How much should you charge for freelance?

There really is no standard number you should charge. It depends on many factors.

Competition - do some research and find out what your competition is charging.

The Client - you'll find that you can charge more if you're doing work for corporations (not creative agencies). Corporations, from my experience, have a harder time finding designers. Not to mention, the person who is hiring you will be passing on your invoice to the billing department and won't think twice to sign your contract. Downside is, the work is very inconsistent and often very small.

If you find yourself freelancing for a design company, chances are, they are hiring you to do work that they don't have time for -- project overflow. At this point, you're third party, which means they will pay you less, and charge the client more to make profit. The upside to this, is that there is a lot of work from agencies that need to be outsourced.

If you're looking for more money without all the hottie tottie brands, work for a non-design company, i.e. oil and gas, law firms, etc.

Your Experience - Your experience provides clout to what you charge. Meaning, if you charge $75 per hour, that means you have been around and have samples to backup your claim. $35 an hour, I think, is a good start for entry-level designers who are freelancing. (Talk to me about your project, and I can help you. Sometimes I will charge different rates for different projects.) So it's not just about how good you are, but people with several years design experience are more efficient, and produce the work faster and with better execution and strategy.

Judge The Book By The Cover - Charge how much you think you can get away with. Small start-up companies don't pay anything, so you can't expect too much pay. If it's a huge, international company, charge em' up baby. Don't be too ridiculous. Be fair so you get return business.

Charge For Research & Prep Time - many designers only charge based on the actual design time, but rarely consider the research, meetings and travel expenses (time) for meeting with clients. Keep a detailed log for each client's project. I usually create a page with 4 columns. 1) Date 2) hours I logged 3)description of the task 4) mileage. If you're outsourcing to a printer, give the client two separate bills. One for your design services and one for printing.

What have been your experiences (challenges and/or advice) on quoting for a project? What are your best practices? Select the "comments" link below to post your response.

Here are some documents you can use to get your business started:
>> Design Brief Sheet
>> Client Job Log
>> Project Calendar
>> Freelance Legal Forms/Contracts/Agreements
>> Sample Creative Strategy
>> Client Art Approval Form
>> Web Site Marketing Price Guide