Negotiate the Best Rate for Freelancing Work
Freelance work is without doubt one of the most demanding type of career one can choose in this day and age. Due to the flexibility of working hours, freelancers often find themselves working odd hours in order to complete assignments, job orders or projects. Time is therefore an important element in a freelancer's billing system. Another common feature of freelance work is that some of it can be seasonal meaning that there are days or weeks when no work comes through. Furthermore, the money you earn is directly tagged to work done, not like employed people who earn an automatic salary every month regardless of how much work they do. You are also not entitled to benefits like an employee so you have to take care of things like health insurance on your own. These are just some of the factors to consider when trying to negotiate the best rate for your work. The following steps will help you decide how much to charge as your fees or at least arrive at a reasonable rate.
Steps
- Evaluate what the work you are requested to do entails. If it is a project, write down the whole process of doing it from start to finish. Do not leave out any details. This will help clarify in your mind not only what is expected of you but also how much effort you will have to put in.
- Determine how much time it will take you to complete the work. Render this in hours or days.
- As a freelancer, you must have an hourly rate for the work you do. Your hourly rate takes into account how much effort you put in as well as contingencies. You do not need to let your client know this but you need to work out a minimum that you charge per hour of work done. Multiply this rate by the total number of hours it takes to finish the job. If the job takes more than a day then your rate is per day.
- The figure that you calculate in step 3 above acts like a baseline rate, i.e. the lowest figure you can accept. Keep this in mind for the negotiation to work in your favor.
- Ask your client what is his budget for the project. Most people always have an idea of how much they are willing to spend, so just find a polite way of getting to know this. A rule of thumb in negotiation is that the first party to quote a price remains at a disadvantage so do not be the first to mention a figure. If the client is not able to give a figure right away, give him time to work it out but let him know that he needs to get back to you when he is ready.
- If the client comes back with a rate that is higher than your baseline rate, then you are good to go. If the rate is lower, let him know that there is a minimum you must charge for the work to be done. If he persists, then it is time to go over the work and make him understand what it will cost you to do it.
Tips
- Never, ever reveal your hourly rate to a client unless absolutely necessary, e.g. if it is indicated that you will be paid strictly per hour.
- Do not be afraid to set a minimum amount and stick to it. You are the one who knows how much effort it will take for you to complete the job so go ahead and set the rate.
