Earlier quoted context omitted.
What area? Web Dev?
Looks like Mobile Dev, if this is him: http://twitter.com/eekfuh http://www.deliciousmorsel.com/
Yes that is me.
Its mobile and user interface web stuff.
Poll: How much do you average per freelancing gig?
91–100 of 167 posts
Re: Poll: How much do you average per freelancing gig?
#92Nearly every gig has been over $50K with the most being $250k for 12 months. Most of my work has been in Silicon Valley with a couple of telecommuting stints in LA and Chicago (which lasted for a decade).
Most gigs have been with companies where software is the product or an integral part of the offering, so price was not really an issue. Almost always I bill hourly because the work involves existing system where a fix is 5 lines of code. but finding where the 5 lines go may take two days of work.
I got two significant jobs off of Craigslist, but most have come from people that I have worked with.
Re: Poll: How much do you average per freelancing gig?
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
And then add half again.
that's the secret, 3x. Also, start out on hourly gigs - and then always stay with hourly gigs (time & materials). If you fixed price work you end up having to piss off clients with anal scope management (or you take a bath).
A number between e and pi.
Re: Poll: How much do you average per freelancing gig?
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am so incredibly horrible at estimation that I bid more with emotion. If I find the project very interesting and I can fall in love with building it, the client is going to get a good deal. Boring or otherwise tedious projects engender some stone-cold, take-it-or-leave-it negotiation. I mean, this is my free time. Edit: Nevermind that extra bit, however true. :)
I wrote a blog post you might find interesting that talks specifically about quoting web design projects: http://devgrow.com/how-to-properly-quote-a-client/ That's how I go about it and have found it to be the best/only way to ensure I don't overwork myself.
A great tool that I've come across for helping out with setting your rate is at http://freelanceswitch.com/rates/. It got me thinking of many areas of expenses that I hadn't considered.
It is geared more to those of us doing it full-time.
Re: Poll: How much do you average per freelancing gig?
#95I have looked at sites like odesk or elance and those just suck for US freelancers as they do not pay shit. No one can outbid some russian company charging $3 per hour. Where do you go to find projects?
From personal and professional networks. Work at BigCo or Startup or wherever for a while, make connections with real people, don't sabotage your reputation with shoddy work or burned bridges, then transition to contract work for the people you know, advertise yourself so you can freelance work from people you don't, self-incorporate/brand yourself/etc. It can't be done overnight, but very little worth doing can.
Re: Poll: How much do you average per freelancing gig?
#96My Dad is an engraver, he's good at it, he was complaining to me that he had more work than he could handle. I suggested he raise his price then. He responded with the typical "I couldn't in good conscience charge that for something that takes me only a few hours to do!" And then we had a long discussion about how the market sets the rate, not you, and if you hold your rate under market it will overwhelm you because…
Go on... So, did he set his prices? What happened? What did he charge prior and how much did he change... and most importantly, is he happier?
Heh, yes he's much happier. He's much happier with the adjusted workload and it hasn't really changed his annual income all that much (perhaps a bit more income but a lot less work). Life is, to all outward extents, both more manageable and less stressful. He still undercharges his friends :-)
Re: Poll: How much do you average per freelancing gig?
#97Could we get the outcome of the poll please?
Thanks!
Re: Poll: How much do you average per freelancing gig?
#98Sadly this can be a very skewed number as it will differ per project type, length of project and locality. I would be more interested in hearing what people charge on an hourly basis - but alas this same issue would occur there. Without a literal "How much would you charge to do X (and where do you live)?" type question it is hard to come up with a number that could be used for comparison.
You can use a different unit to remove the cost-of-living variation: "how many months of rent do you charge for an aggregate month of gigs?"
Re: Poll: How much do you average per freelancing gig?
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
Go on... So, did he set his prices? What happened? What did he charge prior and how much did he change... and most importantly, is he happier?
Heh, yes he's much happier. He's much happier with the adjusted workload and it hasn't really changed his annual income all that much (perhaps a bit more income but a lot less work). Life is, to all outward extents, both more manageable and less stressful. He still undercharges his friends :-)
I think you still didn't directly answer the question. I'll assume (just a guess from your comment) he increased his rates?
Re: Poll: How much do you average per freelancing gig?
#100My last 3 side-projects (while working fulltime at BigCo): $750, $750, $2700 Over time, I have become less and less interested in these kinds of side-projects as I have become more focused on owning the upside of my own products. But, its occasionally nice to get paid for my late-night coding adventures.
How do you go about doing estimation? When you are asked for a bid and have loose requirements what are some good practices for estimating?
it amazes me how few people who do contract work create a requirement docs. Before you even give the potential client a quote, create a requirement doc of every little feature that will be included in the project. Then show it to the client to make sure nothing has been missed or out of scope. Once you have this list you can accurately estimate how long each little piece will be to do. Add in the time it takes to create a requirements doc, an additional % to account for how much time will be spent communicating with the client and anything else that might be specific to that project and you've got yourself a quote.
Another benefit of a requirements doc is if the client later says he expects some additional feature, you can refer to the requirement doc and say that it'll cost extra since it's not listed in there and your original quote didn't include it (or let them know that you're going out of scope for free because you want to help them out which will make them love you [only do this if you're ahead of schedule]).
Also back when I was doing freelance stuff I usually wouldn't even take a gig if I didn't think I would make > $5,000 from it.