Creating Your Quote

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Updated September 19, 2022

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Your quote needs to be somewhere between your cost basis and the retail value of the work. That difference is your profit margin, which is the money that stays in your business savings account until you either need it for an emergency or it’s time to pay yourself a bonus, whichever comes first.

Play with margins, shooting for 50%, in your Excel model until you settle on a quote that matches the retail value of the work. Make it precise, and not too round in number.

When you put out your first quote, it is not unlikely that the client will come back to you with a startled tone and a story about budget constraints. Don’t be mad. This is part of the dance, and now it’s your turn.

You will respond with a smile and an, β€œOK, well let’s revisit the scope and see what we can adjust.” Your tone is unfazed and cool, because you know that there are only two outcomes, and both are good.

  • Outcome #1: You remove some items from the scope and allow yourself to (scientifically, not arbitrarily) reduce your price, because now you’re doing less work for less money, and the client agrees.

  • Outcome #2: The client can’t (or won’t) pay even your reduced price, at which point you get to evaluate if they’re worth working with.

Should You Just Bill Hourly?

You may ask, why don’t I just keep it simple and bill all my clients on an hourly basis? It seems fair and easy. It’s not wrong to do thatβ€”you can incrementally raise the value of your time as you grow and improve.

However, in practice, most freelancers are not well served by billing at a simple hourly rate.

First, you are an artist, and it is highly unlikely that every single hour of your work requires the same skill and effortβ€”or delivers the same value. For example, you might be helping a client with a new strategy for a product that could transform the company, while also doing some copy editing for the website. Billing a fixed hourly rate makes it difficult to vary your pricing based on the importance (retail value to the customer) of the work.

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