61–70 of 85 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I charge less than $100/hr for my best client and it's been a very good relationship. I've had consistent work for over a year and hopefully it'll continue for a couple more years. I think it really comes down to the longevity of the work and the nature of the relationship.
You should raise your rates then! Perfect opportunity with proven history and track record!
So my freelancing business that I started with 2 friends in 2005 is about to put me and ~20 of my Chicago coworkers onto a chartered bus to Three Floyds Brewery for the day and I'm a little pressed for time, but let me get a few things out really quickly and maybe someone on HN can flesh out my bullets to links to any of the 200 1000-word posts I've written about them: * Your bill rate isn't correlated with your sala…
Anyone charging less than $100/hr is probably underselling themselves. The only time you should charge less than that is on very long term contracts with hundreds or thousands of hours, and then, only hesitantly. People make assumptions based on what you charge - frankly, I've found that people tended to blow me off when I charged much less than this, and actually listen when they know they're paying a decent amount…
When we link freelancing rates with salaries, we can easily get led astray by: "OMG $200 an hour — that's like $400k a year full-time! That's insane!" If you're looking to augment staff as a contractor, whoever hires you is going to want to compare your hourly rate with what they're paying their team — so it's going to be tricky to break through that ceiling. But if you're working with clients who have problems to so…
But it's not full time and that's precisely why it costs roughly 3x contract rates. A portion of your year is "down time" searching for projects and no one is paying for that. So you put that into your project costs.
If the companies you're pitching don't realize this you're probably pitching to the wrong companies because it's pretty well known.
EDIT: Also, if they want a compare then have them compare you coming in doing this project to the cost of hiring and training a permi and then letting them go. Most likely the turn-around for a permanent employee is going to be 6mo at an absolute minimum (unless it's Zynga or some serious scumbags) where as your project could be hours or weeks.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You should raise your rates then! Perfect opportunity with proven history and track record!
Wouldn't acceptable rates depend on geographic location? Or do we assume everyone here is in SF?
The average yearly rate divided by 1000 doesn't give me a very high number at all. Maybe it's because I'm in Europe, and salaries are much lower here. Diving it by 100 and taking the result as a daily rate seems a bit more reasonable (and billing by the day is a better idea anyway), but is still on the low side. Once you factor in 50% taxes, you have to bill 200 days a year to get the same income as before. On top of…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
When we link freelancing rates with salaries, we can easily get led astray by: "OMG $200 an hour — that's like $400k a year full-time! That's insane!" If you're looking to augment staff as a contractor, whoever hires you is going to want to compare your hourly rate with what they're paying their team — so it's going to be tricky to break through that ceiling. But if you're working with clients who have problems to so…
>"OMG $200 an hour — that's like $400k a year full-time! That's insane!" But it's not full time and that's precisely why it costs roughly 3x contract rates. A portion of your year is "down time" searching for projects and no one is paying for that. So you put that into your project costs. If the companies you're pitching don't realize this you're probably pitching to the wrong companies because it's pretty well known…
So my freelancing business that I started with 2 friends in 2005 is about to put me and ~20 of my Chicago coworkers onto a chartered bus to Three Floyds Brewery for the day and I'm a little pressed for time, but let me get a few things out really quickly and maybe someone on HN can flesh out my bullets to links to any of the 200 1000-word posts I've written about them: * Your bill rate isn't correlated with your sala…
May you link to patio11's article on productizing? Can't find it on his blog.
I'd love to go freelance. Luckily here in the UK there is a thriving(ish) market in contract work. Short time, usually project-based, better paying than perm work. So far it's been quite fun.
Can you share your experience? How did you get started contracting in the UK? Did you contact a head-hunter or do you find your own contracts? How?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wouldn't acceptable rates depend on geographic location? Or do we assume everyone here is in SF?
No, why would they? Does an iphone cost less in the Congo (assuming you would buy it legally)?
I didn't know that.
The dollar conversion is very important. I used to work with some people who made $800/day as independent consultants. Some full time employees making north of $100K were livid, and complained about being exploited. The complexities of, "Withhold taxes, pay both sides of social security, pay your own 401K and health care, pay for your own training, and don't even think of multiplying the daily rate times 260" just di…