Comments on: Why Your Rates Are Painfully Lower Than They Should Be

By: Susan Jackman

Susan Jackman — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:57:09 +0000

I agree with Matt.

I give my clients an estimate (usually a range) and bill them for exactly how many hours it takes. Not only does it provide all of the positive aspects that Matt mentioned, like not under billing or over billing, but it also helps the clients respect your time. Since I stopped doing bid or flat rate projects I have been attracting better clients who take the time to be sure and clear on what they want and it scares off the clients that would have been more trouble than they where worth. I am no longer doing “free work” and they aren’t charged for things they don’t need or decide not to do. If I”m fast and efficient that’s even more of an advantage for them. I’m not sure it would be the way to go for someone totally new to the field, but if you have enough skill and experience it’s the way to go.

By: Quanto cobrar pelo seu trabalho? | Fernanda Carvalho

Quanto cobrar pelo seu trabalho? | Fernanda Carvalho — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 05:02:07 +0000

[...] Fatos importantes que você não deve deixar de lado quando tiver definindo o seu preço. 3.Why Your Ratess are Painfuly Lower Than They Should Be. Artigo sobre alguns erros que você pode cometer enquanto define um preço para o seu projeto. 4. [...]

By: Paul d'Aoust

Paul d'Aoust — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:39:46 +0000

I thought I’d add two other time tracker programs, both web-based:

Toggl http://www.toggl.com/
A hosted service, which I’m not too fond of, but their basic time tracker is free and you can get a desktop version of their web app. Pretty handy.

OpenGoo http://www.opengoo.org/
My current lifesaver — allows me to keep track of my time in minute detail, which is great for when I want to do estimates for future projects. It’s also got a calendar, address book, milestones/projects, etc, etc, etc. It’s open-source and installs on your web server, but they’ve also started to offer hosted services for a fee.

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 08:05:11 +0000

I don’t understand how so many people have so much trouble billing clients. The best method to avoid this is to charge hourly and give them a estimate of hours and $. I then assure them that I will do my best to stick to that budget given how many hours that estimate will yield.If the project goes over in hours, they pay the extra as a separate invoice, and I usually give them a couple extra weeks time to pay the overages. This is more than fair to them. It is also fair to me because I end up compensated for every hour of work. And because the estimates are usually underestimated, I always bill for at least that amount. Another fair deal for the client is that by doing it hourly, if the project takes less time, due to a removal of a feature or any other reason, they do not pay a flat rate which would have left them paying extra. Its a win-win situation. Larger companies benefit from flat rates because there is more room for profit margin and they can usually take that risk of loosing money. As a freelancer, you cant afford to be loosing money on a project. You loose time, you loose money.

To track time: use a freeshbooks widget(or iphone app) or the stopwatch on the iphone.

By: Believe Design

Believe Design — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:01:03 +0000

Great post – also loved the look of the Klok app – have been needing something like this for a while (and a great opportunity to start investigating Adobe AIR too…)

Thanks again!

By: The Fast, Good and Cheap Pricing Method | SulVision

The Fast, Good and Cheap Pricing Method | SulVision — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:33:46 +0000

[...] Why Your Rates are Painfully Lower Than They Should Be A great article about some mistakes you might make when pricing yourself [...]

By: Dietmar

Dietmar — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:09:53 +0000

Thanks a lot for this great hints. I will take this advices for my next project!!!

Cheers
Dietmar

By: Tracy Ibarra

Tracy Ibarra — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 02:50:48 +0000

Great article. So true. We need to be honest with ourselves first if any profit is going to be made. If not, you might as well give your designs as gifts… + with a red ribbon.

By: JB Design and Photo

JB Design and Photo — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 21:30:53 +0000

I personally use timelog to track my hours on a project, plus it syncs up with my ical and with a little magic my google calendar, so I have the information available to me just about anywhere. It’s really important to know just how long a project is going to take you (and tracking the project to find out the final hours required) so that you know how much to charge and compensate accordingly (on small jobs even an extra hour or two gets costly).

By: 12 Realities of Pricing Web Design Services | Vandelay Website Design

12 Realities of Pricing Web Design Services | Vandelay Website Design — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:55:33 +0000

[...] Why Your Rates are Painfully Lower Than They Should Be – Freelance Folder [...]