The ULTIMATE way to determine your rates!

There is a huge rate debate among freelancers, and like many others, I don't hesitate to get involved. We all argue about what is too little and what is fair. In my attempts to help newbies determine the best rate to suit their needs (and to demonstrate why $1 per article won't cut it), I wrote a post a long while back on how to determine your writing rates. More recently, I even confessed my own rates.

I am now happy to tell you that I have an even easier way to figure out your rates: the hourly rate calculator for freelancers. (Thanks to Kristen King and The Anti 9-to-5 Guide for turning me on to this one!)

The calculator is pretty handy. It has you input all of your business expenses, all of your personal expeneses, the spending money you want, and the number of hours you work to help you determine what your hourly rate should be. All that remains is for you to convert that into the corresponding per-word or per-project rate. (For that part, you'll need to estimate how many hours it takes you to research and write a certain number of words.)

I am happy to report that my new rates are more than both the "break-even" and "ideal" rates the calculator gave me. In fact, even my old rates were above them. What I can't seem to figure out is how it still manages to feel like I never have any money... ;o)