Minimum job charge?
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- helpmeqbn
Do you have a minimum job charge? I usually charge 25 an hour for freelance. I feel lame sending an invoice for $50 if something is quick.
Does anyone have a minimum?
- identity0
25/hour? charge at least 50/hour - even if you're out of school - even if you've never been to school. we all suffer when a client pays so little.
- meffid0
$120 for answering the phone.
- meffid0
You should be fixed pricing job anyway. Hourly is out the window.
- yeeblazer0
how quick? did you just do some production work, or actual design work?
- inteliboy0
I'd feel weird sending an invoice for anything less then $100 -- clients with little jobs/fixes normally invoice quartely, otherwise too much paperwork and hassle for everyone involved.
- zuozuoye0
I like mouth.
- identity0
This is INVALUABLE if you're starting out and you're freelance. Take what they say as a starting point for pricing. As you gain more experience/more clients you can up the fees more.
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- nthkl0
Depends on what you do, and what you can justify. I normally just do $50 an hour to secure the job and rate. But in turn, I max the hours to make up for the lower rate. There is a combo of allotted hours for the gig, and your rate. So, maybe 30 hours max @ $50 would be a budget of $1500 for a comp.
- monNom0
Your minimum billing should be based on a calculation of how many production hours you need to actually earn a profit, given all the time spent winning the job, then getting paid after it's done. For a small project that might still come to 3 or 4 hours, even if it's less than an hour's worth of work.
Some types of work you might set the minimum based on value rather than hours alone. eg: logos, artwork for reproduction, etc.
Note that doubling your rates might lose you some of your existing clients if they don't see extra value for the additional money (read: you helped create the impression in their mind that your work is only worth $25/hr). So expect to actively seek out new work at your new rate to replace old clients who don't wanna pay.
- fyoucher10
If it's small changes to a project you already completed, I do it for free. Clients love free shit. Shit, everyone loves free shit. Those are the times that you need to take advantage of shit like that. It's like sending a Xmas present when it's not even Xmas. I'm not talking about spec-work-type-shit.
If it's a small job (not changes to a current job but a new project), like it takes you an hour or less, charge a few hundred bucks or if they're a big client of yours -- just do it for free.
Being cool with your clients gets your loyalty from them a lot of times. In return, they return to you with more work -- that you charge good money for.
I have a few big ad agencies and a couple of direct clients that I work for. I do free shit for them all of the time, no matter what time of the day or week. A few of them have come to me for over 100 projects in just 6 or so years and each account for a very big chunk of change a year for me. Those are the ones you bend over backwards for. You not only do shit for free, you follow up constantly and make sure everything is buttery smooth along the way...even way after a project is completed. This is where working retail and learning customer service helped me out when I was young.
- Yup, the psychological benefit of 'no problem, we'll do a quick change for free' goes a long wayformed
- formed0
I'll agree with the flat fee. Hourly just makes things uncertain.
We go hourly once a project is complete, for updates, minor changes, etc. Really it comes down to the client. If they are a great client and paid tons, projects are valuable from a promotional standpoint, etc., then I won't charge them for silly things, esp. if there are projects on going.
I try to encourage clients to 'lump' things together, telling them that the start/stop time will be minimized and it'll save them money. This also gives us a larger chunk.
- helpmeqbn0
What if its like web banners and shit like that.
- meffid0
^ Palm it off to someone.
- Amicus0
$50? You'd be better off outsourcing that shit to India, and knowing you've fed some poor family for a week.
- microkorg0
Our smallest charging chunk is 15 mins.
That way it stops the client getting you to make small changes regularly, they'll save up all the small changes and give them to you at once which ends up being more time efficient for you.
Also, even if something just takes 5 minutes to do, you'll proabably have spent another 5 mins on the phone or email and another few minutes entering the job details into your timesheet.