Charging what I'm worth - tips please!

[flaofno]

Freelancer in a skilled industry.

Although I get a reasonable hourly rate, I know I could earn more and other people in my position probably charge a lot more.

I tend to undercharge if things seem too much or if I have gone over the time estimate. Much of my work is not "quoted in advance" rather timed.

Also a lot of my longer term clients seem to use me because I am good value for money so suddenly charging them more seems a bit weird.

Anyone got any good tips around having the confidence to charge what you're worth? Raising prices? etc etc

Also another query - I get so many random email requests - "can you just do this" quickly etc. It seems faffy to charge, what do you do when you get an unexpected email asking for something small? Do you have a min fee? Not charge? These things all add up and if I get 5 in a day that's half an hour or more of my time that can go unpaid. Sometimes it seems too cheeky to charge?

It's a bit frustrating that I don't end up with more at the end of the month, after expenses, time spent faffing around etc.

Many thanks!