http://www.udemy.com/how-to-freelance-for-mobile-developers/ How to Freelance for Mobile Developers - Lesson 3 covers one of the most important aspects of freelance work. What do I charge? Learn about the different ways to charge clients and some of the pitfalls you can fall into if you're not careful or strategic about your pricing.

1. How to Freelance for Mobile Developers
Lesson 3 of 6
What do I Charge?
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2. Different Strategies
● There are many different strategies for
charging clients as a mobile freelance
developer, which include:
● Fixed Price
● Hourly, daily,weekly, monthly rates
● A percentage cut in the business or profits from
the application
● Bidding
● Retainer
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3. Who is your client?
● If you want to work on really high end projects that
earn large dollar amounts, then you'll most likely be
looking at larger corporate clients.
● I have worked on several projects funded by
individuals and while they can be a lot of fun, they will
usually be limited in size and scope because
individuals don't have the budgets that corporations
do.
● Be respectful that everyone has a budget. There may
be projects that are too big or too small for you to take
on.
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4. Fixed Price
● The idea behind a fixed price project is that you are given
enough detail on the project to make an educated guess
on how long it will take you to complete the entire project.
● The major problem with this is that more often then not,
you will underestimate and may end up working quite a
few extra hours for free.
● If you go this route make sure to paid your time estimate
by as much as 30-50% depending on how many unknown
factors are involved to protect yourself from losing your
shirt.
● With time your estimates will get better, but there is always
a risk of undercharging.
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5. Some Ideas on Project Costs
● Any significant mobile project is going to take at
least 100+ hours to create something of value.
● I have worked on project that took hundreds of hours
to complete.
● If you really thing you can knock off something great in
a weekend, you're sadly mistaken.
● I tend to find that value added native Apps that take
2-3+ months to complete start at around $20,000+ and
go up from there, based on North American pricing.
● Some high end Apps can easily push $100,000+.
● If you are only working on small projects, or working
on parts of projects, these numbers may be lower. The
main point is the real Apps cost real money.

6. Hourly,Daily,Weekly, Monthly?
● Charging by the hour works out best for the freelancer
because you get to bill for every hour you actually work.
● However, charging by the hour tends to be a little scary
for clients when they have no idea how many hours the
project will take.
● I tend to find that clients react better to range estimates
on a project than to just hearing my hourly rate. So I tell
then the project will most likely fall between $this and $this,
but don't flash my hourly rate around unless they ask.
● You may also have a rate that you charge per day, week or
month, which gives you and your client options.
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7. What's a Reasonable Hourly Rate?
● This depends on a number of factors.
● How experienced are you? The more experience you
have, the more you can charge.
● What are you working on? The more specialized and
difficult the work the more you can charge.
● Your skill level, if you are just starting out, your rate
will be lower than when you become a Jedi.
● Where are you located? Depending on what part of
the world you are from different rates will apply.
● In North America I think a reasonable starting rate for
a competent mobile developer with some experience
should be at least $50/hr and go up from there with
skill and experience.

8. Don't Think like an Employee
● Remember, you are not an employee your a
freelancer now and the wages that apply in the
working world won't work for you.
● You'll pretty much always need to be charging
more than the hourly rate you were making in
your job.
● Remember, as a freelancer you pay all the
expenses and you most likely won't be working
40 hour weeks 52 weeks a year. You need to
build up a reserve for slow times.

9. Competing on Price
● If you plan is to be the cheapest developer out there,
you are going to regret it.
● The problem with competing on price is that there will
always be someone cheaper than you and that you
need to be able to make a profit from your freelancing
endeavours to make is sustainable.
● If the only reason a company is choosing you over
another developer is price, how much loyalty do you
think that client will have in the future?
● If your client tells you that that they have a cousin who
will work for $15/hr who can build their App, then wish
them luck and be willing to walk away.
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10. The Percentage Scam
● I am approached all the time by people offering me
half of the profits of their goldmine idea wanting me
to do the programming while they “take care of the
business side of things.
● Essentially this is code for “I want you to take all the
risk, and if it works out maybe you won't loose your
shirt”. Let me ask you this, if you had an idea for a
million dollar app that was certain to succeed, why
would you be willing to part with half your company?
● Are you willing to risk working several weeks or
months for free, with no guarantee of getting paid
anything? Don't get taken for a ride.
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11. Retainers
● When you start any new project, you should typically ask for at
least 20 to 50 percent of the cost of the project to be paid up
front and ofter are non-refundable.
● You apply the retainer to the cost of the project, so it's not an
extra fee.
● Clients the protest a retainer are going to be a problem, so
better you find out earlier than later.
● Retainers are a safety mechanism for you the freelancer to
ensure your client has money, that they are serious about the
project and it gives you positive cash flow at the start of a
project.
● You can also use retainers at the end of a project for
maintenance and support, which all Apps need. In this
context, retainers work on a declining balance, much like a
lawyer.

12. Bidding
● I'm not a big fan of this approach.
● The main reason is that bidding usually means fixed
price contracts that more often then not go to the
lower or lowest bidders.
● Make sure it's really worth your while.
● Bids on freelance job sites can be a waste of time if
you actually want to get paid what your worth.
● Bids on things like government contracts may be ok,
but require a lot of time and effort to but together so
make sure it's worth it.
● Low-balling bids is not a good idea, so if your going to
do it, bid a fair price and see what happens.

13. Tips for Increasing your Rate
● Go deep. The vast majority of mobile developers will most likely
reach a point of competence and level out. Only a small
percentage will dig really deep and really developer true
expertise in any give area. The deeper your knowledge and
experience, the higher rate you can command.
● Specialize. Being a jack of all trades, master of none may work
for some, but I've never found it to be a good long term strategy.
Find an area that you can dominate and really focus on. Find
your niche and you may find your profit. Think Neurosurgeon
not General Practitioner
● Reputation. The more well known and recognized you become,
the more in demand you will become. The better your rep is the
higher your rate can go.
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14. I've Got a Client and Know my
Rate, Now What?
● In upcoming episodes we'll be discussing:
● Creating contracts/service agreements
● Retainers
● Strategies for dealing with challenging
clients
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