Here's another way to look at it. When you're selling yourself as a freelancer, the last step in the sale is to make the business case. At that point, you've pr

Here's another way to look at it. When you're selling yourself as a freelancer, the last step in the sale is to make the business case. At that point, you've probably already proved that you could do something for the company, and the business case answers the question, "Why pay this much for this service, right now?" There is more than one way to build a business case. They include: - ROI. How much money will the business make? What fraction of that will you charge? - Opportunity cost. What timeline would it take to get somebody else to do this? How much is that worth? - Productivity / knowledge. Will your work transfer knowledge to people internally? What is the alternative to not hiring you? - Flexibility. If they didn't hire a contractor, what is their equivalent of "freedom cost"? Reminding employers that they can fire you at any time is a positive for you. You may even be able to find others. It's not a trivial task, and it'll take some digging, but keep your ears open. You can always find ways that different companies rationalize spending money, and using one company's framework to help another justify the spend can make things go much more smoothly.