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Business

Posted by Victoria Potvin
Victoria Potvin
4,564 Points

Freelancing charges?

Hello, I'm hoping to use my skills from treehouse to begin freelancing as a web designer until I get out of college (and maybe after). I have done a lot of research about how to start building a freelancing business, so I am planning on offering a few local small businesses (I'm thinking of starting with the rescue I got my cat from) a free redesign if I can use it in my portfolio, but I am left with one question. What about after the free stage is over? How much should I start charging after that? I have found rates on the internet as high as 100 per hour, but I am not sure if that is the right rate for my circumstances.

  1. I will still be in a beginning stage as far as my portfolio will show.
  2. I will not be able to work full time hours due to the obligations of school, so projects might take longer than with another designer.
  3. I live in Oklahoma. On average people make less here because cost of living is low. I know there are other great designers here, but I also know there are a lot who are offering outdated services and poor customer service afterward. In a way, this will make my services more valuable, but it also means there will be competition out there willing to work cheaply.

So what is the right rate to choose?

10 Answers

Marshall Huss
Marshall Huss
3,504 Points

Before joining the Treehouse team I did freelance work for a few years. Here are a few tips I usually recommend to people.

  • Don't ever work for free. While it does help build your portfolio more often than not you end up having to support the product you made. It also lets the client request as much work as they want, whenever they want, with no cost to them. If you're doing it for a friend it might even sour the friendship when you don't fulfill requests in a timely manner or want to stop working on it.

  • You don't have to do client work to build your portfolio. Go build your own product. Redesign an existing site and show how you can do it better. Team up with someone and scratch an itch that you've had. The more practice you get at building products, the better you will be at handling clients, schedules, and feature requests.

  • Always work hourly. If you end up charging a flat rate there are 3 possible outcomes. You do more work than you thought and you pay for it, it takes less time and the client has to pay for it, or you do just the right amount of work. The last option usually never happens. Working on a flat rate also requires the client to know exactly what they want up front. This is rarely the case and makes it harder to make a finished product they are happy with.

  • You are worth what people are willing to pay. Find a rate for your first client. For the next client up it $10/hr. Repeat this until you are happy with the rate or people won't pay you. You also might want to build in some negotiation room. If you want $50/hr quote at $65. If they are hesitant knock it down to $50 and they will feel like they are getting a good deal. Or you might be surprised when they say ok to the higher rate!

James Gill
PLUS
James Gill
Courses Plus Student 34,936 Points
James Gill
James Gill
Courses Plus Student 34,936 Points

Victoria,

There's a great Treehouse blog post that goes into detail about how to calculate your freelance rate. It's here: http://blog.teamtreehouse.com/calculate-hourly-freelance-rates-web-design-development-work

As a learning project, I created a calculator that does what the article describes: http://thinkhuman.github.io/whatsmyrate/

Cheers, -james

Steve McKinney
Steve McKinney
29,274 Points
Steve McKinney
Steve McKinney
29,274 Points

The right rate is one that can pay your cost of living and enough for you to be able to live a little every now and again at least eg: buy clothes, buy stuff you're interested in. It's down to what you're happiest with too.

As you're in school what James said is probably a good place to start. It all depends on how many hours you can put in monthly and how many websites you make. That can really determine a rate you're happy with.

Remember because you're doing some free work that it's ideal to still have some form of contract/agreement in place as it could lead to the work being unenjoyable and no sign off/end date to the stuff they want doing.

Zack Sjoden
Zack Sjoden
866 Points
Zack Sjoden
Zack Sjoden
866 Points

I agree with Steve when it comes to contracts/agreements. Watch out for clients, even with your discounted rate, that try and talk down the price. I've done some freelance photography and not having a clear timeline/milestones combined with a client that got a discount(friend of the family) and already didn't want to pay that much was a huge headache. Compared to the previous client who we just quoted our rate and provided them our current portfolio and thought the value was there was a wonderful experience for us and them. If you have a bad feeling about a potential client, just say it isn't a good fit.

Aaron Daub
PLUS
Aaron Daub
Courses Plus Student 144 Points
Aaron Daub
Aaron Daub
Courses Plus Student 144 Points

There is a disconnect between what different people consider web designers. Do you just do Photoshop work? UI and UX? HTML, CSS? Any JavaScript? Know a CMS? Assuming competency with HTML, and CSS I think $25/h is too low. Perhaps not in the early stages of your freelancing journey but later on you should be aiming for a lot higher than that.

Bill what you can, ideally a number high enough that you get complaints but low enough that you also still get clients. Generally clients you lose due to budget constraints are clients you wouldn't have wanted (unless your rate is ludicrous).

Working part time will limit the amount of clients willing to work with you but should not make it impossible for you to find work. And don't compete with local designers on price, compete on ability.

Victoria Potvin
Victoria Potvin
4,564 Points
Victoria Potvin
Victoria Potvin
4,564 Points

I am competent in HTML and CSS. I know a little JavaScript but definitely need to improve those skills, though I don't think I would need it for the initial projects I am thinking about. I am currently working through the jquery treehouse project and am trying to learn all I can about other frameworks for future use.

I would also plan on doing some photoshop work as well. In the case of the cat rescue, I am fairly certain they don't have a digital version of the logo on their cat carriers (or else am baffled as to why its not on their website), so I would probably need to recreate it. Some other elements of the design I have in mind would probably require photoshop work as well.

I also aim to make most if not all of my designs completely responsive. I find with local businesses I am constantly pinching and scrolling in weird directions on my iphone, or they have half broken mobile sites with no way back to the full site. I would love to fix this one business at a time. :)

I am grateful for the mention of contracts, something I am also confused about. Are their any resources you know of for what exactly needs to be in this kind of contract? I have a friend in law school who would probably help teach me how to write a contract, but having never freelanced I am worried there might be things I wouldn't think to address that could come up.

Caroline Hagan
Caroline Hagan
12,612 Points
Caroline Hagan
Caroline Hagan
12,612 Points

@Victoria

I wouldn't do it for FREE; just because you are starting out, doesn't mean you aren't worth something. Also if they get something for free, when they recommend you, they'll no doubt say they got it for free... and it continues on.

If you have the skills and talent then charge for it; albeit maybe not the 'going rate' but a reduced rate which reflects your skill level.

Re contract, it can be something as simple as:

Cat Shelter agrees to pay Victoria Potvin, £xxx for a 5 page website, to launch on the date of [3 months time].

Really doesn't need to be too complex, as long as you get it in writing!

If you explain to whomever you are doing the work that it would help you gain experience and portfolio work, and for this reason they are getting it a discounted price and ready by xx date, then I can't see a better deal than that :-)

Joe Villanueva
Joe Villanueva
9,181 Points
Joe Villanueva
Joe Villanueva
9,181 Points

In freelance, I prefer weekly. +1 to Marshall's excellent advice on building up your rates client to client.

Weekly rates, case studies, and some other great freelance advice are in this article:

https://training.kalzumeus.com/newsletters/archive/consulting_1

James Barnett
James Barnett
39,199 Points
James Barnett
James Barnett
39,199 Points

$25/hr

Also ...

  • the best programming language is Ruby on Rails
  • the best food is pasta.
James Barnett
James Barnett
39,199 Points
James Barnett
James Barnett
39,199 Points

+1 That's some excellent and concrete advice from @Marshall

Regarding working for free: http://shouldiworkforfree.com