How much should I charge for a design consultation?

[Nakiska]

I am starting to build up my personal cliental and many of them are asking for design and branding consultation. I want to know what all of you out there think about it. I have never done consultations- rather executing full jobs, however I feel that it would be nice to add to my list of things to do.


For consulting, I would do all of the following:

Brand Strategy- from deciding logos and color palettes, as well as graphic elements and Packaging.
Social Media Management. - Not necessarily PR, but showing my clients the most efficient way to use Social Media.
Web Consulting- from Deciding what Web platforms are best for you.
Plus advice here and there.
Also how much should I charge per hour?

[Hugo90]

That depends on what your costs are. If you are not supporting a business location and inventory you cn charge less. If you have a place of business, insurance or equipment, you need to include some for that. Our lawyer gets $400 an hour. You are worth that much because you will probably get something accomplished with your effort.

[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.