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How much do I charge for this?
Figgy
Fighter of the night manChampion of the sunRegistered User regular
Fighter of the night manChampion of the sunRegistered User regular
I was asked to write a few articles for a new HR website. The woman asked me to forward her some info, mainly what I want to be paid.
How do I go about this? I can't exactly quote an hourly rate, since it would be sporadic hours working on each article throughout the day/week. Or can I?
I was thinking it should be as simple as charging per word, but then again this is for a website and the articles will be kept purposely short and concise. A 300 word article at the standard .10/word may seem like an easy $30, but when it involves driving around/calling various people and conducting interviews I'm losing money.
Any ideas about how I should approach this?
How do I go about this? I can't exactly quote an hourly rate, since it would be sporadic hours working on each article throughout the day/week. Or can I?
I was thinking it should be as simple as charging per word, but then again this is for a website and the articles will be kept purposely short and concise. A 300 word article at the standard .10/word may seem like an easy $30, but when it involves driving around/calling various people and conducting interviews I'm losing money.
Any ideas about how I should approach this?
Figgy on
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This sounds like a pre-existing website so you won't be hosting at least.
Hourly vs. Per Diem generally doesn't matter too much. I know that "Project X" will take Y hours to complete (roughly) and you can extrapolate the desired wage there.
I'd shoot back a few questions concerning "how much effort", "how many words", etc. etc., to get a good idea of what you're looking at. Use this to work backwards from your desired pay. Smaller works can work out better as per diem, sometimes, as they can be done "rapid-fire".
Don't get short-changed, work it all out. You'd be surprised how high many employers will be willing to pay for things like this.
EDIT: Is this English language work or code work? If the latter, ignore my post.
Driving around would be optional, I think. There is no reason why I couldn't call the people I need to speak with, unless it's going to be a lengthy interview. I have a tendency to think bigger than needed, so it may even be simpler than that.
All I was told is, if I was given a few topics for articles to be posted on the HR website, what would I want to be paid? It would involve writing a few hundred words per article on the given topic... say, "The benefits of career transition training."
On my end, this is beneficial in more than just the pay because it will build my portfolio and branch myself out to other areas for freelance. I mean, this is an HR firm (head hunters!) so those connections are always good. I'm just looking for a way to make it worth my while financially as well, but not necessarily making a mint.
I would need to give her a figure beforehand rather than say, "I would charge x/hr" and then send an invoice after I am finished, I imagine.
Work backwards. If it'll take you 2 hours to write each one, use that to base the "per article" payment. Most of this, frustratingly, depends on your local environment and economy, as well as the general "going rate" which weaves through it all.
And that's where I am completely ignorant. I don't want to say, "I will do it for $100/article" when people will do it for half price, cause I'll lose the opportunity.
Then again, she did say she has no one to take on this work at the moment.
Absolutly. Think of it from the hiring point for view. If you charge more per hour but take less time to do it, it'll be cheaper.
My gf just went through being hired as a contractor. Make an hourly rate (varies by region/skill level), an approximation of time for each task and then a total overall number. If it's in their budget, they'll hire you and if it's too much they could pass.
This makes me sweat every damn time.
What's your rate, now? (Don't feel obliged to share, but that's the only way we can help with picking a number range).
Whatever your rate is now, for whatever it is you do, take that and adjust then extrapolate. Don't under-value yourself.
SOOO agree. Where my gf was recently hired as a contracter, she was approached because they wanted a grad student. She supplied them with a quote of everything they wanted (~$5000) and they were looking to hire someone for $500. Made them realize what was actually involved with the process and they were severly underbudgeting. Your worth is KEY.
I have done per diem work in the past though and it ranged from everywhere from completely free to 10 cents a word to $50 an article, etc.
No, no... whatever you get for doing whatever it is you do. It's a decent way to get a very, very rough starting place.
I am thinking of shooting off an E-mail then that outlines what I expect the work to entail and a rate, along with a sample of writing that I believe is along the same lines of what is being requested of me.
I am thinking $60 per article. Does that seem fair? It would not take me more than an hour to actually write each article, but it would take a bit of leg work, reading, and phone calls to gather the required information.
- A) How much (within reason) would you need to survive per year? Include rent, bills, food.
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- Put B above A and do the math.
- Be shocked at how surprisingly valuable your time is. Don't sell yourself short.