My So-Called Freelance Life: How to Survive and Thrive as a Creative Professional for Hire by Michelle Goodman

Author:Michelle Goodman
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Language Arts & Disciplines, Human Resources & Personnel Management, Self-Employed, Entrepreneurship, Careers, Authorship, General, Business & Economics, Career Development
ISBN: 9781580052597
Publisher: Seal Press
Published: 2008-09-30T00:00:00+00:00

Taxi Meter vs. Limousine Rates

There’s a lot of debate in the freelance community about whether it’s best to quote a client an hourly rate or a flat project fee, the two most common ways we freelancers invoice. Thing is, one billing model does not fit all. I billed by the hour, day, week, month, word, page, and project before becoming the per-project gal I am today.

But let’s talk about you. If you’re a lawyer—notorious for taxi-meter rates—or someone who sells her services by appointment—cosmetologist, reflexologist, baby-sleep consultant—you’ll likely charge by the hour. (“For $150 an hour, I come to your home and show you how to get your infant to fall asleep without treating you to forty-five minutes of blood-curdling screams.” And if they protest: “All my clients pay this rate.”)

Things get more nebulous, however, when you start to plan, code, draw, index, enact, promote, produce, or record something. Charge by the hour, and you risk being penalized for your experience, especially on small jobs you could do in your sleep. For instance, if a publicist can finish in ten hours what used to take her twenty hours to do three years ago, she shouldn’t have to earn half as much now. If anything, she should bring home more bacon today given her growing PR savvy and media contacts.

And suppose that same plucky publicist has determined it’s not worth her while to take the job for less than $2,500, even though it may only take her 10 hours to complete. Although her client may not bat an eye if she tells him “That’ll cost you $2,500,” there’s a decent chance he’ll gak on his decaf upon hearing “My rate is $250 an hour.” To a client—whose compensation point of reference is the standard employee equation of $250 an hour x 40 hours a week = $10,000 a week = major rip-off—the flat limousine rate will sound far more reasonable.

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