Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 8:56 pm Post subject: Got my first commercial freelance job today
The customer has a website offering discounts for various restaurants, spa packages, etc.
The original bid was to create small 600x300 banners that contain several images and a logo...all of the images are provided by the customer, he just wanted them sized proportionally and situated within the banner so as to maximize their efficiency, from a marketability standpoint. This would be rather easy work and fairly quick as well, but if selected for the job, the work would keep coming on a regular basis. We both agreed on a price per edit and then he gave me my first job.
So, the first job is not even close to what we discussed. He gave me a small (400x400) image that contained a logo and two other blocks of text and he asked me to recreate it on a 34x80 inch canvas with at least 300dpi resolution. Yes...the dimensions he wanted were in INCHES. I had to completely recreate everything by scratch including determining which fonts were used, colors, everything. After seeing his website, I think I recreated things very closely. The customer was impressed and offered me the full job, but now I have questions.
Firstly, I'm glad to have the job and I don't really need the money as I have a full time job already, however I did spend several hours by the time we agreed on a final product. I'm questioning whether or not I should mention the fact that this job is completely different than what we discussed...he would have to be a moron to not know that though. My fear is that he will continue to send me jobs like this and expect to pay me the small amount we negotiated for work that was supposed to only take a few minutes to complete.
I guess I'll give him a little time to bring up payment before I say anything. p.s. I have not given him the final product yet, only downsized drafts. _________________ http://www.jmerrittphotorestoration.com/
These types of pains-in-the-butts will always happen. It looks like what happened here is just mis-communication. He gave you an overview of his job, you gave him a price, then he came back with a bigger job but wants the same price.
It might be a little late to charge him extra now, so it's up to you to proceed to give him the final product and just take the agreed payment. It sucks, but it seems to be the only right thing to do. He was wrong to switch up the parameters on you, but you should have said to him right from the start that this was a completely different job than first discussed and that you would require a higher fee. But that's water under the bridge now.
Don't sweat it- there's gonna be lots more jobs from you in the future, maybe from him and from other people/companies, too. This is excellent experience for you. Bite the bullet, give him his work, take his money, and if he wants anything more then make sure you negotiate the fees before you start anything. After negotiation, if he comes at you again with something different then straight up tell him that you're only doing the discussed job and not something entirely different like the first time.
If he likes what you did then he's definitely going to be coming back and you're definitely going to be charging a lot more, too.
Joined: 05 Mar 2003
Posts: 3987
Location: Cheltenham, UK
Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 7:00 am Post subject:
Indeed, welcome to the world of freelancing! Contracts are not for huge business and corporate types, they should also be your best friend. I won't undertake work without a contract of works being signed and agreed on by both parties. It should set out all terms of work, penalties for both parties and the like. A contract protects you and your client. Scope creep is one of the biggest dangers for a freelancer, it sucks up more hours for free than anything else. _________________ If life serves you lemons, make lemonade!
Hermit is right - just write up a simple contract and list the agreed upon terms in numerical order. Doesn't have to be complicated. But your logo on it, your contact info, then list the sepcifications of the job.
Go look for a receipt or invoice that you got from a car repair shop.. make it look something like that. You know, it says "Brake repair - remove and replace front brakes...$250"
Do it like that. There's no "norm" for what it should look like; just make it up yourself. Then send him a copy through email, let him sign it, then send it back to you. Then start the work for him.
I did a couple of large jobs a few years back for a big company without any contract; I got lucky in the sense that they paid me fairly and on time. Looking back, I should have put everything in writing but sometimes it's intimidating when working with larger firms. Lesson learned.
Thanks for the advice, guys. As it turns out, I did mention, in a roundabout way, that the big job took me longer than normal because it was not the type of work that we discussed previously. He replied quickly and said he understood, and would pay me fairly for the work. He ended up sending a payment to my account without asking me for a price but he exceeded the price I would have asked anyway. I got real lucky there.
He was looking to create a relationship with an artist to do regular edits for his commercial website and said he has decided to use my services for future work. I guess his first out of the ordinary job was a test. Whatever...he handled himself well in the end and has already sent me the next job, which is exactly the type of work we had discussed in the first place. That has already been completed and I'm waiting for the next one. My wife will be happy that the time spent on the computer finally nets something in the bank, instead of the other way around.
Do any of you have any sort of contract or pricing information drawn up that can be shared? I'm merely looking for examples or a starting point. I suppose this is something I should have researched before I started offering the work, but I'm used to doing it as a hobby, not for hire. I kind of went into the idea blindly, I'll admit.
The hardest part I have with pricing retouch work is determining what quality is. I see some of you folks perform what I would consider high quality work. I strive to provide the best work I can, but sometimes I see myself bidding against people that call themselves professionals and the level of their work is considerably less refined than mine. On the other end of things, I get so tired of bidding for freelance work against companies that have 10-20 artists staffed and can promise super speedy turnaround...that's a company, not a freelance artist. They should be banned from bidding on freelance work, imo. Oh, the struggles, lol! _________________ http://www.jmerrittphotorestoration.com/
the problem with the arts industry is that there is simply no "hourly rate".
You can call around to local automotive mechanics and they all charge nearly the same rate. Same for plumbers, electricians, etc. They all have an hourly rate which is all in the same ballpark range.
We have nothing like that, unfortunately. Although if you were to say your hourly rate is close to what an electrician would charge, then you might be able to land any kind of job someone asks you for.
Then, in your head, you calculate how long this is going to take you. If it's 2 hours, then charge for 2 hours and try your best to get it done in that time frame.
The problem with this industry is if the client doesn't like the price, he/she is going to look around to other artists and they are absolutely going to find someone to do it for 20 bucks. This is the problem with what we do-- there is no general hourly rate and as a result there are artists who won't go less than 500 bucks for any job but there are also other artists willing to do work for 20 bones.
The fact that all work can be done over the internet means anyone can look for someone overseas and get it done for a few dollars.
So there you go.
Set your rate, and stick to it. Don't worry about losing a client if they don't want to pay. Let them go. Wait for the next one that *will* pay. Then do the work for them.
As for what your rate is, I would set it close to any other tradesperson- like a mechanic, plumber, electrician, etc. What we do is also a trade so the price should reflect that.
Joined: 05 Mar 2003
Posts: 3987
Location: Cheltenham, UK
Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 5:48 am Post subject:
Setting a rate is easier than you may think. It does involve the calculation of a number of factors however. The big question to start with is How much do I want to earn in a year? from this starting figure you can backwards calculate an hourly rate. Factoring such things as food & fuel, materials you have to replenish like printer cartridges, promotional costs, and of course your time.
There is no correct weighting on an hourly rate, I could charge £35 per hour and my competitor £20, does it mean they get the job? Not necessarily, most work comes via word of mouth or pre-existing contacts for me, so I charge what I charge and hope the work speaks for itself. I don't ask a mechanic to justify why he charges me £300 pounds to tell me that my car is just fine and only needed oil, equally I don't invoice for the 20 years experience and the financing that took (although you can bet I factor it in ) _________________ If life serves you lemons, make lemonade!
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