When you’re getting started as a freelancer, it can be difficult to know how much to charge. We suggest charging between £10 and £50 per hour. Here’s some tips on selecting a figure.
There are various factors that impact on your rates
-Your experience. Have you worked in the area for years, or only just getting started?
-The job. Developers tend to be able to charge more than content writers.
-Your portfolio. Just 3 portfolio items, or 10+ items?
-Your confidence. If customers have already paid you £30/hr, you know you’re worth that much. It can be worth starting at a higher rate, and coming down if necessary.
-Your schedule. If you’re busy with loads of projects, you can afford to choose to work on jobs with higher rates.
Our advice
When you’re getting started, your goal should be to build a big portfolio as quickly as possible, so doing work for cheaper rates (around £10/hr) makes sense. Then you can start to increase your rate slowly. As your experience grows, you can justify a higher rate.
Things to remember
-Our platform takes a 20% fee, so bear that in mind when you set your rates. If you want to earn £20/hr, charge £24/hr
-Try discussing your experience and previous projects with customers. Often this helps them understand the value of your service.
-I recommend writing every proposal on the basis of the time you spend, even if you are offering a full-job price. So if new requirements are added to the job, you can explain to the customer that this will take more time, which means charging more.