Session slides from Future Insights Live, Vegas 2015: https://futureinsightslive.com/las-vegas-2015/ Most of us who are any good at designing and developing got into this because we love it, not because we saw dollar signs. We grew up with concert posters, comic books, and t-shirts letting us know that creative is cool, and we'd like to keep it that way. But what happens when you've been at this for a while and your pricing and cash flow are headed in the wrong direction? Billing hourly, hiring outside help, templates, retainers, and all of the other ideas people randomly shout at you look promising, but where do you start? So how do you create great work, stay fresh, and avoid going bust all at once? Whether you're responsible for your team's budget or you're a freelancer just starting out, let's have a chat about rate calculation and value-based pricing with real dollars, real projects, and real solutions to figure out how we can do what we love without losing our shirts and souls. In this talk you’ll learn how much to charge; how to figure out you or your team’s real hourly rate, then stop using it; how to get discovery contracts; managing client expectations; dealing with cascading talent pricing; and which pricing system is best for you by project, business type, or client type.

1. How to Price
Your Work
Brad Weaver
@sbradweaver

2. Hello.

3. Brad Weaver
Partner // Director of Design at Nine Labs

4. @sbradweaver

5. Obligatory Greetings.

6. Money is
Uncomfortable

7. PRICING
FOR PROFIT
“Money taps into our deepest
emotions and symbolizes what we
fear, hope for, and desire in life.”
-Mikelann Valterra

8. My Story
why I’m up here

9. Avoid
Emotional Pricing
Your gut is not a calculator.

10. Professional
(n). a person engaged in a specified activity as
one’s main paid occupation rather than a pastime.

11. Clients want to
talk about money
… they just don’t know how.

12. How much is a website?
or App, Logo, Photoshoot, Brochure, etc.

13. We can educate clients
to ask a better question…

14. How much do
you charge?

15. Profit & Stability
Get Control with
Solutions-Oriented Thinking

16. Step 1

17. Know What You Need
Stop flying blind.

18. Your Shop Rate

19. There is a formula
Yay!

20. There is a formula.
Yay!
(expenses + profit)
÷
hours
=
rate

21. (expenses + profit)
÷
hours
=
rate

22. Recurring Expenses
+
1/12 of Annual Expenses
+
30% for Taxes

23. (expenses + profit)
÷
hours
=
rate

24. Additional 20% of
Total Expenses

25. (expenses + profit)
÷
hours
=
rate

26. Number of Billable Hours
for Deliverables
per Month

27. (expenses + profit)
÷
hours
=
rate

28. (expenses + profit)
÷
hours
=
rate

29. ($10,000 + $2,000)
÷
80 hours
=
$150 per hour

30. Your Shop Rate

31. But, Why?
Who, What, Where, When, How

32. It’s not that simple.
If it were, we wouldn’t be here.

33. This is not your billing rate!
If it were, we wouldn’t be here.

34. But, Why?
Who, What, Where, When, How

35. Value
Who, What, Where, When, How

36. PRICING
FOR PROFIT
“Clients pay you for solutions,
not the time it took you to get there.”
-Mike Monteiro

37. Market Rates
Who, What, Where, When, How

38. Quality
Good, Fast, or Cheap.
Pick Two.

39. Raising your Prices
You can do it!
Raising your
Prices
You can do it!

40. What do I do
with this thing?

41. 7 Pricing
Models
Hourly Billing
Flat Project Pricing
Package Pricing
Value-Based Pricing
Time or Value-based Retainers
Performance Pricing
Equity Pricing

42. Hourly Billing
Hours out, dollars in.

43. Flat Project Pricing
Fixed Fees for fixed deliverables.

44. I Suck at Estimating

45. Like Peanut Butter & Jelly

46. Package Pricing
Publicly defined costs
for tangible services.

47. Value-Based Pricing
Getting paid for your brain,
not your hands.

48. I take less time to
get to a solution.
Getting it done right without watching the clock.

49. What your market
will bear

50. Your track record
and past experience

51. The perceived value
to the client

52. Value is in the
eye of the beholder

53. Comparison is key

54. How do you find out what
others are charging?

55. Time-based Retainers
Hours out, dollars in… but guaranteed.

56. Value-based Retainers
Now we’re cooking.

57. *Retainer Agreements
A critical caveat.

58. Performance-based Pricing
Risk for future reward.

59. Equity or Ownership
Risk for future reward.

60. Which is best
and when?
There’s no such thing as one size fits all.

61. Hourly Billing
Hours out, dollars in.
Strategy/Consulting
Design
Front-end dev (HTML, CSS, JS)
Template projects
One-off components
Flat/Value Pricing

62. Hourly Billing
Hours out, dollars in.
Complex dev
Team contributions
Repairs/maintenance
Small strategy, consulting, UX
Hourly

63. Hourly Billing
Hours out, dollars in.
Strategy, consulting, UX
Repetitive/Cyclical creative
Sites that require routine
maintenance
Content Strategy/Writing
Time-based Retainer

64. Hourly Billing
Hours out, dollars in.
IA/UX
Campaigns
Branding & Marketing
Content Strategy
Value-based Retainer

65. Core Practices
Putting the “fun” in fundamentals.

66. Avoid Emotional Pricing.
Your gut is not a calculator.
1
Track Your Time

67. 2
Log Communications

68. 3
Get a Contract & Deposit

69. Avoid Emotional Pricing.
Your gut is not a calculator.
4
Define Scope in Writing

70. Avoid Emotional Pricing.
Your gut is not a calculator.
5
Invoice on Time

71. Avoid Emotional Pricing.
Your gut is not a calculator.
6
Set Boundaries

72. Avoid Emotional Pricing.
Your gut is not a calculator.
7
Review Immediately

73. Avoid Emotional Pricing.
Your gut is not a calculator.
8
Manage Your Money

74. Resources & Tools
Get a bigger bookshelf (or iPad).

75. github.com/bradweaver/
pricingfortheweb

76. November
2015

77. @sbradweaver

78. Thanks!