Freelancing Fees: How Much Should You Charge for Your Freelance Projects?

One of the most challenging aspects of being a freelancer is determining how to set your prices.

1. Your Expenses If your fee does not cover your business and living expenses then your going to have a tough time. The best way to determine how much you need to break even is to determine how much income you need and then decide how many hours you need to create that income. Don't forget to consider hidden costs such as taxes, unpaid invoices and licensing and other fees. Keep in mind that you can't you need to consider hours you won't be working such as sick days and days when there is no client available. You may find this calculator useful.

2. Your Profit The freedom and flexibility freelancing gives you is awesome but you also want to earn a profit right? Determine you fees based on what you need to break even plus what you need to make a bit of profit.

3. The Market What the market will bear is a strong factor in determining whether to price high or low. 4. Industry Standards It's hard to know what others are charging, but try asking around. Find out what larger businesses charge as well as other freelancers. The more you know about what others are charging and what services they provide for the money, the better you'll know how you fit in to the market.

5. Your Skill Level/Experience Your skill level and experience will be be a strong factor in determining your cost. If your brand new to the service your offering and /or brand new to freelancing you may need to charge considerably less than an highly skilled individual who has been offering outsourcing services for a long time.
Take your time thinking carefully about what your fees will be. You may find yourself needing to make adjustments as you gain more experience.