Re:Ask HN: Standard freelance web development rates
by moron4hire on Thursday March 05, 2015 @11:33AM
(#9151774)
>> Rates also have to do with where you are, who you know, reputation, and what other offers you have on the table.
Rates have nothing to do with where you are. I don't live anywhere near any of my clients. They get charged the same rate, regardless.
I also don't change my rate for different types of work. I'm not a different person doing the work. I don't care if $100/hr is ludicrous to make a WordPress theme. If <theoretical client> wants me to make that WordPress theme, it'll be $100/hr. If <theoretical client> doesn't like that, they shouldn't ask me to make WordPress themes for them. That simple.
Moral of the story: you charge the rate that gets you out of bed in the morning. If the only rate that got me work was $5/hr, then I'd not be in this business. I like programming, so I will probably always do it for myself in some capacity, but I work as a programmer only in so much as it pays.
Who you know is correct, which is why going through eLance- or Odesk-like sites don't work. You make the big money in consulting by getting in some where and delighting the hell out of your client, to the point that they want to hire you as an employee but you stick to your guns and say "no, but I am jacking up my rates on you."
The three pillars of sales are: 1) get customers in the door, 2) get them to buy, 3) get them to come back again. You make the most money, in consulting, on the 3rd pillar. You can successfully ignore #1 and #2 for most of your career if you get lucky with a good client and continue to hit #3.
Rates have nothing to do with where you are. I don't live anywhere near any of my clients. They get charged the same rate, regardless.
I also don't change my rate for different types of work. I'm not a different person doing the work. I don't care if $100/hr is ludicrous to make a WordPress theme. If <theoretical client> wants me to make that WordPress theme, it'll be $100/hr. If <theoretical client> doesn't like that, they shouldn't ask me to make WordPress themes for them. That simple.
Moral of the story: you charge the rate that gets you out of bed in the morning. If the only rate that got me work was $5/hr, then I'd not be in this business. I like programming, so I will probably always do it for myself in some capacity, but I work as a programmer only in so much as it pays.
Who you know is correct, which is why going through eLance- or Odesk-like sites don't work. You make the big money in consulting by getting in some where and delighting the hell out of your client, to the point that they want to hire you as an employee but you stick to your guns and say "no, but I am jacking up my rates on you."
The three pillars of sales are: 1) get customers in the door, 2) get them to buy, 3) get them to come back again. You make the most money, in consulting, on the 3rd pillar. You can successfully ignore #1 and #2 for most of your career if you get lucky with a good client and continue to hit #3.