Poll: How much do you average per freelancing gig? • Hacker News Board

Re: Poll: How much do you average per freelancing gig?

#31

Post by pitdesi » Tue, Mar 29, 2011, 5:21 PM UTC

I'd be curious to know if there are any design freelancers that do infographics, and what they charge...

We've had trouble finding great infographic designers that don't take a lot of time to manage, and I'm wondering if we should be paying more.

If interested in that or doing UI/UX stuff, check us out http://feefighters.com and drop me a note

EDIT - looks like people are interested! job posting for fulltime UI/UX here : http://feefighters.com/jobs/ui-designer-developer/

and Freelance infographic posting here: http://www.genuinejobs.com/jobs_detail.php?id=5606 (but just drop an email to josh@feefighters.com instead of responding to this one)

Re: Poll: How much do you average per freelancing gig?

#32

Post by patio11 » Tue, Mar 29, 2011, 5:26 PM UTC

Sargis wrote: post #29

How do you know your skills are good enough to take on a $XXXX project? I've never done freelance work, but I would love to start doing some work after school and earn a few bucks along the way.

One way: have you ever delivered something which someone would pay $X,000 for? If so, then you are good enough to deliver something someone would pay $X,000 for.

I think many people get hung up on skill though. Clients pay for many, many things. Skill is only one of those things, and it doesn't dominate, either. Clients can also pay for:

  criticality of work
  urgency of work
  guaranteed availability
  hard-to-find expertise
  communication skills
  perceived attentiveness to needs
  lower perceived risk
  corporate politics
  measurable results
  warm fuzzy feeling

Of these, if you could only have one, I'd probably go with the ability to give clients the warm fuzzy feeling. You will never go hungry if clients get the warm fuzzy feeling from working with you.

Hat tip to tptacek, who taught me the importance of some of the above.

Re: Poll: How much do you average per freelancing gig?

#33

Post by helpmehelpyou » Tue, Mar 29, 2011, 5:27 PM UTC

Where/how do you find these freelance gigs?

Re: Poll: How much do you average per freelancing gig?

#34

Post by veyron » Tue, Mar 29, 2011, 5:31 PM UTC

Rule of thumb is to estimate hours and a reasonable rate given the scope and time of the arrangement. It's hard to pin down an absolute number, but in terms of rate I dont consider it unless its at least $200/hr

Re: Poll: How much do you average per freelancing gig?

#35

Post by kayoone » Tue, Mar 29, 2011, 5:35 PM UTC

Freelancers hired by BigCos (so not working from home) usually get paid by the hour/day and can easily take home 10k+ a month. Most of the time theres lots of travelling involved though.

Re: Poll: How much do you average per freelancing gig?

#36

Post by MichaelL » Tue, Mar 29, 2011, 5:35 PM UTC

Some people seem to get it backwards. They think they are their own client. WRONG!!

It does not matter one bit what I or others charge. What matters is WHO IS YOUR IDEAL CLIENT?

If you know that, you know what VALUE you bring to them and you can charge whatever you want to solve a real problem.

Otherwise you are trading time for money. AKA - Job.

Does Rolls Royce consult Honda as to what to charge for their products? No. Two different markets with two different clients and two very different ways of solving a clients/customer's problems.

Re: Poll: How much do you average per freelancing gig?

#37

Post by Malcx » Tue, Mar 29, 2011, 5:35 PM UTC

fsipie wrote: post #15

Two simple iPhone apps at £500 and £900. One freebie one which brings in £15/month. Need to charge more!

Can you contact me (email in profile) or add a contact yourself?

Re: Poll: How much do you average per freelancing gig?

#38

Post by nekoZonbi » Tue, Mar 29, 2011, 5:37 PM UTC

I work 100% remotely, from not a first world country, and my hourly rate has been escalating with each project. Currently at around 40$/hour. But instead of cashing in, I am rather investing time into improving more, and preparing some interesting personal projects that define myself. I love great challenges, and want to eventually get into something really interesting. Or maybe I will go by myself, and launch a startup that I has been thinking about for some time.

Re: Poll: How much do you average per freelancing gig?

#39

Post by hariis » Tue, Mar 29, 2011, 5:44 PM UTC

Loic wrote: post #18

Working in the chemical engineering area. Hard science + all the cool technologies you can read on HN => Fun + money. Usually a contract starts at $15k (2 weeks) and goes up to 2 months of work on average. I always advice people to go the hard science way if they like computer science, because there is a really big big lack of people being good at both. I should write about it.

How do you go about finding such projects in hard science? Is there a gigs board or is it through networking mainly?

Re: Poll: How much do you average per freelancing gig?

#40

Post by kirubakaran » Tue, Mar 29, 2011, 5:45 PM UTC

Contractor69 wrote: post #8

The high and low ends vary greatly. I've done little one hour wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am gigs and then I've done projects that run 4-6 months and bring in 5 figures. On average I'd say about $5000. The most I ever brought in on a single project was $24,000. BTW those projects were all done using the .NET Framework. Take THAT, Expensify!

Just trying to make sense of the data points here... Your username and the description of your one hour gig leads me to believe that your projects need more than just programming skills. Do you work in San Fernando valley?