How much should I charge an hour....

[Whitedog]

5 Bucks

 

[Whitedog]

Oh, J/K

 

[Niege]

I agree that fees must be set up front, before any work gets done. And get it down in writing. Otherwise it will be: 'I thought you said....' 'I never said that!'

Buyers like cost containment so, unless it's a crisis situation, project fees are generally more acceptable to buyers; as long as the scope of the project is fully defined in writing.

Having said all of that, when I consult on an hourly basis I use the consultant's rule of thumb: Estimate what your yearly salary would be if you did this full time. Divide that by 2000 for an hourly wage rate. Multiply that by 2.5. The multiple covers paying all of the Social Security tax, your own health insurance, your retirement plan, car, and, of course, the down time since you won't be working 2000 hours a year, but doing marketing a significant portion of the time.

So..... you want to make $75,000 a year. Divided by 2000= $37.50 an hour, multiply by 2.5 = $93.75, round off to either $90 or $95. However.... if you're a newbie to the biz, drop that rate substantially until it can be supported by enthusiatic word of mouth recommendations.

Good luck, it's a fine site!