Last Tuesday, I had the absolute pleasure of logging into the Zampen Creative Capital Webinar Series, and honestly? I’m still riding the high.
I was invited to speak about two words that usually make creatives break out in hives: Pricing and Costing.
But here is what made this particular session so special. As I looked at the participant list, I saw names from Luzon. I saw names from Visayas. We had the whole archipelago in that Zoom room.
And that was the moment I realized: The struggle is universal, but the solution is hiding in plain sight.
The "We’re Already Making Money" Trap
I started the talk a little nervous. Here were artists, designers, and freelancers from the regions who are already booking clients. They are busy. They are getting paid. On the surface, everything looks fine.
But when we dug into the numbers, a pattern emerged. One attendee put it perfectly: “I know how much I want to earn, but I don’t know why I charge what I charge.”
They had no formal pricing structure. They were guessing.
And here is the massive truth bomb we uncovered: Just because you are making money doesn't mean you aren't losing it.
These creatives—many of whom have been working for years—were operating on instinct. They were looking at what the "market" pays and undercutting themselves by 40% just to feel safe.
The Engineer, The Lawyer, and The Genius Tax
To help explain this, I asked them to think about their friends who are engineers, lawyers, or doctors.
- When an engineer designs a bridge, they don't just charge for the concrete. They charge for the calculation.
- When a lawyer writes a contract, they don't just charge for the paper. They charge for the jurisprudence.
- When a doctor gives a diagnosis, they don't just charge for the 5 minutes. They charge for the decade of residency.
They charge a premium for their unique skill.
So why, I asked the audience, don't we do that as creatives?
We are terrified of the "Genius Tax."
Let me explain what I mean by that.
Your "Genius Tax" (or Skill Premium) is the extra money someone pays you not for the time it took to make the logo, but for the taste it took to make it beautiful. It is the fee for the 10,000 hours you spent learning color theory, typography, and storytelling while everyone else was sleeping.
Genius Tax = The value of your unique aesthetic + Your problem-solving ability – The cost of software.
The Eye-Opener
When I put that equation up on the slide, you could feel the energy shift. One attendee from Visayas typed in the chat: "I have been charging for my time, but I have never charged for my eye. That feels like a cheat code."
It’s not a cheat code. It’s justice.
If you are a creative in Cebu, Iloilo, or Pampanga, and you are solving a business problem with your art—you are adding value. You are not a "service worker." You are a creative capitalist.
The Takeaway
If you are reading this and you recognize yourself in that story, please stop leaving money on the table.
Costing is the math (rent, software, electric bill).
Pricing is the magic (your experience, your speed, your unique style).
Don't just ask "What will the client pay?" Ask "What is my Genius Tax worth to solve their problem?"
A huge thank you to Zampen for having me, and an even bigger thank you to the attendees from Luzon and Visayas for trusting me enough to look at their spreadsheets. You proved that you don't have to be in Manila to have a world-class pricing strategy.
You just have to believe that your genius has a price tag.
