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Be Free, Lance: Pricing Part 3 So far in our pricing discussion, we’ve talked about estimating your income and hourly vs fixed fee pricing. Today, we’re going to put these topics to good use. You know, real-world-practical-stuff. One of the hardest things to do is put a price on creative work. Seriously. In the beginning, it feels like more of a guessing game than most would be comfortable with … but that’s life. You need to dip your toes in the water and go for it! Over time, I promise that you’ll become 100 times more comfortable with your services and what you charge. For instance, one of the first freelancing gigs I ever had was a logo + website combo … for only $300. At the time, I was so excited to take on new work and get my name out there! I quickly realized that spending that much time on a project for a low price just wasn’t worth it! You simply wouldn’t survive on that kind of rate unless you worked at the speed of light. Fast forward a couple years and my pricing for branding and websites starts at $1,000 bare minimum. It’s taken me a bit of time - but I’m finally at a comfortable place in the whole pricing game. So where do you start at, then? That’s the question. Tak your experience and work ethic into consideration when you’re putting together a pricing estimate for a potential client. Think about what you’d like to make and how long something will take you. Jessica Hische says it well … if you feel a little nervous about telling someone your price, you’re probably spot on. If not, you’re most likely underselling yourself! Start out with a flat fee that you’re comfortable working with and move up from there until it feels right. Go with your gut, it knows you well! The hard part about being a creative is that not everyone understands our time and worth. In fact, some people think we can whip things together in a day, which is far from the truth! Luckily, most potential clients understand the value of good design and are willing to pay for it. Because I’ve run into both types of people, I quickly learned that it was best to be legit. Yes, legit. If you present yourself in a professional manner, you’ll be treated that way! Use well designed pricing sheets, invoices, and informational sheets. Trust me, people will appreciate and respect that you went the extra mile to present your business. This is the last of my three part pricing series posts for Be Free, Lance - although I’m sure more will sneak in the future. Even though pricing can be overwhelming, I hope I was able to break it down just a little bit for you all. Written by Breanna Rose.

Be Free, Lance: Pricing Part 3

So far in our pricing discussion, we’ve talked about estimating your income and hourly vs fixed fee pricing. Today, we’re going to put these topics to good use. You know, real-world-practical-stuff.

One of the hardest things to do is put a price on creative work. Seriously. In the beginning, it feels like more of a guessing game than most would be comfortable with … but that’s life. You need to dip your toes in the water and go for it! Over time, I promise that you’ll become 100 times more comfortable with your services and what you charge. For instance, one of the first freelancing gigs I ever had was a logo + website combo … for only $300. At the time, I was so excited to take on new work and get my name out there! I quickly realized that spending that much time on a project for a low price just wasn’t worth it! You simply wouldn’t survive on that kind of rate unless you worked at the speed of light. Fast forward a couple years and my pricing for branding and websites starts at $1,000 bare minimum. It’s taken me a bit of time - but I’m finally at a comfortable place in the whole pricing game.

So where do you start at, then? That’s the question. Tak your experience and work ethic into consideration when you’re putting together a pricing estimate for a potential client. Think about what you’d like to make and how long something will take you. Jessica Hische says it well … if you feel a little nervous about telling someone your price, you’re probably spot on. If not, you’re most likely underselling yourself! Start out with a flat fee that you’re comfortable working with and move up from there until it feels right. Go with your gut, it knows you well!

The hard part about being a creative is that not everyone understands our time and worth. In fact, some people think we can whip things together in a day, which is far from the truth! Luckily, most potential clients understand the value of good design and are willing to pay for it. Because I’ve run into both types of people, I quickly learned that it was best to be legit. Yes, legit. If you present yourself in a professional manner, you’ll be treated that way! Use well designed pricing sheets, invoices, and informational sheets. Trust me, people will appreciate and respect that you went the extra mile to present your business.

This is the last of my three part pricing series posts for Be Free, Lance - although I’m sure more will sneak in the future. Even though pricing can be overwhelming, I hope I was able to break it down just a little bit for you all.

Written by Breanna Rose.

“Hipster Coffee Shop” Playlist by Jessica Hische

We’re in serious like love with Jessica’s “Hipster Coffee Shop” playlist that features our dreamy favs from Mazzy Star, XTC, and Roxy Music, among others. 

Highly recommended to enhance your workday, whether you’re planted in your favorite café or studio. Tune in with an Rdio account here.

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Studio Tour with Ksenya Samarskaya

A brief, yet stunning tour of Brooklyn based designer Ksenya Samarskaya’s loft.

Set in a former factory in an industrial section of town, Ksenya has beautiful floor to ceiling windows and a gorgeous collection of books, artifacts, gigantic plants, and dusty furniture that adorn her home. 

Have a look at her equally thoughtful and interesting work here.

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Studio Tour: Jennifer Young of I ART U

Wow, a studio tour with one of our favorite bloggers and photographers, Jennifer Young! Jennifer runs a blog that needs no introduction, I ART U. Read on to learn tips of the trade from Jennifer along with secrets from her studio.

Meg: Is your current studio space ideal? If not, what would you like to do to make it perfect?

Jennifer: My current studio space isn’t ideal, but it works for now. My husband and are renting a tiny one bedroom house, and since there wasn’t an extra room, we converted the small dining room into a creative working space. Ideally, I’d love to have my studio be in a separate room—it’s so easy to get distracted with the way things are set up right now! I can’t complain though…I’m lucky to have a space to work and be creative/inspired in!

Meg: How does your client photography work differ from the photography you feature on your blog?

Jennifer: My style when comparing the two is similar across the board. The main difference with my client photography work is that it showcases people—real emotions, beautiful and raw moments, connection, etc. A lot of the work on I ART U is just capturing what I see and the beauty of the daily. 

Meg: My favorite thing about your photographs are how incredibly intimate they feel. Can you give our readers some tips on how to take intimate photographs?

Jennifer: Thank you so much! My favorite way to create more intimate images is by shooting what is in front of me—pulling out the camera on a whim when something catches my eye. I like when things are not overly styled or posed. This, in my opinion, helps create that intimacy and also captures the rawness of current happenings. 

Meg: You seem pretty involved in Pinterest and have an amazingly extensive collection of Pinboards. Has Pinterest helped you to get more readers or even more personal clients?

Jennifer: Pinterest is so great! I use it mainly as a personal tool to catalogue inspirations. I don’t post a lot of my own work so I’m not too sure that it has helped direct more readers/clients my way. 

Meg: Most of our Studio Tours aren’t photographed by professionals, they’re usually photographed by designers and illustrators with a keen visual eye. Do you have any tips for great interior photography for our future studio tourees?

Jennifer: I’m still learning a lot in this area! Shooting interiors is fairly new to me. I’d say use as much natural light as possible. Also, capturing wide shots as well as vignettes help show off the character of a space!

Be Free, Lance: Pricing Part 2 A couple weeks back, I decided to kick off my pricing discussion by taking a look at the bigger picture and how to fairly set standards/goals for yourself when it comes to getting paid. But now, we’ve gotta dive in a little deeper. As a freelance creative, there are two well known ways of getting paid : by the hour or fixed fees. Like most things, both of these methods have pros and cons … which I’m here to tell you about. There’s a solid winner in my head, but we’ll get to that later. Let’s get the facts straight, first. No matter which payment option you prefer, both ways require you to assess any project that comes your way and estimate how long you think it’ll take. Now that, my friends, is a loaded thing to do. I vividly remember estimating the hours of my first project as a freelance designer. I sat there with a blank sheet of paper, trying to write down how long I thought each part of the design process would take. I came up with a number, but was it right?? Nope. The point is, when you’re first starting out - it’s difficult to know your own process and how long each project will take. That takes time and you’ll get it down, just have patience. In this situation, many young creatives will feel more comfortable offering their services at an hourly rate. This way, they don’t have to give a final price right away and can begin working instead. What many people forget is that money is money and nobody likes spending more than they thought they would. You may have given a rough estimate as to how long a project would take, but hours add up quickly. If you have a client who wants revision after revision, your time is only going to continue to grow. But do you think a client is willing to pay for all of that overtime? No way … even if the revisions and extra time were unforeseeable. Now don’t get me wrong, some people will understand and pay you appropriately, but that’s rare. Nine times out of ten, you’ll have an unhappy client on your hands, and nobody wants that. A good way to steer clear from all of this money tension is to simply use fixed fees. When you are able to tell a client up front that their project wil cost X amount of dollars and include X amount of revisions, they know very well what is about to happen and how much they’re going to invest for it. If it’s a price that both you and you’re client are happy and settled with, it’s a win-win situation. Of course there is a lot that goes into determining a project’s price, but I’ll cover that next time, as it’s another topic in its own right! Like I said earlier, there’s a front runner when it comes to the debate in fixed fees vs pricing hourly. I know people can and will argue each way, but for me, setting up a flat rate for a client always wins. Not only does it decide the cost from the get go and avoid money tension during a project, but it also works wonders for efficient creatives. Let’s face it, some creatives work quicker than others. Let’s say two designers with similar experience and talent work on the same project at $50 per hour. If person A completes a project in 10 hours and person B finishes in 20, you can see how billing at an hourly rate would punish the quicker of the two. Person A would make $500, while person B would make $1,000 … double. That can become a big difference, especially when these two people were assumed to be on the same talent scale. With all of this said, take some time to think about your own process and decide which would work better for you and has the most pros rather than cons. Never punish yourself by making less than you deserve. I’ll be back in a few weeks to discuss how to determine your prices! Until then, feel free to comment with any questions you have or email me at imbreannarose@gmail.com. I’m always happy to talk to others about what I’ve written about over here. Written by Breanna Rose.

Be Free, Lance: Pricing Part 2

A couple weeks back, I decided to kick off my pricing discussion by taking a look at the bigger picture and how to fairly set standards/goals for yourself when it comes to getting paid. But now, we’ve gotta dive in a little deeper. As a freelance creative, there are two well known ways of getting paid : by the hour or fixed fees. Like most things, both of these methods have pros and cons … which I’m here to tell you about. There’s a solid winner in my head, but we’ll get to that later. Let’s get the facts straight, first.

No matter which payment option you prefer, both ways require you to assess any project that comes your way and estimate how long you think it’ll take. Now that, my friends, is a loaded thing to do. I vividly remember estimating the hours of my first project as a freelance designer. I sat there with a blank sheet of paper, trying to write down how long I thought each part of the design process would take. I came up with a number, but was it right?? Nope. The point is, when you’re first starting out - it’s difficult to know your own process and how long each project will take. That takes time and you’ll get it down, just have patience.

In this situation, many young creatives will feel more comfortable offering their services at an hourly rate. This way, they don’t have to give a final price right away and can begin working instead. What many people forget is that money is money and nobody likes spending more than they thought they would. You may have given a rough estimate as to how long a project would take, but hours add up quickly. If you have a client who wants revision after revision, your time is only going to continue to grow. But do you think a client is willing to pay for all of that overtime? No way … even if the revisions and extra time were unforeseeable. Now don’t get me wrong, some people will understand and pay you appropriately, but that’s rare. Nine times out of ten, you’ll have an unhappy client on your hands, and nobody wants that.

A good way to steer clear from all of this money tension is to simply use fixed fees. When you are able to tell a client up front that their project wil cost X amount of dollars and include X amount of revisions, they know very well what is about to happen and how much they’re going to invest for it. If it’s a price that both you and you’re client are happy and settled with, it’s a win-win situation. Of course there is a lot that goes into determining a project’s price, but I’ll cover that next time, as it’s another topic in its own right!

Like I said earlier, there’s a front runner when it comes to the debate in fixed fees vs pricing hourly. I know people can and will argue each way, but for me, setting up a flat rate for a client always wins. Not only does it decide the cost from the get go and avoid money tension during a project, but it also works wonders for efficient creatives. Let’s face it, some creatives work quicker than others. Let’s say two designers with similar experience and talent work on the same project at $50 per hour. If person A completes a project in 10 hours and person B finishes in 20, you can see how billing at an hourly rate would punish the quicker of the two. Person A would make $500, while person B would make $1,000 … double. That can become a big difference, especially when these two people were assumed to be on the same talent scale.

With all of this said, take some time to think about your own process and decide which would work better for you and has the most pros rather than cons. Never punish yourself by making less than you deserve. I’ll be back in a few weeks to discuss how to determine your prices! Until then, feel free to comment with any questions you have or email me at imbreannarose@gmail.com. I’m always happy to talk to others about what I’ve written about over here.

Written by Breanna Rose.

MARGOT’S BI-WEEKLY DESIGN DISPATCH, NO.5 + Ina Luxe kicks things off on a cheery note with her gorgeous patterns & textile designs. Wouldn’t this make for a fun rug?! + Reasons for Optimism: is exactly that. An archive of humans doing totally amazing things. Artsy things, science things, all sorts of mind-opening ideas. Take a peek! + Dan Cassaro unveils his newest typeface: Highway. Capturing a mid-century hand-lettered vibe, it’s perfect for logos and signage. $39 bones! Not too shabby. + Tickets for Cleveland’s WMC fest 2012 went on sale this week! Probably the world’s most approachable & budget-friendly design conference & music festival, it’s a grass-roots alternative to huge gatherings like SxSW. And bonus, Tuesday & I are both speaking! I can’t speak for Tues, but this is HUGE for me. Roll call time, who else is going? Kicking off Friday right this week! Head’s up hustlers, the weekend is nigh. Woohoo!

MARGOT’S BI-WEEKLY DESIGN DISPATCH, NO.5

+ Ina Luxe kicks things off on a cheery note with her gorgeous patterns & textile designs. Wouldn’t this make for a fun rug?!

+ Reasons for Optimism: is exactly that. An archive of humans doing totally amazing things. Artsy things, science things, all sorts of mind-opening ideas. Take a peek!

+ Dan Cassaro unveils his newest typeface: Highway. Capturing a mid-century hand-lettered vibe, it’s perfect for logos and signage. $39 bones! Not too shabby.

+ Tickets for Cleveland’s WMC fest 2012 went on sale this week! Probably the world’s most approachable & budget-friendly design conference & music festival, it’s a grass-roots alternative to huge gatherings like SxSW. And bonus, Tuesday & I are both speaking! I can’t speak for Tues, but this is HUGE for me. Roll call time, who else is going? Kicking off Friday right this week! Head’s up hustlers, the weekend is nigh. Woohoo!