How Do I Price A Freelance Project?
Why isn't it straight-forward?
When browsing the internet, I always find myself annoyed if I can’t find a price for a service. As a potential customer, you want to know how much things may cost, and I understand your pain! “JUST GIVE ME A PRICE!” I hear you cry…
However, as a freelancer, I have also come to appreciate the complexities associated with both determining and listing your prices online. When I give a quote for a job, so many factors go into the amount that I charge, as such, I’d love to elaborate on a few of these to help you understand where my prices are coming from!
1. "What's your price per hour?"
Often, people want to know how much I will charge for a project per hour and how many hours a project may take. Asides from the fact it’s often very hard to predict how long something may take (who knows if there will be an odd research snag that derails the project temporarily), I am also hesitant to work on an hourly basis as quoting an hourly figure may scare you away!
For example, charging £150 per hour to write a 750-word article for your website may seem like a lot of money. However, when I quote per hour, I am actually giving you a price per second – some people may constitute an hour’s work as including time spent making a coffee, or checking other clients e-mails etc. However, when I bill, I stop the timer anytime I am not directly working on your piece. I am also happy to use screen-shotting software to prove this if need be.
Further, as I have accumulated years of experience writing, I may be able to write that article within two hours. As such, that’s £300 for a 750-word article, which, if SEO-optimised, could bring in an unknown number of customers and a large sum of money for you. Ultimately, providing far more value and a greater return on investment than the £300 you have spent.
Please note, when pricing, I do take into account the value I could add to your project as well because I like to work with a variety of clients. If I have the spare capacity, I enjoy working with small local businesses, or charities/ NGOs for example. In this case, I know that a high return on investment is not as likely, but I am keen to support you too and feel you should also have access to great services so try to help. Meanwhile, if you are a larger corporation/ business, the return on investment has the potential to be in the thousands so if I write an article for you, I will charge accordingly too.
Ultimately, when I quote per hour, you pay for the years of experience I have acquired, not the hours it takes me today. If you want to receive a cheaper quote per hour, you could go to someone less experienced, but they are likely to take longer and thus you may end up paying the same but receiving a lower-quality article in return.
2. “How much would you charge for the whole project?”
Pay-per-project pricing is my preferred way of working as I believe this gives both the client and I a chance to get what we want. From the client’s perspective, a one-off fee is easier as you know up-front what to expect and can ensure it falls within your allocated budget. There are no surprises! It also means you don’t have to continuously reply to e-mails to verify whether it’s ok to work additional hours if the project requires it.
Of course, there are some difficulties with pay-per-project pricing, particularly knowing how long it may take or the amount of research/ editing/ scheduling required to achieve the end goal. This makes it very difficult to price and makes me reluctant to quote this way!
As such, when pricing a particularly large/ complex project, or one that may be ongoing, I prefer to work on an hourly basis first to determine how many hours I foresee the project taking me. Once I get an idea of that, I can then provide you with a per-project price – you can then rest easy knowing how much it’ll cost, and I can sleep better knowing that regardless of whether I finish it quicker or slower than I expected, I can pay my bills at the end of the month! It’s a win-win.
So… how much are you then? What next?
I know, I know, it’s all very vague still! But honestly, it really depends on the amount of work I will do to complete your project. My prices start from £30 / $40 USD per hour and rise based on the factors given above.
To give you a rough idea of prices, here’s how much the following cost:
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‘Why Men Should Get Brotox’ - £320 as it’s just under 1,000 words and required a little research into how Botox work and the effects of them.
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‘Not Your Christmas Tree: The Avenue of the Giants’ - £500 as it was a first-person narrative, there were high costs associated with the trip, I supplied photos, and I researched into the area/ history of the place required.
If you’re interested to see how much I’d charge to complete your project, please don’t be scared of reaching out to me! I encourage you to check out my writing portfolio, researching portfolio, or social media marketing portfolio if you need support. After, you can contact me to find out how I can help, give me an idea of your budget and receive a personalised quote!