Being an image editor, mostly freelancer, you are in constant quest with yourself on so many things. There is no one to guide you on the fundamental steps. That is why there is a big probability that you will make wrong moves. Pricing is one of the vital issues being a solo professional. You never get to understand the right quote to put forward when the client asks how much does it cost to outsource photos to editing?
For most of the professionals, it is very challenging to put forward the right cost of their work. This internal debate can include questions something like these below-
- How much time will I need to finish this job?
- How much will be the budget of the client?
- Should I be flexible with the cost?
- Should I begin with a low quote so that I get the project?
- Should I start with a higher quote and open to negotiations?
- What if the price will scare the client away?
This way, the debacle goes on and on and under pressure, you mostly take a wrong turn. This is especially troublesome when you are in the beginning years of your business. At that point you may think that I was better in a job because I don’t know how to outsource the work individually.
One thing that you must keep in mind is that outsourcing can generate massive profit only if you take right steps at right time. It is a money making profession and gives you the power to work according to you. In the beginning of your profession, you must keep the cost low. This will help in building the business. But the cost should not be as low because sometimes the professionals don’t take you very seriously if you are charging unbelievably low.
You need to charge the clients in such a way that it almost covers all the additional fees and other expenses that you may have been making in your profession. It is essential to make it worth your while. Anyways, without any further delay, we would like to introduce some pointers that will help you charge better.
Price Map–
Professional commercial editors usually charge differently. There are different choices including hourly, by the day, per image, or per batch, per product, etc. It certainly depends on you how you wish to pursue with the clients. Every professional structure the price map differently. The various parameters on which prices can be charged are, per hour, per picture, per batch, per day, etc. It certainly depends on the editor on how they impose the fees.
On the different variations in pricing structures, you have to know which company to link with. Because, sometimes you get to hire people at lesser price if you follow a certain pricing structure.
Hourly
Most of the editors charge on hourly basis. In an hour, you not only have to keep aside the time to edit the pictures but also some space to reedit them if needed. While setting up the rate, it is essential to know the amount of task that you will be able to deliver in that time. Only according to the bandwidth of the work, you will be able to set a right hourly rate for your work.
It is essential to work on every single detail and then set a cost.
Day
While calculating cost for a day, same format has to be followed that is, you have to give a quote to the client of how much work you will deliver to them in a day. You need to secure a number of pictures that you will edit in a day. And the number of hours that you will put in the work before you manage the price.
Image
Keeping a constant price for each image is the best way to charge your clients. This way, you don’t have worry about how many hours you have to stringently put in for work. It will be straight calculation that you will be able to earn as many images you will do in a day. Of course you can set different price for least complex and more complex images.
Batch
Most of the clients are interested in sending work in batches. And thus they prefer paying in batches. You can also pick price of a batch of images. But in this, you first need to communicate to the customer and ask for a certain number of images in a batch. This way you will be able to work seamlessly.
Understanding the Budget of your Client
Knowing the budget of your client will help you in saving time for both you and your customer. It is important to know how much your client is willing to spend. If the price does not relate with your demands then it is best to let go of the project and save time.
Every person brings different opinion on the table when you first discuss the project. If you are curious about knowing the budget of your client then you must follow the following-
- Ask your client for a ballpark range before you express your expectations to him
- Do not mention the price in the first meeting, perhaps the client will himself say what he is willing to pay.
There is no harm in expressing what you expect but if you listen to their quote first then it will surely help you in winning them over. It indicates that you are willing to work on their terms. Also, if you have an idea of the budget that they have, you will be able to lower or higher your actual bid accordingly. This also helps in long-term relation making with your client.
As we said before, it is best to directly ask your client of the amount that he is willing to pay. This way you will be doing yourself a favour by saving his time and yours.
Additional Charges
Well, additional charges come in picture when some special edits are requested in the picture. Usually if you are following a track then there is no point of adding to the cost but in some cases when clients request for some particular edits then it is essential to raise the price. This thing can also be discussed during the first interaction so that client knows about it.
It is suggested to ask for these charges upfront. It will help you in saving the money and deliver swift turn around. You can check from the list below if you are willing to do the following tasks or not:
- How will you be sending the images? Will they be organized easily for editor?
- The number of images that you will be sending at first. Do you want to first edit them all and then send or you will send some of them without edits?
- Will you be delivering services such as cropping and resizing upfront?
- Will you be delivering every image in one size or multiple sizes?
These all things have to be considered while thinking about the cost. You need to do some heavy lifting of your own like ensuring if you will be sending them sorted and organized pictures, etc. All these features can be complimentary or chargeable. Now at the end you have to ensure how you want to offer.
If certainly depends on the editor on how he incurs the cost. Any guide can only tell you how to charge for the work but it’s you who know how much your time and work is worth. So think about every aspect very clearly and then pick cost for your services. How much does it cost to outsource photos to editing? A question widely asked by every start-up company indulging into editing pictures.
