I once had a manager say "Why should we pay eLearning developers $X just to do this **simulates typing on a keyboard** all day?" As if we are just doing clerical data entry or equally menial.
Hmm, last time I checked, programmers, attorneys, accountants, and **gasp** managers also do this **simulates typing on a keyboard** all day. Yet somehow they're worth the big dollars. Bizarre.
You're right, we're doing a terrible job of marketing our skills, and advertising our work for low hourly rates does not help the situation.
I actually exiled myself from eLearning work in my organization for a few years because I had a major clash with my manager regarding an outsourced work project. It was an existing paper-based course that needed to be turned into a basic page turner. Cost per the vendor? $98,000!!!!! I could have done that same work in less than 100 hours. Easily. The vendor's fixed-price contract included 600+ hours (!!!) of work at various rates for the various roles (PM, ID, programmer, multimedia specialist, etc. (each well over $100/hr). AND WE PAID IT!!! I flipped my lid. I argued it was a fraudulent contract and we were getting taken for a ride. Because it was, and we were. But my opinion (I had just spearheaded the formation of our own internal eLearning development group and we were just getting started) was not taken seriously at that time. The fallout with my manager was tremendous, and I didn't return to eLearning development work until she was retired and gone.
Sorry for the long anecdote, but it dovetails with your experience that outside vendors always know more and are always worth far more $$$ as far as management is concerned. It's an outrage.
Yet on the flip side small-shop freelancers are torpedoing themselves by offering to do work for $30/hour. We're destroying the occupation, people.