I have an opportunity to work with a small business on a freelance project while working full time. I’ve never formally set an hourly rate for myself. Any tips or words of wisdom? I’m terrified.

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1. Get a firm understanding of scope of work and deliverables

2. Project how long it will take you (hours) and/or the cost(s) of what it will take to meet objectives (e.g. a DP, a designer, stock footage, etc.)

3. Add additional time to your hours if you are bringing in and directing/managing other resources

4. Meanwhile, if you can, get a feel for what they’ve allocated for the project

5. Create an estimate based on your projections and type it up as an SOW

6. Even if they just want you to bill by the hour, have the estimate discussion with them. Most small biz want to have a sense of cost and don’t like surprises. The worst is handing in an invoice and having their eyes widen. An hourly rate can add up fast.

7. Price yourself accordingly. If this is a side gig, you are going to be in it late nights and weekends, which is an inconvenience for them, not you.

8. Get their agreement to move forward at your rate and/or at the projected cost IN WRITING

The above list is based upon 10+ years of mistakes made while I freelanced (including during the recession, when incidents of selective memory loss, scope creep, and ghosting were all too prevalent).

You got this. Good luck.

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Life isn’t about renting every second of your life out. So figure out how much your free time is worth, and set it at that. But a good starting point is $100k / year = $100 / hr. Sound not worth it to you? Up the price.

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Make sure it's something you actually want to work on and are interested in helping them with. You don't want to sign up for it and fizzle out in a few days when you realize you're too tired from your day job at the agency and don't really feel like doing this. Because you're already employed full-time, hunger/money will likely not be your primary motivation or not enough motivation (presumably). Everything Skip said - it's really not different than how we do it for agency clients, all steps apply, just on a smaller scale.

likeuplifting

Ask for more than you think you should.

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If you can, instead of money ask for shares, even if it’s a small amount. You will end up doing a better job and they will call you in the future. If it’s a small business they might consider it.

Only you know what your time is worth. I make 62k per year and charge 90/hr for side work.

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