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

[Ziya Oz]

"Christopher Fahey [askrom]" wrote:

> There's a simple answer to this question: Indicate two rates on all
> invoices: "Standard rate" and "Discounted rate". So if your "normal"
> rate is $60/hour and you're charging a certain client $40/hour, at least
> they and everyone they work with know that this is a special (and
> perhaps temporary) deal.

Chris, can you expound on the logic of this: If you are letting me dictate
your rate, why wouldn't I want the discounted rate the next time?

If you are saying:

> Leave the door open for when the economy picks up.

Then the 'standard' fare will go up too, won't it? You'd still have two
rates and I'd always want the lower rate, after all there's always some
excuse (legitimate or otherwise) about meager budgets.

In my experience, there are several rates in play:

Upper limit of what the client would ultimately be willing to pay
Lower limit of what you can live with
Comparable market rates
Your last rate, if applicable.

If you are in a position to negotiate for your rate, I'm not sure carrying
two rates would help. You'd be in a lose-lose situation of signaling your
willingness to work for less, as well as putting yourself in a position to
justify your 'higher' rate.

May be I'm missing your purpose here.

Best,

Ziya