205 replies to this topic

[Jill]

Yep, what OWG said.

That's really why I've always avoiding charging by the hour. That and because when I ever do set down to work, my actual billable hours don't add up to that much. I work pretty fast when I work.

Jill

[dragonlady7]

My boyfriend contributes that he always overestimates projects by at least a day. If someone says, "could you change the logo of one of our partners on the website? Here's the file" he says, "I'll have it done by tomorrow" even if he has nothing else to do and it's 9 a.m.
That way, people are always pleasantly surprised when you're done early.
I pointed out that he's in-house and thus under less pressure to meet a quote, but he figures it can never hurt-- try to overestimate in your quotes if you think they'll give you the job anyway, and then deliver ahead of schedule and under budget, and they'll love you forever.

So, those are codemonkey's words of wisdom.

[qwerty]

What OWG and Scottie said is precisely what I did. I'm sure it'll help me with the client in the future, but not the immediate future. They're out of SEO money for the time-being because they have to stock up for the holiday rush.

If they'd budgeted more for the project and done it six months ago, they'd probably have a much better holiday this year.

[mcanerin]

I usually give myself WAY more time than I think I need. The sad thing is that many times it's just barely enough...

I find also that people will balk at, for example paying $500 for something and having you come back 20 minutes later.

But if you disappear for a week and come back with the exact same results, they somehow think it's perfectly reasonable and even cheap.

Strange but true. I even do this for (actually especially for) customers who are "in a hurry".

Ian

[dragonlady7]

The great cartoonist Bill Mauldin, in his book Up Front, said, "Never let them know how fast you can work."

[SEOCub]

Great advice!
I am new here ... found this forums while searching for 'starting new freelance business' (#3 on Google!) - peeked around, liked it and decided to register. I am not much of a forum junkie so please feel free to tell me if I do a 'no-no'

[dragonlady7]

Hey, welcome! I'm glad this thread has been useful for someone but me!
I'll never be able to beat the thread with the articles I want to write based on what I've learned, though. Unless I can put the knowledge I've gained here to work in SEO'ing my page to beat this one...

[Jill]

Welcome, SEOcub! You shouldn't have to worry about a forum no-no, as long as you stick to our very easy to follow Guidelines.

Ian wrote:

But if you disappear for a week and come back with the exact same results, they somehow think it's perfectly reasonable and even cheap.

You've discovered my secret to success!

Jill

[SEOCub]

Thank you!
I am pretty sure that if I disappear for a week, I am totally gone...out of the picture, project, web site, whatever! I guess you guys can say that as you have been in the field for much longer and are very well established. Plus you have innumerable client successes to point to.

[qwerty]

So that's how it's done.

A little update on that client: she just paid the invoice and sent me a little extra, along with a question, so I think it's either a bonus or payment in advance for some more work. OK by me.

And Dragonlady -- you may not be able to beat this thread on that search query, but this thread is likely to end up linking to your article. That'll give you a healthy boost.

[dragonlady7]

>innumerable client successes to point to
Not me. Not yet. But, as I numerate them :laugh:, I'm hoping that eventually there will be so many I lose count.