Ditto on selling products/solutions rather than your ability to use certain tools. For some clients though, it is about the tools. They need an X programmer to

Ditto on selling products/solutions rather than your ability to use certain tools. For some clients though, it is about the tools. They need an X programmer to extend their app that's written in X. I think part of your problem is your chosen X; PHP is popular, and it's easy to find work, so everybody's doing it. The supply of programmers is rather large, so it's hard to get anyone to pay more. Sure - you're demonstrably better than the average contractor, which is why they're willing to pay you $65 instead of $45. Learn some other tools. Find something with a higher barrier to entry, but still some demand. Try to be the guy who never says "that's not possible".