[Sigia-l] Freelance IA consulting: Discovering the cost of doing business

[Erin Malone]

I would have to respectfully disagree about this one. Undercharging just
perpetuates the notion to clients that this type of work is not worth the
same amount of money as other professionals  and their work. It also
undermines rates that are fair and competitive by others in the field.

There is a going rate that some things cost - give or take a bit. It is
important to find out what that fee is and stick to it. You may start out on
the lower end of the range, but the range ensures that the entire profession
as a whole doesn't go down the drain because clients think they can get it
for free - or that it must not be very valuable because people are giving it
away.

In my own work, (in house for most of the time) but working freelance for
some projects, the only people I give a break to are non-profits. These
people generally don't have a lot of money and any they do have should go
back into the service they offer - so I charge a reduced rate - but I still
charge.

erin

On 6/7/02 2:08 PM, "Anders Ramsay" <anders at nyc.rr.com> wrote:

> On 6/7/02 4:52 PM, Victor Lombardi at victorlombardi at yahoo.com wrote:
> 
>> Another advantage of undercharging is to develop repeat business
>> ("developing a relationship" in the lingo). Perhaps the undercharged
>> project is simple, and when the client sees the quality of your work they
>> offer you more complex work that is worth a higher rate. If not, then
>> perhaps it was a bad investment. But to be so conservative to never take on
>> some risk means you might never achieve better returns in the long run. You
>> can look at it all as investment strategy, where you're investing your time
>> and effort for some return. A more strategic approach might be better in
>> the long term.
>> 
> 
> I would agree.  The best long-term strategy if your portfolio is thin is to
> take on any and all work that will enhance it, and to do it for any price
> (though of course you would not want to let on to that while negotiating a
> fee.)  You're essentially investing in your future.  And if you do good
> work, that gives you more leverage to ask for more money for your next
> project with that client. Or if it's with a different client, all they need
> to see is your work, not what you charged for it.
> 
> -Anders