Earlier in the month, I wrote about pricing my first gig. I used the hourly rate I was getting from other jobs as a base for how I came up with the price, and for the first few clients, it worked- but it wasn’t a lot. As time went on, more clients [I didn't know personally] started coming in and I had to come up with a standard way to price my services.
I had to do this for a couple of reasons- most prospects want to get a ball park for how much they’ll be paying before they agree to anything, and a standard rate makes you look MUCH more professional. I tried the, “well I can work within most budgets” approach, and it either looked like I didn’t really know what I was doing or I got screwed out of some money. So I set out to come up with some rates.
How I did it: First I wanted to determine how much I could get. One thing I learned was I was now in the service industry. I was in demand and my price should dictate that. Also, people are paying me for my knowledge, regardless of how easy I thought a job was. I had to remember that I was adding value to people’s businesses, and giving them a way to make money.
With some people, knowing full well I was well below competitive prices, I just threw a number out there. Some didn’t even second guess it. One guy cut me a check in full right on the spot. Most did- they wondered why I was ’so expensive.’ In justifying my pricing, I was able to standardize it a bit and come up with good pricing that I could ask for with confidence. Of course, this is something I constantly reevaluate, especially when offering new services. Also:
Come up with a rate for each service: development, design, updates, etc. It will show you really thought about your prices.
Now: My prices go up when I am very busy. Simple supply and demand. My prices also change when I offer a new service. Once I can standardize that service, the prices level off. The most important thing I’ve learned is that people will always wonder why you’re ’so expensive’ no matter how much you charge. If you can justify your prices, you won’t have a problem.
But I know you, as the reader, appreciate the hows and whys, buy you’re more interested in the what. These aren’t prices I’m recommending for you- you really need to think about what works for you. The last resource I posted with the Rate Calculator is a nice tool to help. And I know some people don’t recommend posting your prices online, but just to give you some idea of what I’ve done…
- High School- using Frontpage- $10-15/hr
- Freshman in College- HTML/CSS by hand- $25/hr
- Sophomore/Junior- HTML/CSS, PHP/MySQL (beginner)- $30-35/hr
- Senior- HTML/CSS, PHP/MySQL (I know enough)- $35-40/hr
- Now- I’ve got my niches, a list of services, and a good business plan- $50-$65/hr
What I normally do is use those numbers as a base, estimate the hours it will take (that’s for another post) and come up with a project price. My prices also depend on who I’m working with and what I’m doing.
I hope this helps. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments.
