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Monday, April 30, 2018
How To Calculate Your Freelance Hourly Rate
Daily Infographic: So you’ve decided to take the leap and become a full-time freelancer. Here’s how to figure out how to charge what you’re actually worth and earn the money you deserve.
2 comments:
Anonymous
said...
This was really cool to look at. I’ve bookmarked it to come back to at a later date and plug in my own numbers. As a freelance artist myself, it is important to be able to accurately market myself and to make sure that my clients are getting the best. Knowing my hourly rate based on all the factors presented here is a positive step that anyone looking to branch out into this world should look at. The one area that the chart failed to mention was continuing education. I never want to stop learning and even when I think I know all there is to know about a subject, I find something else to add to it. I also think the software cost could be higher. There is also the cost of books and manuals for your field and if you are into lighting like I am, there are additional costs such as Gel, gobos, specialty lighting fixtures and other expendables that the venue or person offering you work may not be able to cover. Just an additional thing to think about.
While this math seems flawless and makes a lot of sense, a key part is missing and that is whether people will pay you that. I can’t leave school and ask for $70 an hour. There needs to be a market research part of this equation. I can’t just make up a number that I want to make, I need to figure out what number I could make. I am all for asking for a high number, but if I price myself out of the field, that’s not going to be too good either. The initial number is the hard part. I like what comes after it, you have to build business expenses into your salary, that is not something I would have been all that aware of. The vacation days and non billable hours math is also important and should not be overlooked. I don’t necessarily foresee freelancing in the future, but you never know, if that happens I’ll be sure to reference equations like this.
2 comments:
This was really cool to look at. I’ve bookmarked it to come back to at a later date and plug in my own numbers. As a freelance artist myself, it is important to be able to accurately market myself and to make sure that my clients are getting the best. Knowing my hourly rate based on all the factors presented here is a positive step that anyone looking to branch out into this world should look at. The one area that the chart failed to mention was continuing education. I never want to stop learning and even when I think I know all there is to know about a subject, I find something else to add to it. I also think the software cost could be higher. There is also the cost of books and manuals for your field and if you are into lighting like I am, there are additional costs such as Gel, gobos, specialty lighting fixtures and other expendables that the venue or person offering you work may not be able to cover. Just an additional thing to think about.
While this math seems flawless and makes a lot of sense, a key part is missing and that is whether people will pay you that. I can’t leave school and ask for $70 an hour. There needs to be a market research part of this equation. I can’t just make up a number that I want to make, I need to figure out what number I could make. I am all for asking for a high number, but if I price myself out of the field, that’s not going to be too good either. The initial number is the hard part. I like what comes after it, you have to build business expenses into your salary, that is not something I would have been all that aware of. The vacation days and non billable hours math is also important and should not be overlooked. I don’t necessarily foresee freelancing in the future, but you never know, if that happens I’ll be sure to reference equations like this.
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