Freelance Rate
Out of context: Reply #39
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- nocomply0
I think I've mentioned this on here before at some point, but I believe it is a good idea for freelancers in our industry to openly share their rates. Too many times we charge too little and as a result we wind up devaluing not only ourselves and our work, but also our industry peers.
So for me... I am a front-end web designer and developer and I currently charge $65/hr. I just bumped it up from $60/hr after having a lengthy conversation with my wife about my business. If I lived in LA, SF or NYC I would probably be charging more.
I think my rate is fair or perhaps a bit low, but it helps me stay in budget for my target market, which is small businesses (mom & pop type shops), restaurants, non-profits, and independent professionals like lawyers/doctors. Those people get sticker shock if I try to quote them $90/hr and at the moment I don't have the connections to get gigs that would pay me that rate.
I work out of a second bedroom in my apartment which helps to keep overhead low and helps to sustain a business at the price point that I'm in.
I work a lot like how nb outlined above. I bill everything hourly and avoid working for a flat rate whenever possible. I provide clients with an initial estimate that outlines all of my anticipated billable hours and tell them that it's an ESTIMATE, which means it's my educated guess of how long the project will take. By the time I hand over the estimate I have either met with the client in person or had a lengthy discussion over the phone and established a sense of trust. It also helps that 90% of my business comes by word of mouth so people are predisposed to trust me and think I'm generally easy to work with.
I've been doing this for about 3 years now and freelancing full-time for the past year. So far this system has worked out pretty well for me and I've avoided a lot of the headache of tedious contracts and that feeling of working a shit-ton extra for free because I booked something at a flat rate.
Of course it's not without it's drawbacks too. I never get any gigs where I absolutely make a killing of over $100/hr because I have a set hourly rate. But IMO taking advantage of gullible clients and raping them with a flat rate is not an ethical business practice that I want to engage in.
All that being said, I wind up doing a lot of work for friends, friends of friends, family, etc... and I give out discounts to those people. So getting my full rate doesn't happen all the time. Also, I have a lot of clients who I started working with years ago now and they're also paying less. I try to avoid raising my rates on existing clients, but I do so occasionally when it becomes necessary and they understand.
All and all, what I do makes an ok living for the time being, but I see a ceiling that I will hit unless I expand or change the way my business works.
Also if any other of you seasoned veterans have any advice for someone in my situation I am open to suggestions. OK that's the end of this brain dump for now.
- Great words / In the same situation myself. Trying to balance all of the mentioned...ideaist
- At the tail end of a contract position and deciding whether or not to plunge into full-time freelance with my lady...ideaist
- Funny, I've been thinking of trying to get in to the whole contract work sector. Grass is always greener I guess..nocomply
- The grass is always green. You have to sacrifice happiness/freedom for financial security it seems.ideaist
- ...I just feel like i'm meant to blaze my own trail as you have been doing... but their's a ceiling to that...ideaist
- ...like you mentioned...ideaist
- true thaticu
- it's not rape if they agree to itscarabin