FreelanceCampSessions3
Pricing 101 (Olivier)
Disclaimer: I was not the official scribe for this session -- I just took a small amount of notes for my personal use rather than making any attempt at a complete or organized report -- but when I was reading some of the notes for the other sessions and saw that no one had entered any for this page, I thought I might as well add my own.
Sell local clients on the advantages of working with a local person: they get a personal relationship with the contractor and it helps stimulate the local economy:
Some resources to use in determining your hourly rates:
- Use <a href="http://freelanceswitch.com/rates/">the Freelance Switch hourly rate calculator</a> -- "a guide based on your costs, number of billable hours and desired profit"
- Compare hourly rates on <a href="http://salary.com/">salary.com</a>
- For people who make web sites, check out <a href="http://aneventapart.com/alasurvey2008/">the 2008 A List Apart survey</a>
- For designers, see <a href="http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/salary-survey">the AIGA salary survey</a>
Higher rates can actually be a bargain -- a more experienced person can do the job faster and more efficiently.
When dealing with fixed-bid jobs:
- You need to have very specific conditions set down on what is and what is not included.
- Ask for a third to a half of the money upfront as part of the pricing structure so you don't get burned, and set milestones for when subsequent payments will be made.
- Public agencies may have their own regulations about how and when payments can be made -- maybe break the job into pieces to get around a no-payments-up-front issue.
<a href="http://blog.shaneandpeter.com/2007/08/13/contracts-terms-conditions/">Shane & Peter's base contract</a> is highly recommended as an example.
When coming up with a contract, look at it from the client's perspective as well as your own.
