Hourly Rates by Job Type
As of 1 July 2013, the fees for both Australian and US clients are as follows:
| Service | Fees | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Social Media Community Manager | $25 per hour | Weekly posting and monitoring of LinkedIN, Google+, Facebook, ONLY available to clients with active, on-going writing or website projects |
| COMPARISON Help Desk Support | $25 to $35 per hour | Hourly employee (tax, super not included) |
| COMPARISON Web Developer | $35 to $65 per hour | Hourly employee (tax, super not included) |
| COMPARISON Marketing and Communications | $35 to $50 per hour (Payscale.com) | Hourly employee (tax, super not included) |
| Web Content Loading / Management | $50 per hour | As-needed, billed to the hour (no idle time!) |
| COMPARISON IT Trainer / Training Development | $50 to $80 per hour | Hourly employee (tax, super not included) |
| Training Writing and Training Delivery | $75 per hour | As-needed, billed to the hour (cancellations with agreed lead time no charge) |
| Writing or Editing Procedures | $75 per hour | As-needed, billed to the hour (no additional super / retirement) |
| Business Writing, Biographies, Proposals | $75 per hour | As-needed, billed to the hour (no additional super / retirement) |
| COMPARISON IT Technical Writer | $60 to $80 per hour | Hourly employee (tax, super not included) |
The USD and AUD exchange rates are often near parity (equal $1 USD = $1 AUD) and will be charging the same rate in both countries.
Australian invoices are GST Not Registered as of 1 July 2013.
Comparing Fees
Comparing Fees
My goal is to keep my rates as reasonable for my clients as possible while not working below the income I would earn if I were an hourly employee working for a company.
I work to keep my rates in proportion with the salary rates in PeopleBank’s Salary Survey – Perth
The Business of Pricing
When comparing these rates, keep in mind that my rates cover my business services and have to accommodate the fact that I only get paid if I work. Based on my actual 2010-2013 projects:
- 60% to 70% of my total time is billable hours
- 20% of my time is un-billable and used for administrative / travel / accounts / telephone / email
- 10% to 20% of my un-billable time is due to project delays or cancellations
Why Not Work More Hours?
I enjoy the freedom, variety and flexibility that running my own writing business. I am your scalable, smart back-up when your staff need to get a business writing project finished, and are short on time, or not motivated by the writing work.
Most of the time I can flex to pick up surges of work. I have 1 to 3 freelancers working with me during busy periods. I understand that take the risk of becoming ‘The Bank of Shauna’ with these vendors if the projects are slow to pay or don’t pay. In being clear, I have negotiated rates that allow me to collect overhead to cover my operations.
Discounted Fees and Economy of Scale
That being said, I offer discounted fees for:
- Deposits on jobs
- Half-day or full-days job bookings paid within 30 days of invoice
- Long-term projects, with consistent on-time payments
- Opportunity to use your real-work to train my interns
Contract jobs are invoiced mid-month and end-of-month. Invoiced fees can be paid by bank transfer, paper-check, credit card through PayPal online or PayPal directly.
Finally, if invoices go past-due, I reserve the right to stop all work until the open / unpaid invoices are brought current. If you think you have a project (such as grant funded projects) that will have a slower pay-cycle, please contact me.
Please feel free to call or email me with ideas or to discuss your writing, software training or web content project.