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It is not uncommon to charge $125-150/hr for high-end work on something as basic as configuring Wordpress sites. However, high-end means the focus gets drastic

It is not uncommon to charge $125-150/hr for high-end work on something as basic as configuring Wordpress sites. However, high-end means the focus gets drastically shifted from programming to figuring out what the client wants. That said, you can charge 250-500 as a freelancer for a few hours of consultation. Your rates should largely depend on: 1) How many hours the client intends on spending with you 2) Urgency of work (and thus how much bandwidth you need to give to it) 3) Client's ROI If you save your client 1000 hrs of reporting work a year by developing them a custom solution, that is easily worth well over 100,000k for that client: even if they are only paying people $50/hr to create these reports. You can't charge 100,000k, otherwise the client will not have a great ROI. However, such a solution should take you somewhere around 100-400 hours to complete. That works out to $125/hr in the worst-case, giving the client a good ROI after the first six months, and should give you a solid 4-6 months of work. If they need it sooner you need to charge them more, because you'll spend less time on business development. This is a perfect world hypothetical of course ... in reality many other things come into play that will only work to drive your rates down.

djellybeans 9y ago
How do you maintain good conversion rates for charging as much as how you stated (such as your Wordpress example)? You run the risk of getting no offers. I think the difficult part about charging $125-150/hr, if you have never charged that much, is finding the clients that are used to paying those kinds of prices. You'll have to figure out how to convert talks into sales better before you can charge those prices. For instance, the person who would want a site for $50/hr is probably not going to pay $125/hr. You could try with that person, but that would be pushing your luck. In this case they're not the right client for you.
- odonnellryan 9y ago
  It comes down to not wanting to do WP work, so I charge a lot when someone wants it. Sometimes I give it away ... for a client that is giving me a lot of business. However, you can charge what is 150/hr for WP work if you have a good reputation and do good work. Literally EVERYONE who has any kind of money runs a charity, or is involved in a business or seven that needs a new homepage ... This won't work if you're trying to cold call and get clients, you're right. I started out at 50-70/hr programming. Some of my contracts now are only ~90/hr.
- muzani 9y ago
  Also, it's about how long the projects take. Sometimes $150/hr for Wordpress might just be done in a couple hours, with a template and an upload.
hanniabu 9y ago
> If you save your client 1000 hrs of reporting work a year by developing them a custom solution, that is easily worth well over 100,000k for that client... How do you get this information? Do you ask them how much time is spent on this task per person and their average hourly rate? Or do you go about finding this info out another way? Do you usually prepare a confidentiality agreement to discuss this? How do you bring it up without coming off so blunt?(as in not making it seem like you're using these numbers to figure out how much you can charge them)

djellybeans 9y ago

How do you maintain good conversion rates for charging as much as how you stated (such as your Wordpress example)? You run the risk of getting no offers. I think the difficult part about charging $125-150/hr, if you have never charged that much, is finding the clients that are used to paying those kinds of prices. You'll have to figure out how to convert talks into sales better before you can charge those prices. For instance, the person who would want a site for $50/hr is probably not going to pay $125/hr. You could try with that person, but that would be pushing your luck. In this case they're not the right client for you.

odonnellryan 9y ago
It comes down to not wanting to do WP work, so I charge a lot when someone wants it. Sometimes I give it away ... for a client that is giving me a lot of business. However, you can charge what is 150/hr for WP work if you have a good reputation and do good work. Literally EVERYONE who has any kind of money runs a charity, or is involved in a business or seven that needs a new homepage ... This won't work if you're trying to cold call and get clients, you're right. I started out at 50-70/hr programming. Some of my contracts now are only ~90/hr.
muzani 9y ago
Also, it's about how long the projects take. Sometimes $150/hr for Wordpress might just be done in a couple hours, with a template and an upload.

hanniabu 9y ago

> If you save your client 1000 hrs of reporting work a year by developing them a custom solution, that is easily worth well over 100,000k for that client... How do you get this information? Do you ask them how much time is spent on this task per person and their average hourly rate? Or do you go about finding this info out another way? Do you usually prepare a confidentiality agreement to discuss this? How do you bring it up without coming off so blunt?(as in not making it seem like you're using these numbers to figure out how much you can charge them)