How much should I charge for a design consultation?

[flatcrowd412]

This is a great question. I remember asking myself the same thing and searching everywhere for a "guide" on what I should charge for my services. I hope that you do not make the same mistakes that I made in the beginning. I found out the hard way that you always charge more than you expect people to pay. It's going to be tough, but when someone says they are not willing to pay you the amount you want, you don't want to work with them anyway.

I have worked with both people that respected my trade and paid a fair rate and people that thought things should be beyond cheap. At times, I tracked my hours and found that I was making $5 a hour. Yes... that is not a lie. This guy thought that a 5 page website, with design and development, should cost $150. I was too much of a moron to say no. Once I stopped caring and told people no, I was able to get clients that paid $35 a hour and did not try to bargain with me. Those people referred me to others, and before I knew it I was making more with one client than I was the entire time with the cheap guy.

Long story short. It's your skill, if you want to devalue what you do, then by all means charge $10 a hour. If you want people to respect your trade then price it for what it's worth, and I think that is over $100 a hour. What you described is someone that will bring a tremendous amount of value to a company. Just a few other things I suggest. Never charge flat rates, and always bill for phone calls and emails.