views:

193

answers:

5

What do you consider a fair, yet profitable hourly wage for routine updates/management (ie - information, maintenance, database management) for your average site?

What factors do you use to set that rate?

As a reference...I usually quote around $25/hour...am I getting ripped?

EDIT: Initially I was hoping for this to be a good reference for people in general as well...but since it was asked - I am in the Tucson, AZ area.

+2  A: 

Take the thousands part of what you would consider to be an acceptable annual salary and double or triple it; this becomes your hourly rate. I'd start with tripling it (or more), and going down from there. You're better off to come in with a high quote and work your way down, because (a) raising your rate is a lot harder than lowering it; and (b) the client will feel happier when they've worked you down a bit because they feel like they're getting a deal.

So, $25/hr works out to you being happy making $12k/year.

Start off by telling them that you usually quote $100/hr (or whatever you feel comfortable with), and if they balk at that, follow it up with something like, "But since I really like working for you and want your business, I'll drop down 10% right off the bat."

Don't feel bad like you're overcharging them -- as long as you do good work for what you get paid, both you and your customer will benefit. It's tough to walk into a conference room and ask for what you feel is a shocking amount of money, but this is because most geeks (myself included!) have a habit to think we're worth less than we really are.

And, who knows, you might actually get the higher rate that you quote.

Don Werve
haha,i like that cuz it makes me look like a saint
johnnietheblack
More importantly, it makes your customers feel good about the transaction. Everybody loves to get a deal, to feel like they've won in a negotiation. Giving that to your customers is just good business sense.
Don Werve
+3  A: 

It mainly depends on where/who your working for. If you have to update it often with lots of information then charge what you normally would. If it is a one time thing, charge a little bit more than what you normally would.

P.S. When in doubt about how much to charge... overcharge! $$$

;-)

Lucas McCoy
+1 because I learned this the hard way.
Don Werve
true...i guess when its stupid little changes i feel dumb charging a lot...but screwing myself would be worse
johnnietheblack
Theres nothing wrong with overcharging someone, doctors do it all the time (JK). But seriously, you should value your time as something very valuable.
Lucas McCoy
If you're charging too much, then the customer won't pay. That's the definition of "charged too much" - "charged too much for the market to bear".
John Saunders
right...but what is the invisible boundary between too much and just right?
johnnietheblack
I think it mainly depends on what the customer is willing to pay. You should ask someone from apple, they seem to have figured this out pretty well.
Lucas McCoy
:) yeah they suckered me in pretty well
johnnietheblack
I wish I could afford a mac, when I can buy one I will. Arizona, thats hot!
Lucas McCoy
Macs are nice, but I cry when I think of the power I can get in a Linux box for that kind of change. Doesn't stop me from buying them, though.
Don Werve
I'm a Linux user also (ubuntu) on my PC. I love the fact that its free. My PC is ok, its a laptop with a 2GHZ processor and 2GB of RAM.
Lucas McCoy
+1  A: 

This is kind of an open ended question with a lot of 'well, you could do', but generally speaking you will find a fairly typical formula (plenty of variation in amount of days and hours below, so choose based on your own guidelines):

Take 214 days (work days per year after holidays, vacation, sick time, etc.). Take 8 hours a day. Multiply the two. That's your total work hours per year. Take the amount of money you want to make/feel you are worth per year based on your skillset or market value. Divide that number by your total hours per year. That's your rate.

You can also adjust for profit/taxes, etc. or quantity of work (e.g. a maintenance contract vs. normal freelance hours).

Remember, time is time, regardless of what you are doing.

Joshua
A: 

IMO for maintenance I guess it depends a lot on your skills/experience and the responsibilities the client would trust you on. i.e. a wealthy client would probably prefer spending 10x money on something that would be done just perfectly as expected without even have to double check it was done whereas a little company would prefer saving money and spending more time supervising ...

If you want a precise answer you would need to say where you are located, rates are very different from place to place !

Theo.T
i mean i guess thats where im having problems. I've charged $10k and ive charged $1k for basically the same projects in the past...and so now ive lost all bearing on what is actually fair as hourly
johnnietheblack
good point...edited above
johnnietheblack
What do you basically think you're worth ? How indispensable are you ? just balance it up ... and of course think about what life-style you want to have (reasonably) : )
Theo.T
well i'd be happy with swimming pools of jello. haha. i think the question really comes down to...how much can i charge before the other party feels ripped. because i know how valuble (or not valuable depending on the project) what im down can be, but ehy usually have no clue.
johnnietheblack
Yeah sure, it's a bad point not having a clue though, specially against clients. You'd better let them know how much you're worth and WHY you're worth that. It's fair, isn't it ?
Theo.T
yeah totally, totally
johnnietheblack
+1  A: 

I think $25 / hr is a very low quote, although this also depends on your experience, what your actually doing, and where you live. I've been with companies that jump at finding a good person to outsource under $50.

What is fair, is the most ammount of money the client is willing to fork over without feeling like they've been ripped off. How do you find this number? Well I don't know. Something I've seen which works preety well is where a company buys a block of hours in bulk, then they can tap the resource at will until the hours are drained.

Edit

Keep in mind, if you have other work which you can make more money off of you need to drop them as a client or raise the rate. Don't raise an existing customers rate too much unless your willing to risk loosing them.

If you do drop them I'd recommend doing it as professionally as possible, you never know what the future will hold

JoshBerke
right...i mean 1.5 years of this stuff...its all i do...good to hear you agree with the voice in the back of my head
johnnietheblack