How Much Should I Charge?

[MindStudios]

Recently I was given a project by the local bank in my town to make a scrolling list of sponsors for "Beef Fest".
There were 160 sponsor names in the list and I probably spent a total of 15 hours working on it over the course of a week while we went back and forth with little updates here and there.
Some sponsors also have logos accompanying their names.

Basically, it's a very simple project, but I'd never really worked with something like that and didn't have a program that specifically worked with scrolling lists (if there are any?).
I used Sony Vegas which meant I had to work around many problems just to get a simple result.
Anyway, even though it was probably my fault for not using the right program, I'm wondering how much I should charge for this project.

I live in a small town, so there really weren't many other options of video-knowledgeable people.
Thanks!

 

[Alcove Audio]

$25/hr is an extremely reasonable rate. Pick your own number of hours. For example, if not for your Vegas deficiencies you could have done it in eight (8) hours, so $200 would seem fair.

Did you keep a log of how you spent your time? How much time was spent importing the logos? How much time just inputting the company names? Hourly logs - even when working for free - give you a better base-line for estimates in the future.

Call around your area and get a few estimates and/or hourly rates.

BTW, when you bill them give an itemized bill - X number of hours for logo imports, X number of hours for data input, X number of hours of NLE work, X number of hours for exports, X number hour hours on changes/corrections.

Don't forget "Please make check payable to:" on the bill.

 

[MindStudios]

$25/hr is an extremely reasonable rate. Pick your own number of hours. For example, if not for your Vegas deficiencies you could have done it in eight (8) hours, so $200 would seem fair.

Did you keep a log of how you spent your time? How much time was spent importing the logos? How much time just inputting the company names? Hourly logs - even when working for free - give you a better base-line for estimates in the future.

Call around your area and get a few estimates and/or hourly rates.

BTW, when you bill them give an itemized bill - X number of hours for logo imports, X number of hours for data input, X number of hours of NLE work, X number of hours for exports, X number hour hours on changes/corrections.

Don't forget "Please make check payable to:" on the bill.

Okay, that sounds about right from looking around online. And no I didn't keep a log of how I spent my time. I don't have an actual business, this was really my first project that someone asked me to do for money. They only asked because I live in a small town (small enough where I am known for working in video, aka: population - 500) But I wanted to know this for the future as well, since I want to get into more freelance video production/editing.

Thanks Alcove!

By the way, are there any ITers in the Kansas City Area? Is there an easy way to check on here?