What should my hourly rate be?
by Jonathan Stark
For this week’s installment of my series on value billing, I’d like to ask for your help answering a simple question:
What should my hourly rate be?
As regular readers of my blog know, I don’t actually charge by the hour for project work and I intend to keep it that way. However, I thought it would be interesting to discuss how people think a fair hourly rate should be determined. Rather than approach this in abstract terms, I figured I’d offer myself up as the lab rat. So, without further ado…
The Service
You’ll need some basic information in order to make your calculation. For example, you’ll certainly need to know what service I intend to provide. Here are some quick thoughts on that:
- I’m specifically trying to set an hourly rate for mobile and web application development. This includes all front-end design and development (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript), and back-end coding (Linux, Apache, PHP, MySQL, FileMaker).
- I want to keep things simple by offering a single hourly rate for all aspects of all project for all customers. Whether I’m designing a login screen for an international retailer, or setting up offsite database backups schedules for a “mom and pop” bookstore, my hour will be billed out at the same rate.
- Projects will begin with an estimate. Once approved, I’ll invoice clients every Monday for the hours worked in the preceding 7 days.
- I won’t offer “not to exceed” estimates, so projects could potentially go over budget.
Qualifications
Now that you know what service I’m providing, I think you’ll need to know my level of experience and/or qualifications in order to calculate an appropriate hourly rate. Here are some third-party indicators that I figure are relevant:
- Over the last decade, I have completed successful projects for (and enjoyed repeat business from) large and small organizations in the US and abroad. Recognizable names include Turner Broadcasting, Staples, Schawk, and Loblaws.
- I’m a certified PHP developer and certified FileMaker developer.
- I’ve written two books on mobile and web application development.
- I’m a tech editor for two industry publications.
- I’ve written 20+ magazine articles on web programming and related topics.
- I’ve been invited to speak at leading conferences in the US and abroad (SXSW, Where 2.0, WebDirections London, etc.).
- I’m often interviewed and quoted in the media about mobile and web topics.
Discuss!
On the surface, I’m asking for the answer to what seems like a simple question: How much should I charge for an hour of my time? As I said above, my hidden agenda is to discover how people think a fair hourly rate should be calculated. So, if you have time to share your answer, please explain how you arrived at it.
P.S. I expect that folks might need more information than I have provided here. Please feel free to A) ask for clarifications and additional info, and B) constructively critique the information that I’ve provided.
P.P.S. I realize that a blog post isn’t the greatest medium for a group discussion, but it’s a start. If there is interest, maybe we can get together on a conference call via Skype and post a recording of the conversation next week.