How I *Actually* Quote Clients & Jobs of All Sizes
Including my custom framework, transparent figures, and the right way to charge 5x more.
Perhaps the biggest taboo in all of freelancing is talking about quotes, money, and pricing. It’s a shame. It’s a shame because not talking about pricing only creates a cycle of misinformation, confusion, and inequality across our industry.
Now, that isn’t to say we should all charge the exact same prices, of course. Scope of work, location, experience, and overhead will––and should––all factor in to the equation.
However, what we charge is not as important as how we approach the quotes. I want to share my actual process for quoting a client, and share some transparent figures around common projects based on value.
How I Quote Clients & Jobs of All Sizes
I use a custom method I’ve created (at least it’s custom to me?), simply called the BAI, to quote my clients’ projects — which differs from hourly rates, which I try to avoid.
BAI is how I decide what to charge. BAI is a framework that helps build trust with my clients; it’s dead simple to defend a quote, offer transparency, and show any organization how I seek to honor them and our shared work together.
- Budget — this is entirely within bounds for the client to share. It shows what they value in respect to the other pieces of the project and it gives a baseline for the overall direction. Don’t be afraid to simply ask, “What’s your budget for this whole project?”
- Audience — specifically, I am interested in the size of their existing audience. This includes their online presence and the real-world size of the team, group, organization, etc. This is important because it speaks to the dynamic relationship between your work and immediate exposure.
- Impact — this language will take into consideration things like the end goal, target engagement reach/rate, collateral assets, estimated digital traffic, and longevity of the project.
Using the BAI framework, I can easily adjust my project rate to take into account a Mom & Pop Restaurant needing a logo, a non-profit wanting to rebrand, a Fortune 500 Company wanting a Media Deck, or a freelancer looking to build their first website — and anything in between.
Here’s a recent example of two different clients with the same deliverable: a presentation / media deck
Client 1––New Author, Public Speaker
Budget––He’s hesitant to share his budget with me at first; we talk about the larger vision, the bigger picture, and what’s important to him. I instead ask for the total MarCom budget (this is easier for clients to connect with). He’s happy to let me know that the budget for an entire Marketing Strategy was $2,200 (not specifically the Presentation Deck).
Audience––His existing audience is quite small yet: he has two leads he’s hoping to land soon, a brand new Instagram account with 23 followers, a new Facebook Page with practically zero engagement, and he has never used LinkedIn or Twitter to promote his book or speaking engagements.
Impact––The end goal, in his words, is to “have something cohesive and compelling to accompany my book launch event and different speaking gigs, retreats, or conferences I might pursue.” He doesn’t mention animations, lower thirds, or collateral of any kind.
Important: The BAI Framework needs to inform and be informed by the scope of work, of course. In this case, those details are being summarized as a presentation deck with 10–20 slides, templatized for reuse, and compatible with both Google Slides and Keynote.
What would you charge?
I pitched him a quote of $1200 with an included animation for his logo reveal at the start of the deck and an offer to tag him on social media with my completed work.
Client 2— Well established, Local Business
Budget — The project manager reaches out to me, confirms they have a budget of $5,000 for this project. They will also hire a copywriter and pay for any photographs, custom typography, etc.
Audience — This company is well established and well liked in their east coast town of about 100,000. They have a staff of 40–50, and a social media manager confirms around 10K followers on Facebook, 4K followers on Twitter, though they’re wanting to grow into Instagram, too.
They also have a direct audience of 100 attending a conference where the presentation deck will be primarily used.
Impact — The overall goal is for the deck to be used in a presentation at an event; the event will also be streamed, sold, and repackaged across social.
Important: The BAI Framework needs to inform and be informed by the scope of work, of course. In this case, those details are being summarized as a presentation deck with 10–20 slides, templatized for reuse, and compatible with both Google Slides and Keynote.
What would you charge?
I pitched him a quote of $5,000 with an offer to take on the copywriter and offer to resize a limited number of slides for use on Instagram.
Why would you charge 5x more for the “same” product?
At first glance, or to the untrained eye, that seems like a massive jump. But when you consider the BAI, it’s not at all.
The budget for our author’s entire marketing strategy is very low ($2,200), but this presentation deck will help him gain momentum in a tremendous way. His audience is virtually zero, and the impact will result in credibility and networking, with little to no return on finances right away.
On the other hand, the budget for our local business is at least $100,000 when you consider they’re supporting a project manager, a social media manager, an event, livestreaming costs, promotional costs, sponsorships, and more. Their audience is of a critical threshold, yet they also want to grow into Instagram. And the potential impact of this one design asset is massive.
They can utilize these new assets to build a cohesive Instagram campaign, and these slides are critical since they will be broadcast via livestream, too: which means they can’t afford ineffective, poor design––they need to get this right.
Oh, it should be noted I view hourly rates differently; when I absolutely have to quote hourly rates, I use benchmark rates based on ethical conversations, recent peer data, and intuitive experiences to quote jobs by the hour. However, I typically avoid hourly rates since it removes value from the equation and rewards inefficiency.
In conclusion, the BAI framework is helpful for the client and the designer, in this case, you.
You’re able to evaluate more clearly the scope of work and a fair price. Your client is able to see how the price is connected to the overall value which you presented.
And that’s how I approach design briefs, client requests, and project quotes. I hope it’s helpful!
What about you? Do you have any tips or advice you’d share with a freelancing community?
Justin Heap is a full-time freelancer running an Independent Creative Agency helping teams of all sizes create incredible brand worlds. He is also the co-founder of Pax Coworking Studio. He is a sought-after speaker, photographer, author, and artist.
He’s available for new projects, virtual assignments, FT work, coaching, and startup collaboration.
