This post is for the bloggers who went the freelancing road and are now cashing in on the massive need for “internet helpers”. If you’ve heard of elance, getafreelancer and odesk in the past, this post is for you.
How Much Can I Charge Working from Home?
In the wake of a poor economy, working from home has become a popular way to make a little extra money. Starting a home business can be easy depending on the niche you choose. One of the considerations when getting started is how much to charge for your services. Working from home has its advantages. First of all, there is low overhead. You already pay the bills for utilities, mortgage and food. There are no extra fees as far as the building is concerned unless you install a separate telephone line for business use.
You need just to set aside cash for your website hosting, if you want your online portfolio in a place you control.
With that in mind, home workers want to set prices that are competitive in the industry, but not so much that they are passed over for the competition. When deciding on prices, avoid setting them too low. You don’t have sufficient overhead, but the goal with any business is to make money. Selling yourself short could put you right out of business.
A good rule of thumb is to examine what is currently being paid to those doing the same job but working for an employer. For example, let’s say that you want to do medical transcription. In an office setting, a doctor may pay his or her transcriptionist $10 per hour. On top of that he pays for medical, dental and benefits for this person. You could charge three or four dollars more per hour for your work and still come in below what he pays for one full time employee.
Don’t be afraid to ask for a higher rate based on your skill set and what the job entails.
I charge up to 15 dollars per article for topics I have to research, and 5 dollars for topics I can talk about in my sleep.
Anyone working from home is in business for themselves. You work when you want to work and take on as many clients as you wish. Beyond the office setting, your schedule is flexible to the needs of your clients. Performing multiple services for a client even from home warrants a little extra money per hour.
Looking at newspaper ads and online job sites give you some idea of what companies are offering. As a home business owner, your price will be higher to cover your operating costs and the taxes you will pay.
There are jobs that you can bid for on freelance websites. Sites like Elance allow you to bid for jobs with others who want to work from home. Some jobs pay too low to be worth all of the work but there are others that, if you have the skills, can be worth your while. Investigate some of these opportunities to get a feel for the going rate in that industry.
Some common work at home jobs are:
- Virtual assisting
- Website design
- Marketing managers
- Content Writing
When you work from home, you are in a win-win situation. Your overhead costs of doing business are lower and you can ask for a higher rate of pay for your services as an independent business owner and not an employee.
