Charging For Contract Services

Deciding how much to charge potential employers for your services can be an area of concern for many independent contractors.  You need to be competitive, but also make a profit on your work.  Here are some tips to help you figure out where you should fix the price for your work in several different areas that are common for work-at-home and contract positions.

virtual assistant Fees-A virtual assistants’ duties can range from the very basic administrative and clerical services to travel arrangements, calendaring and follow-up phone calls.  In determining how much you should charge, first take into consideration how much money you need to make per hour after you have paid your business expenses and taxes.  For instance, if you need to make $10/hour net, then you will figure out the taxes you will owe for each ten dollar increment, as well as how much of that will go towards business supplies and expenses.  Add that amount onto the $10 base you started with and you will end up with the general hourly pay you will need to charge.

It is not uncommon for VA fees to range between $30-$50 per hour, however, you will want to take into consideration the economic status of the area you live in, whether the employer wants to pay hourly or by the project and of course what your time is worth to you.

Transcription-Transcription rates can vary widely, sometimes as much as 40% between transcribers, depending on the turn around time needed and the type of document.  Transcription work can include medical, audio, dictation and digital files as well.  Charges can be calculated by line, character, page, or even per word.  Because transcribers charge such varying amounts, it is a good idea to use competitive rates when advertising your services.  Be sure to calculate the amount you need to make for a certain allotted amount of time, and figure your rates from that point.   

Some example rates for various types of transcription are as follows:

medical transcription- 7.9-10 cents per line (60-65 character per line)

General Transcription- $2-$5 per page

Audio Transcription-$1.50-$2.00 per minute or $30-$40 per hour

Dictation Transcription-Usually by the hour or per page.

Content Writing/Blogging-Rates for content writers and bloggers vary between companies.  Most of the positions that are for part-time entry-level bloggers and content writers pay between $4-$10/per article from 300-500 words long.  Because websites thrive and raise their ratings in the search engines based on new and current content it is essential for them to have quality information posted on a regular basis.

Writing and blogging is a great profession for those that want to start working at home.  Many companies are willing to hire those with little or no professional experience, as long as they are able to write coherently and express themselves on different topics.

Document Creation/General Typing- Document creation and general typing tasks range from creating newsletters, brochures and flyers, to general letters of instruction or mass mailing information.  This type of work can often be done at home with limited amount of contact with the contracted employer.  The rates for most document creation will be per project, which should be determined by calculating how much time it will take you to complete the project and how much your going per hour rate is.

Editing/Proofreading Rates- Proofreading and editing rates can be charged on a per page basis, or a flat fee.  Usually, if charged a flat fee, it will be determined by how many words there are in the document, such as 0-500 words will be “x” amount of dollars.  Whereas if a document is small, say 0-250 words, you may want to charge by the page, which can range from $3-$10 per page. 

Proofreading is generally cheaper than actual editing, as it requires less time and offers more suggestions for bettering the document instead of actual editing for grammatical errors, punctuation and sentence structures.

Whatever you decide to charge, be sure you calculate beforehand your costs and what your actual income needs to be to make the project worth the money you are receiving.  Employers will respect your business sense and your professionalism with them as you provide quality services at reasonable prices.

Posted:Wednesday, July 18, 2007