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

[David R. Austen]

Hello, Liz:

If you undercharge today, it will be very difficult to ever ask the
larger amount necessary to stay in business. They'd wonder how you
could possibly suddenly be worth 20 - 50% more. It's fine to raise
those fees eventually , very gradually --and you'll need to
regularly-- but far easier if you know the numbers you need to stay in
business and speak from the heart and mind.

By working far fewer days than you need at this early stage while you
try to build a portfolio for your and business, you'll suffer a double
whammy if you **also** charge low prices. Seasoned pros who are in
demand might be able to get away with it. Ironic, eh?

If you are a student on an internship you should start to charge
**real** money to that client when you graduate, reminding them that
as an intern you were "not allowed to" bill for professional services,
and remind them that you were living on student loans "even for
groceries" in those days.

There's a categorical difference, literally overnight, in your status
and your relationship with a client when you are no longer a student.
Smart and fair-minded clients understand it, but by dressing up
suddenly you can underline the difference. Luckily, for students there
is a built in "expiration date" on "free IA service" clients may be
used to.

Finally, bringing in no money at all is not an option.

And it's certainly not the next alternative. Do some other kind of
work and spend a couple of evenings a week working on those IA
projects for your portfolio.

It will be worth it to be able to say that you have never performed
usability testing for as little as $ a day. And that you know of no
other IA professional who would or could.


Best regards,


David                           


http://zillionbucks.com -- Web hosting for the creative industry



Friday, June 07, 2002, 4:09:29 PM, you wrote:
AL> And once you figure out that minimum amount, does it ever make sense to
AL> undercharge, say, when just getting started and trying to build a portfolio?
AL> Or when the other option is not to bring in any money at all?

AL> -- liz