When I started going full-service freelance I did what a previous poster advised…”Call around to various production houses in your area and run a project by them for a quote. That will tell you where your rates fall.”
Its very important that you determine what your base costs of operations are. You need to charge a rate that incorporates costs, overhead and profit. If you don’t know those numbers you need to find out. There’s a good book out there about it, but basically you add up your rents, insurances, machine costs, salaries, etc. and divide by estimated billable hours worked in a week. This gives you your base cost to pay bills. Anything above that is profit.
Tip…as full-time freelancer or small studio, doing the math, you’ll have to charge at least $75 an hour…. and that’s for a one person designer working from home!
Freelancer Designer Virginia
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