The Business of Art: Get what you're worth for the work that you do

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Creative Convention > The Business of Art: Get what you're worth for the work that you do

SleeplessInEngland: May 30, 2011

I know this is a 'how long is a piece of string' question but it's regarding payment! I'm in the UK & I just got an ongoing freelance contract type thing with a company I used to work in house for. I just gave them a quote for my first 'official' freelance piece for them since I left the company & I think I might have seriously lowballed myself :ohdear:

The job is for 2 labels for a new range of easter chocolates & it's pretty illustration heavy. I've charged them �100 for the whole job & up to 5 sets of amendments which roughly works out to about �6.50 an hour just to draw up the pieces & doesn't allow any leeway for the amendments. If they go over their allotted number of amendments I've said that I'll charge �15 per set of amends.

Have I completely screwed myself over? How do you accurately work out how much to charge someone? I have never done a quote before this.

# ¿ Aug 1, 2012 12:04

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# ¿ May 5, 2024 12:57

SleeplessInEngland: May 30, 2011

Thanks for that! It's helpful hearing how other people work out how much to charge because I haven't a clue! I've read this thread top to bottom to get an idea of how to do things freelance & not get shafted but it still feels like a bloody minefield when I'm working out quotes. It's comforting to know that even experienced people did work too cheaply when they first started out, though!

Just another question but is it lovely to wait until you've got a response on whether they'll pay how much you're asking before you start doing work? I sent the client an email on Tuesday, letting them know it'd take roughly a week to do their labels & how much I wanted as payment as well as my stipulations. Problem is, it's now late Thursday, they still haven't got back to me to agree the price & I'm running out of time to get the work finished. I've sent them a 2nd email, telling them I can't work on their pieces until they agree to my price & stipulations (Which I think is reasonable) but I'm not sure if I was a little hasty.

# ¿ Aug 2, 2012 19:54

SleeplessInEngland: May 30, 2011

RGBRIOT posted:

As long as you weren't unprofessional in your correspondence most clients will understand that your time is finite and needs to be planned ahead. The ones who don't are probably going to be difficult to work with.

A couple of things for your consideration:

- Don't ever start work on something before agreement of terms has been set, preferably in some sort of contract. There are sites that can help you draft and sign digital contracts to avoid the turn around time of mailing and receiving physical copies. The only time in my opinion where work before agreement of terms might be acceptable is if you can use that work else where should things fall through. Your portfolio, generic design you can shop around to other similar business's, etc.

- Don't deviate from the agreement terms. If your client wants you to do so, insist on rewriting the agreement/contract. Agreements/Contracts are for both parties protection. If a client takes issue with this, they're probably not some one with whom you want to work.

- Never work for (just) royalties/shares. NEVER. While on the surface it might seem like a good idea the reality is that 99/100 times you're working for free and will never see a single cent. It's an amateur offer for people to extend to designers and underscores their inexperience or outright desire to swindle.

- To go along with monetary quotes, keep in mind our business is all about time management. Be sure to quote time frames that are longer than you expect the project to take. Think it's something you can do in a few days? Say a week. That way when your client takes days to get back to you, or you realize you have to do a major refinement, or you eat bad clams and end up with a ridiculous case of 'whooping shits' you don't fall behind schedule. Your client will be pleasantly surprised if you get your work done sooner too.

- To go along with the previous point, don't over book yourself. There's not much worse than having to miss sleep, showering, personal time, etc because of work. But when it's your own fault for promising too much to too many people, things have a way of being even more aggravating.

These were really great points, thanks! Especially the part about digital contracts, which I've never heard of before & will be really useful for a job I've got coming up (Hopefully).

The part about working for royalties is something I've seen being brought up a lot in advice threads but I've never even heard of it! I'm not sure whether I just haven't been around long enough to be offered such a fantastic opportunity (Or not) or maybe it's just a cultural thing that happens more in other countries than the UK.

Planning extra time when estimating a deadline is another thing I've screwed up on. I originally estimated a week for the initial designs (Would take me 2 days if I was working in an office) but then the lady I'm working for didn't get back to me about agreeing to my quote & is now on holiday until tomorrow, which is when the first draft was meant to be with her. Another learning curve, I guess :blush:

qirex posted:

The hardest thing for someone working freelance to do is turn down work but sometimes it might be worth it in the long run, just try to leave it in a "no, but I've got time in three weeks" or "no, but I'd love to work with you on your next project," context.

Thanks for the advice, I hadn't actually considered this at all. I know this company wants me to do more work for them but I'm not sure how much I can take on while going to uni so I'll keep this in mind when I'm taking on projects.

# ¿ Aug 5, 2012 20:59

SleeplessInEngland: May 30, 2011

pipes! posted:

I can't stress this enough, I love including it in my contracts:

It's not your fault she took a vacation.

I'll keep that in mind for future reference! I ended up turning the job down anyway in the end. The lady 'queried' my quote when she got back from holiday and tried to get me to work for �3 an hour. I was already working at minimum wage so I told her she was being unreasonable and I haven't heard from her since :blush:

# ¿ Sep 18, 2012 23:04

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