How much to charge for professional photo editing? - Part 1

One of the frequently asked questions at Sadesign is “how much should I charge for editing?” On the tutorials, articles or tips on how to improve editing results are widely available, but the issue of price is often not disclosed. Much of it is meant to help beginners improve their knowledge of both color theory, and there's also a part to discuss personal income – as this is A personal thing so there are very few experts discussing the matter. Of course, this won't help anyone build the entrepreneurial side of their early career. Therefore, I will also shed light on a payment method in the hope that it will provide a starting point for any of our readers trying to place a bet on the market. quintessence If you're making the leap from a regular income stream to that of a fully self-sufficient retoucher, you need to figure out the value of your skills as an asset and whether That skill is ready to generate income or not, enough to maintain a happy life. After all, that's what we as freelancers must certainly strive for, freedom from being tied to a single workplace, a balance that allows our lives to be fulfilled. We are more flexible. Your career has an optimal position in the market, like a habitable zone around a star, where several elements work together to create life on a planet. When your marketing gives proof of your high skill to enough customers who need that skill and your annual revenue allows you to lead a comfortable life with work/life balance right for you, you are in the right place as a freelancer. To get there, in addition to skill development and the marketing aspect, means having a good pricing model. With the wide availability of the Internet, the market has become saturated in low-skilled and this has brought prices down there - if you want to be a valuable expert in the commercial market , never be tempted to match those prices. I have interestingly talked to people that when they asked me if 10 USD is a lot for charging? I explained that for this job you need at least $200. There are a lot of high paying freelance jobs available, and companies they don't want to try with 20 different $10 repairers, they want a professional. and do professional work. Of course, when you impress those companies with your skills and qualifications, they will definitely keep your phone in touch. There is a daily disagreement among experts about how to bill a project whether it should be hourly or fixed. Both of these have their positives and negatives, so you need to be flexible. In this article we just mentioned and looked at some of the benefits and disadvantages of hourly billing. justification

Hourly payment

On the positive

Knowing your hourly rate is a must for onsite work and a good way to charge for remote work. For onsite work, you will demonstrate your value to the company while working at the agency itself and earn hourly as you work. Since your hourly rate is understood to include not only the associated costs of self-employment, but also your downtime, freelancers are often paid an hourly rate higher than the rate of a freelancer. contracted staff. Agencies understand this, and at certain times of the year when an outside service provider is needed, contractor fees are included in the budget. In the case of teleworking, when presented with a summary and example of your options, you can explain to the inquirer that you base your rates on a flat hourly rate and you can confidently set a fee based on that calculation. This allows for agreed-upon hours for any edits not listed in the initial discussion of the summary. Depending on your skill level and the demand for your services, anywhere from $50 to $150 USD per hour is a perfectly reasonable request, from fairly low to quite high; That part is completely up to you. Fees can fall outside this bracket (I've certainly seen lower and have the opportunity to charge more), depending largely on your location and needs, but consider whether you'd like to work. how much to earn the life you want. While it's possible to generate as much revenue as someone who bills the right hours, a freelancer bills a few thousand dollars here and there enjoying work balance. /life is much better and arguably more creatively satisfying.

About the negativity

In fact, customers honestly don't care how many hours you can invest in the job, they care about factoring your costs into their budget and making a value judgment. If you bill by the hour, be sure to familiarize yourself with your abilities and your work pace with confidence. An open-ended estimate can be a leap of faith for a customer - it's a difficult scenario to imagine a service provider, especially one that you can rely on. unfamiliar, clocking and invoicing without any supervision. For this reason, it's important to make sure your client has a good idea of ​​the numbers you're likely to bill. If you confuse the scope of a project and the hours involved, be prepared to swallow those hours. If you looked at the options, read the summary and made a quote based on your hourly rate, then realized that the project was over, the error was in your own estimation and not at all. must be by the customer. It happens, and there's no easy way to gauge an expected investment of time, but experience will get you there. A customer who's been told an invoice is due during an unexpected time may feel their product is being held for ransom, so try to run out of budget even if your hours are running out. . In the event that additional and extensive edits aren't covered in the brief, or if a client's revisions start to exceed the budget significantly, you can always discuss the timing further. In short, how do you need to know your abilities and qualifications, and what are the requirements of others? Please consider and be flexible in making payment invoices so that both parties have the most consistency and reasonableness. In part 2 of “How much to charge for retouching? Project Invoicing”, we take a look at the pros and cons of the flat project fee pricing model and how it can be a good remedy for some of the problems we face. paid by the hour. We will also look at opportunities in your career to increase your rate.