How much should I charge my client?

[toosmrtformyowngood]

Just want opinions on how much I should be charging my client. I run, maintain and update their website. They send me stuff usually like every other day or so. usually pictures and general updates in a CMS system. Basically They expect me to be on call 24 7, no matter if its a weekend holiday or whatever. I try to be fair with what I charge them but I dont think im charging enough to be at a company's beck and call all the time. So how much should I charge to be on call like this all the time? Any advice is much appreciated!

 

[W9go]

which country ?

 

[Riders On The Storm]

depends on the company..
from Ks to 100s
for bigger ones, you get thousands for no work..for smaller ones, 100s for 24/7 work

 

[toosmrtformyowngood]

Country is Canada. and its a exotic massage spa.. so its not like they are poor..

 

[kbos2hm]

 

[malek24]

which country and state you belong to?

 

[toosmrtformyowngood]

 

[sasuke120]

if they want to be priotitized charge them more for that.Send them a message and tell them something like : You may have noticed that I can't always respond to your requests/needs quickly.This is caused by the large amount of Clients I am working with but if you want to make sure that you will always be the/ my #1 priority we can offer you an Elite (package?)[whatever you tell them]where your requests get implemented by us ASAP.And then charge them like 500 bucks .

 

[toosmrtformyowngood]

if they want to be priotitized charge them more for that.Send them a message and tell them something like : You may have noticed that I can't always respond to your requests/needs quickly.This is caused by the large amount of Clients I am working with but if you want to make sure that you will always be the/ my #1 priority we can offer you an Elite (package?)[whatever you tell them]where your requests get implemented by us ASAP.And then charge them like 500 bucks .

This sounds like a good option.. 500 though?

 

[Ptrick125]

I think you should charge them by the plan:
1 Update/Week: Free
3 Updates/Week: $20
4 Updates/Week: $30

...Kind of like that

 

[4ContactUK]

How much do you want to earn per hour? Calculate how many hours you work for them. We charge by the hour, so if i do half an hour they get charged for an hour as minimum, if you explain that, they will save up all the little bits of work so you can do them all in one go which will help you and keep costs down for them.
When it comes to ongoing maintenance that we have agreed to instead of ad-hoc as above, we work out a monthly charge to incorporate different levels of need. So if they need 20 hours a month, do a discount on the per hour rate with conditions of if they go over the monthly hours then they get charged the normal per hour rate.
Don't be frightened to charge what your worth, if their unhappy with the cost you can always come down but give yourself some space to come down by not starting off too cheap. Its far easier to come down in cost but as easy to raise your prices. We started out too cheap and from experience know its quality that matters not price.
Good luck!

 

[toosmrtformyowngood]

How much do you want to earn per hour? Calculate how many hours you work for them. We charge by the hour, so if i do half an hour they get charged for an hour as minimum, if you explain that, they will save up all the little bits of work so you can do them all in one go which will help you and keep costs down for them.
When it comes to ongoing maintenance that we have agreed to instead of ad-hoc as above, we work out a monthly charge to incorporate different levels of need. So if they need 20 hours a month, do a discount on the per hour rate with conditions of if they go over the monthly hours then they get charged the normal per hour rate.
Don't be frightened to charge what your worth, if their unhappy with the cost you can always come down but give yourself some space to come down by not starting off too cheap. Its far easier to come down in cost but as easy to raise your prices. We started out too cheap and from experience know its quality that matters not price.
Good luck!

That was one of the problems when we discussed things. I usually charge around 70 an hour or so.. with an hour minimum. They are kind of unorganized and never really compile things for me they just randomly message me and expect me to be at home on the computer.. Even today on a saturday they are messaging me stuff while I was not home. The way they are it would be 70 after 70 after 70 at the end of the month they would owe quite a bit... WHen we originally discussed things they said they wouldn't be able to afford that (I think they probably could)..

 

[sn0rt]

Explain to them that there are time periods in which they need to turn in their content by if they want it to be posted on the same day.

Maybe by 6pm. Anything after 6pm will be posted the next morning.

$300 a month just to update a site is fine in my opinion. All you need to set are the terms.


Carry yourself like a business.

Hours of Operation
Monday-Satuday 8am-6pm

 

[avenir-affiliation]

Yes a price between 300 to 500 $ would be fine i think, the problem for you is the 24/7 availability i think you should define a limit with them so if they overuse this limit they pay more

 

[paymentconsultant]

You could charge them on hourly basis per week. So, the number of hours the update takes will decide the charge. But, that can get confusing and there can be differences on how much time it should have taken. Better to charge flat rate in the range on 300-500 and you should fix the time when you will work on the update (like twice a day or something). This way you can work at a fixed time and save on your time.

 

[sn0rt]

It's better for you to charge 3 customers $300 per month than just get 1 at $500.

Have a referral system. They seem to be customers that have a lot of energy, use them to get the word out for you.

Maybe a $25-$50 off their bill for every month that the customer they've referred you is a customer.

 

[Ptrick125]

It's better for you to charge 3 customers $300 per month than just get 1 at $500.

Have a referral system. They seem to be customers that have a lot of energy, use them to get the word out for you.

Maybe a $25-$50 off their bill for every month that the customer they've referred you is a customer.

The referral idea is genius, not only does the seller make more, the buyer gets a cheaper rate.

Posted via Topify using iPhone/iPad

 

[TerryMeshon]

i charge 600euro per month for a company i do the exact same thing. A lot of copy and past required, easy money as they just dont know / dont have time to do it... Usually about 10hrs per week so I think its quite reasonable...

 

[jrenzi]

If you charge $70 per hour then $300 per month is way too low! That would mean that you're doing 4hs of work to them, which obviously you're not. Plus if they want you to jump immediately to solve their problems, your hourly fee should be even higher.

If I were you, I would just bill them at the end of the month for the hours spent. And if they can't pay you just fire the client, it seems to be giving you more headache than rewards. I've worked with clients like that in the past and the best thing I've done is to get rid of them, the stress that they put you in is now worth.

 

[toosmrtformyowngood]

If you charge $70 per hour then $300 per month is way too low! That would mean that you're doing 4hs of work to them, which obviously you're not. Plus if they want you to jump immediately to solve their problems, your hourly fee should be even higher.

If I were you, I would just bill them at the end of the month for the hours spent. And if they can't pay you just fire the client, it seems to be giving you more headache than rewards. I've worked with clients like that in the past and the best thing I've done is to get rid of them, the stress that they put you in is now worth.

Ive been thinking the same thing really.. I have to meet with them tomorrow to talk about it all, In the end i think im just going to tell them that ive been giving them a huge break with what I've been charging them and if they want me to jump at their every whim than my price is my price. It does not make sense to me to work like this and make peanuts and be always ready to jump when they call, and weekends and after hours at that! This is how web designers get taken advantage of. when you give clients a yard they want and demand a mile.