How to Price your Work, Part 1
Posted by Jeremy Wortsman on 04th February 2010
It's a long running joke in our office that one day we are going to get the hammer and nails and build the 'Wheel of Quoting'. It's basically like wheel of fortune, and whenever we are asked to quote on a project, we invite the client over, they spin the wheel, and voila! That is how much they pay for the job, bankruptcy, skip a turn, self-potato included.
While it's true that sometimes costing your work can be a black art, luckily there are some phenomenal resources out that can help you establish your own pricing structure. And take it from me, if you can't explain how you price your work to your clients, you will always be in the weaker position for negotiation.
When establish Jacky Winter, there were two invaluable resources that I still use on occasion for pricing. The first is the Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing and Ethical Guidelines. The book which is in its 12th edition has pricing information based on real industry surveys and spans literally every facet of the graphic arts. From graphic design, and web design, to niche fields such as currency design and product licensing. While the prices are slightly inflated for the US market, and may not completely fly in Australia, you can at least get a feel for a variety of ranges. The Handbook also has a great selection of boilerplate contracts that you can use if you are just starting out to help ensure you have your paperwork in order.
As Australia tends to be a mix of American and European sensibilities, I find that it helps to have another resource to balance out the GAG Handbook, in which case (for illustration only) the AOI Pricing Surveys are essential to get both sides of the story (currently available for members only, but worth every penny, and not just for that)
These aren't the only books out there on pricing by far, but I find the best part about both of these resources is that they are backed by real industry bodies with our best interests at heart, and if you are using the guidelines properly, you have a solid foundation to speak plainly with your clients on how you determine your fees.
While the GAG and AOI only update their guides every year or so, there are online resources that can sometimes be more up to date, and I will discuss these next.
If you have any further suggestions of helpful books or literature that information your pricing strategies, please post them below in the comments!
1. By zannstpierre on 05th February 2010 @ 8.02 AM
The obvious tool which can be extremely helpful is the Freelance Switch Rate Calculator.
http://www.freelanceswitch.com/rates
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