The Ruby Freelancers Show 006 – Setting Your Rate

Panel Charles Max Wood (twitter github Teach Me To Code Rails Summer Camp) David Brady (blog witter github ADDcasts) Eric Davis (twitter github blog) Jeff Schoolcraft (twitter github blog) JT Zemp (twitter github) Discussion Doubling your rate and doubling your business Exchange of value Communication counts Rate setting is about perception Experiment with your rate The "gasp technique" Sales confidence You may be able to charge more if you can get it done quickly. Freelance Switch Rate Calculator Take your yearly salary and divide by $1,000 Rate based on your cost The cost of employing a person is something you have to cover "Do the hustle" - Obie Fernandez What is the minimum that Rails developers should be charging? $100/hour? $150/hour? Talk to people who do what you do and see if they tell you to raise your rate If they want you to subcontract to you, you might be too low Look for subcontracting opportunities if you're willing to lower your rate and pass off the marketing, etc. Do you lower the rate or negotiate if the client wants lower? Correlation between your rate and your value Don't give discounts, negotiate your rate If you speak first, ask for $20/hour more than your normal rate so you can negotiate to what you want Put your price out there to filter requests "We fix $5 haircuts." Rescue work Fixed bids Estimate, add padding, multiply by rate, and round up Bid on putting in a bid PERT methodology Slide Rule Labs Rate Sheet Picks Shane Perlman - What should I charge? (Eric) 500 Words before 8am (Jeff) Negotiating your salary - how to make $1000 a minute  (Dave) How to outnegotiate anyone even a used car salesman (Dave) Never negotiate with yourself (Dave) How to win friends and influence people (JT) Power sales negotiation (JT) Evernote (Chuck) Talking to Experienced People (Chuck)