Re: FLASH: OT: Rates

[Marc Hoffman]

At 04:12 AM 2/10/99 -0600, you wrote:

>

>My big thought on the matter now is: what constitutes a "billable hour?"

>


Here's the approach that has been working for me.  I make an estimate as to

how long the job will take me. I discuss with my client (in as specific,

technical terms as they're capable of understanding) exactly what I propose

to do and how long it will take.  I multiply that by my hourly rate (which

I have disclosed to them) and give them a quote.  I let them know that my

quote is what they can expect to be charged unless it takes less time than

I expected.  I also let them know that if their specs change it will

probably require extra time on my part and, therefore, more money on their

part.


Sometimes it turns out I was wrong in my estimate.  In one situation, I

thought I had an easy way to do what the client wanted, but my method

didn't work.  I did not charge for the time I spent floundering, looking

for documentation that didn't exist, and phoning other Flash developers.  I

put those hours in the invoice but subtracted them from the charges,

letting the client know I had worked hard for him but wasn't going to

charge for fruitless labor (of course it was fruitful to me in terms of

increasing my experience and skills).


A different kind of situation has been where a client wants ongoing

consultation, for example, to enhance some pre-exisiting content with

Flash.  I try to give some rough idea of how long it takes to accomplish

various things in Flash, and I give the client regular reports on how much

of my time they've consumed, but the bill is pretty much for the number of

hours I've worked.


I don't charge for the first consultation (usually pretty brief) and I let

the client know that.  I don't charge for administrative time (tallying

charges, sending status reports to the client). What I charge for is the

time I spend doing Flash for someone. I always let the client know what I'm

doing and what they're being charged for.  Clients have such varying ideas

about contract work that too much communication is far better than too little!





Marc Hoffman

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

marcdartfrogmedia [dot] com (mailto:marcdartfrogmedia [dot] com)

View my Flash3 work: <http://www.jps.net/dartfrog/sampler>.

Play a virtual marimba: <www.dartfrogmedia.com/dartfrog>.

Read about Flash: <http://www.jps.net/dartfrog/sampler/flashinf>


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