How much do YOU charge?

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andresleal

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How much are you guys charging per client, wether it's for Social Media Marketing, Online Reputation Management or plain old SEO.

I landed my first offline client a week ago for an SEO job and I charged him $300 initial fee + $100/mo for maintenance.
 
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it really depends on how much the company is willing to pay and how much your conscience is willing to accept. for me, I cant bring myself to charge a company 2k + $ for SEO that only actually cost tens of dollars. yes I am stupid but no point doing something that doesn't make me feel good
 
barbie.ken said:
it really depends on how much the company is willing to pay and how much your conscience is willing to accept. for me, I cant bring myself to charge a company 2k + $ for SEO that only actually cost tens of dollars. yes I am stupid but no point doing something that doesn't make me feel good
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Exactly, I wouldn't be able to charge that either, mainly because most companies are local and just don't have that type of money. I've seen people charging 3k + 1k maintenance, crazy man.
 
Pricing a service is a really tricky thing and there's almost always some trial and error involved in finding that sweet spot.

I've observed some general characteristics of these pricing sweet spots:

1. They are not so high that your prospects balk at the prospect of paying that amount for that service.
2. They are, however, high enough that the client needs some convincing to sign up. That convincing should make the deal a no-brainer for the client.
3. If you're getting too many clients readily willing to pay your price without any negotiations, increase your price gradually till you hit a price point that satisfies point 2 above.
 
boomboomer said:
Pricing a service is a really tricky thing and there's almost always some trial and error involved in finding that sweet spot.

I've observed some general characteristics of these pricing sweet spots:

1. They are not so high that your prospects balk at the prospect of paying that amount for that service.
2. They are, however, high enough that the client needs some convincing to sign up. That convincing should make the deal a no-brainer for the client.
3. If you're getting too many clients readily willing to pay your price without any negotiations, increase your price gradually till you hit a price point that satisfies point 2 above.
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This is spot on!

One thing though...you mentioned that you charged the $300 and then $100 a month maintenance. Make sure you do not sell yourself short. Is $100 a month worth the phone calls and the time you will need to dedicate to this person? Sometimes the clients that spend the least are the ones that turn into a pain in the ass. Make sure you charge enough to make it worth your time.
 
That would depend on the client as well.
If the prospect is a millionaire realtor, I'd ask for a decent stack of money. :D
 
boomboomer said:
Pricing a service is a really tricky thing and there's almost always some trial and error involved in finding that sweet spot.

I've observed some general characteristics of these pricing sweet spots:

1. They are not so high that your prospects balk at the prospect of paying that amount for that service.
2. They are, however, high enough that the client needs some convincing to sign up. That convincing should make the deal a no-brainer for the client.
3. If you're getting too many clients readily willing to pay your price without any negotiations, increase your price gradually till you hit a price point that satisfies point 2 above.
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Damn, never thought of that, great advice man. Btw, I got my first client thanks to you, I read the thread about getting offline clients and took action. Thanks man!
 
netmoney1 said:
This is spot on!

One thing though...you mentioned that you charged the $300 and then $100 a month maintenance. Make sure you do not sell yourself short. Is $100 a month worth the phone calls and the time you will need to dedicate to this person? Sometimes the clients that spend the least are the ones that turn into a pain in the ass. Make sure you charge enough to make it worth your time.
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Well, part of it is true, but lets say that on the first month, which I highly doubt it, you rank on the first page, now all you have to do is drip some backlinks here and there, and send an email every month with a report, and you can also offer more services on that email since you already got their attention.
 
andresleal said:
Well, part of it is true, but lets say that on the first month, which I highly doubt it, you rank on the first page, now all you have to do is drip some backlinks here and there, and send an email every month with a report, and you can also offer more services on that email since you already got their attention.
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Just saying don't sell yourself short. $100 isn't much. You will have some clients that call every couple days because they think they are your only client. Just make sure you make enough for your time.
 
I charge:
$200 - basic website
$500 - Website with contact form, custom
$50 - SEO Set Up Cost
$xxx - SEO actual cost
$20/500 words - content
$imageprice+$20 for me to find and buy stock images
 
netmoney1 said:
Just saying don't sell yourself short. $100 isn't much. You will have some clients that call every couple days because they think they are your only client. Just make sure you make enough for your time.
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True, true. Also, $100 isn't much, I'd need 10 clients to make 1k a month, so maybe I'll step it up a little. Thanks for the advice :)
 
Only tangentially related as I do programming rather than SEO & Marketing (never really thought about selling that as a service) but for web & desktop is 140/hr and for mobile development it is 200/hr. I generally charge by the week rather than the hour though.
 
netmoney1 said:
Make sure you do not sell yourself short. Is $100 a month worth the phone calls and the time you will need to dedicate to this person? Sometimes the clients that spend the least are the ones that turn into a pain in the ass. Make sure you charge enough to make it worth your time.
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That's a very important point, especially for those just starting out. Don't underestimate the demands your clients will place on you and make sure you attach a dollar value to your time so that you can price your services appropriately.
 
andresleal said:
Damn, never thought of that, great advice man. Btw, I got my first client thanks to you, I read the thread about getting offline clients and took action. Thanks man!
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lol right on man, I got my first client thru one of netmoney's threads... there is some really good motivational stuff in the offline forums here and for that I will be forever grateful!!

To figure out pricing I called web design firms in my area to see what they were charging to give me an idea of what to charge.. one dude was charging $75/hr for maintenance... jeez I wonder how much it would cost to set up a sitemap on a wp site with him LOL
 
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I'd just like to throw in that, it really REALLY depends on the customer.

For example, a customer to a dentist is MUCH MUCH more valuable than the customer in a coffee shop.

I try to realize who I'm working with and what they can afford, and use how much a customer is worth to my advantage in the negotiation.
 
boomboomer said:
That's a very important point, especially for those just starting out. Don't underestimate the demands your clients will place on you and make sure you attach a dollar value to your time so that you can price your services appropriately.
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There are some great "what should I charge" discussions on Hacker News over at the YCombinator site. Primarily, what I see everyone doing all the time, in every industry, is consistently undervaluing their skills and time. Experienced and credentialed professionals frequently charge less for their time than they pay for a plumber to come fix their toilet or a cleaner to come do their laundry. People are eyes down, scrabbling around for pennies on the ground while dollar bills waft lazily through the air above their heads. I know this forum covers a lot of the world and not just the Western United States but seriously, stop selling yourself short, raise your prices and the quality of your clients will raise respectively.
 
Furious George said:
I'd just like to throw in that, it really REALLY depends on the customer.

For example, a customer to a dentist is MUCH MUCH more valuable than the customer in a coffee shop.

I try to realize who I'm working with and what they can afford, and use how much a customer is worth to my advantage in the negotiation.
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You can do that too. For many years I would adjust prices based on what I thought the customer could afford or advise changes in scope to meet their budget but lately I have been actively removing the less sophisticated clients that I have worked with and started to actively pursue clients with deeper pockets and a greater willingness to pay for the work they want. I favour the give-give clients looking for a long-term relationship based on value rather than the cheaper give-take clients looking for a piece of **** made at the lowest price.
 
Serp_Pimp said:
lol right on man, I got my first client thru one of netmoney's threads... there is some really good motivational stuff in the offline forums here and for that I will be forever grateful!!

To figure out pricing I called web design firms in my area to see what they were charging to give me an idea of what to charge.. one dude was charging $75/hr for maintenance... jeez I wonder how much it would cost to set up a sitemap on a wp site with him LOL
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Totally, I almost never took action reading the money making section but when I read boomboomer's thread, I knew exactly what I had to do and I took action.

FiftyShadesOfBlack said:
There are some great "what should I charge" discussions on Hacker News over at the YCombinator site. Primarily, what I see everyone doing all the time, in every industry, is consistently undervaluing their skills and time. Experienced and credentialed professionals frequently charge less for their time than they pay for a plumber to come fix their toilet or a cleaner to come do their laundry. People are eyes down, scrabbling around for pennies on the ground while dollar bills waft lazily through the air above their heads. I know this forum covers a lot of the world and not just the Western United States but seriously, stop selling yourself short, raise your prices and the quality of your clients will raise respectively.
Click to expand...

Definately. Like Boomboomer stated, it's necessary to put a value to your time and knowledge. Just think about how much you've learned and how many clients/sales you can bring the customer.
 
Many of my competitors charge with a 1 year contract with the client, we charge about $200 for 5 keywords, $400 for 10 and so on with no contracts.
 
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