? When you know why you want it, you can pick the right path — and the right people to talk to.

Partner up if you need to

Going it alone has its perks — and its limits. Nick sees this all the time: "It sounds like perhaps they're a solo operator and so those high level clients often go to businesses."

His suggestion? "Perhaps it's also if you're freelancing, freelancing with a business can sometimes get you that access to a team that might have a client that you'd be interested in and then you at least get to work on it."

It’s not about giving up your independence forever — but dipping into agency or studio work now and then can give you exposure you simply wouldn’t get on your own. Plus you’ll build a portfolio with bigger names and learn how to handle the scale that comes with them.

Tell the story behind the work

Self-taught doesn’t mean second-rate — but you do need to show the depth of your thinking. Don’t just share pretty pictures. Higher profile clients want to see what problems you solved and how.

Focus on the results. How did you help a client grow, stand out, or connect better? That’s the stuff that sets you apart, whether you learned on the job, on YouTube, or in a classroom.

Your unconventional path is an advantage — if you own it

The best bit? You’ve done it your way. You’ve taught yourself to be resourceful, adaptable, resilient — all the things higher profile clients actually need in a creative partner.

You’ve likely worked across weird and wonderful briefs, too — that makes you a generalist with a sharper edge than you probably realise. Nick’s advice points you back to that: raise your rates where they make sense, use your current work as a springboard, plug into your network, and don’t undersell what ten years in the trenches has taught you.

You’ve put in the hours. Now make sure the world sees you — and pays you — like you have.

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