Thursday, April 5, 2012

“What's the Going Rate?”...Really?

I constantly hear fellow illustrators, photographers, and graphic designers ask each other, “what's the going rate?" – a book cover– magazine spread– picture book- it seems that many artists want to know what you were paid so they can ask for the same amount. I think this is the wrong question. I think making art is very different than making a massed produced product such as a can of coke. A can of coke has a fixed cost and a fixed amount of time to produce. Your art varies in complexity and the time it takes to produce AND - it's very different than mine. Your art might take you longer to produce than mine. The project I'm being asked to illustrate might be more complex than yours. The conceptual energy you spend might be more taxing on you than me. My method might be more expensive to execute than yours and so on.

Individually we value our time differently. Your cost of living might be higher than mine. My work load may be greater than yours. The quality of your illustration might be higher than mine. My ambitions might be lower than yours. Your reputation might be better than mine. With all of these variables why would we seek for sameness? Why should we seek to price our work in lockstep. Why are we afraid to ask for what we want?

I think we should be asking different questions: How much time will this assignment take me? Can I complete this project given my current work load? Do I want to do this assignment? Do I believe in the message of this assignment? Will I enjoy working on this project? Am I capable of successfully completing this project? What is the opportunity cost of taking this assignment? How bad do I need money right now? Given all of these factors my motivation for a particular assignment is going to be different than yours. My need to land the project isn't going to be the same as yours. These factors can change from month to month as my workload fluctuates project to project. So a one size fits all price makes as much sense as expecting to buy Apple stock for the same price it was 15 years ago.

My formula for pricing assignments goes like this: 1) Will I have fun illustrating this project? If so I'll probably be willing to accept less but I'll need more money if it's going to be drudgery. 2) Will I have to work extremely long hours to complete the assignment or do I have plenty of time? My demands will vary accordingly. 3) How bad do I need the money right now? If my income has been high than my need to take the assignment is lower and I'll probably ask for more money.

After I consider all of these factors I try to figure out what my bottom line dollar amount is. Example: A client asks me to to illustrate a brochure for a national toy company and wants me to submit my bid. Work has been slow so I really want to take the assignment even though it doesn't look like much fun. I figure that given the work load I want to do it for no less than $2000 – lower than that and I'll be happy to lose it. If I can visualize being happy doing it for $1600 than that has to be my new bottom line and so on. So if $1600 is my bottom line then I can feel comfortable asking for $2500 - $3000. If the client agrees to $2700 I'll feel pretty good knowing I would have done it for less. If the client comes back saying they can't pay a penny more than $1300 I won't stress about turning it down because I've already had this crucial conversation with myself.

On the other hand let's say I'm asked to do the same assignment but I've been very busy with good paying work and I currently have a lot of assignments. Taking this new project will have me working weekends and very long days. Now when I go through my check list my bottom line is much higher. This is why you and I can NOT possibly expect to work for “the going rate”! In this case my bottom line might have increased to $4000 or even higher. I probably won't get the job when I am firm at this higher rate but if I do I'm still happy- if not – no sweat. The most important thing is avoiding regret. There's really nothing worse than landing the project and then wishing you had turned it down. You have to know what your bottom line is before you can expect to negotiate successfully.

Lets stop treating our work like common mass produced products and start treating it like art.

24 comments:

  1. Thanks Will for a great insight. Hope you do not mind I shared you on FB and google+1. I had already read your suggested readings except for Outliers. Thanks for the recommendations, though I do not whole heartedly agree with Outliers.

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    1. Thanks Doodles - what part of outliers didn't you like? just curious.

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  2. You rock! This truly hit home as I turned down a project recently after much thought (and guilt) because the budget was very low. What are we afraid of? Our work does have value, take time and effort and it is how we make a living. Having a bottom line is a perfect "cushion" to fall back on. Really great post, thanks again.

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    1. It's empowering to be able to turn down work when it just isn't right. :)

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  3. You are so right Will. Great advice as usual :)

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  4. Great advise, Will. I'm wondering if you have ever taken a job that didn't necessarily pay well but offered you great exposure?

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    1. Yes Kim - absolutely and sometimes it's the perfect job because while it doesn't offer much money the autonomy provided the environment to create something great and get noticed. I took more of those jobs in the first half of my career and some of them paid off handsomely but I would still take one today if it was the right job for me.

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  5. Some excellent food for thought. Definitely applicable to the conversation I'm having with a potential client right now...

    As sort of an aside to this: how is it that someone newer to the whole freelance business (I'm a student, currently - I think you snapped a picture of my tanks when you came to Ringling :) ) gets a practical grasp on what their work is worth?

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    1. This is a great question - the short answer is that it's worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it but I think it runs deeper than that. If you don't value your time nobody else will. I think it comes down to the things I talked about in this post - figuring out what your bottom line is and working up from there. Let's say someone asks you to paint a portrait of their family in oils - maybe 30 x 40 and they offer to pay you 50 bucks - would you take it? Initially you'd think this is a raw deal but what if I told you that the person offering you the job was a celebrity - perhaps someone connected in the art world. It still might not be worth it to you but I would say it has more value than working for the average Joe. I think you need to figure out where you stand and over time you should be able to raise your prices.

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  6. Right on the mark as usual Will!

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  7. I really like this way of thinking. Usually the method is always "figure out how much money you want to make an hour and how much time you think you need to finish the job." With these art jobs, there are definitely more factors involved. Your way offers greater flexibility. I will keep this in mind the next time I have to quote a job.

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  8. This is a very timely post. I just recently submitted a high bid for a project I didn't want to do. I didn't get it and I am glad that I didn't get it... or the headaches that would have come from it.

    This logic is particularly important when bidding on an ongoing project. 3 years ago I negotiated a low payment for a monthly ongoing project because, at the time, I really needed the work. Now, I am bitter about how little I am being compensated and been trying to figure out how I can ask for an increase or bow out of the project tactfully.

    Thanks for the post!

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    1. I always try to add a renegotiation clause in any ongoing project bid. For example, "These terms apply for 12 months from the date of contract." Then I add something that says we can renegotiate at that point.

      This way the client wins--they get a locked in rate for a fixed term. I win because I have the ability to bail out or ask for more money later.

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  9. Great advice ,Knowing our bottom line is very important factor,really really great post and great insight!! Thanks a ton!

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  10. Thanks for your post Will. I have been fighting this battle ever since decided to go freelance almost 20 years ago. I have walked away from potential jobs even after spending a lot of time courting the client. It never ceases to amaze me (and there are new versions of this arguement since the advent of photoshop and so on) that a client will justify their own cheapness thinking that they can say, hire their nephew for dirt cheap, who has a copy of photoshop, or find someone who is desperate enough to do it for "nothing". I always tell them, "Good luck with that! Once you get the crappola nightmare lack of quality that you so richly deserve from your cheapo mindset DO NOT come crawling back to me begging me to fix your project, again out of the 'goodness of my heart' ". And believe it or not I have had people ask me to fix someone else's mess when the artist they've hired has run away to greener pastures or dropped the ball completely, which I refuse to do.

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    1. You're right Alan - There will always be clients who sacrifice quality for price - many of them have to learn the hard way to appreciate the professionalism and experience that some possess. I have had so many frustrations over time with pricing that I'm more able to avoid the traps I used to fall into.

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  11. Thanks for this writeup. The bottom line dollar amount was especially helpful to me. I have a hard time sticking to that.

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  12. Mr. Terry Thank you for your advice, I´m Just starting and hope to be a great illustrator just like you, thank you for sharing your experiences. Greetings from Mexico.

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    1. Thank you Alondra! I wish you all the success in your quest! Work hard and love what you do!

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  13. Thank you all - All of what I've learned has come with many hard knocks and I have the bruises to prove it. I have so many failure stories - so painful! :)

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  14. Been offered a job creating the line art for an educational workbook for administrators and teachers. I know that educational presses pay less that traditional houses but I am having trouble figuring out what my bottom line is...Wish me luck. - Alison Hertz

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