Freelancers take note - reasons why you should stop billing by the hour.

Personally I charge either per 500 words or per individual word depending on the client and the type of work requested. I did charge hourly for my first two or three freelance writing jobs but now I write so fast that I'd have to charge an amount that sounds completely unreasonable for an hourly rate but acceptable for high quality articles of a certain length.

When I charge per 500 words(I usually write mostly articles around this length and therefore this is a good system for me) I'm able to make the large hourly rate by completing those articles in around half an hour. Moving away from charging hourly rates is one of the best decisions I've ever made.

I don't hire freelancers who work by the hour. The thing is I don't know how fast you are.
If you are slow...why is that my problem?

At the same time if you take a long time for the project how do I know how to budget.

So as soon as they say I get paid this amount an hour I say bye bye.

As a Freelancer, I always charge per word but my estimates are based on my own hourly rate. I've found that this is the best system for myself and it's also the most fair to the employer.

Basically what I do is when I bid on a project or submit a proposal for something, I estimate how many hours it is based on the scope of work, ensuring that the scope of work is basically accurate as advertised, and then I estimate how many hours it will take me, multiply that by my hourly rate and bid accordingly.

Practically speaking, at the end of the day, you're just paying for my time, and how much I charge for that time is dependent on how I'm able to sell my own value in the marketplace. When you purchase a 500wd article, all you're paying for is the time of the person who wrote it, and what that costs depends on how good they are.

So if you're just paying for somebody's time, all quotes are fundamentally on an hourly basis. The only difference is whether or not the Freelancer is taking responsibility for getting things done within the allotted time or not. An hourly rate doesn't mean that you can take 10 hours to do a 2 hour project.

If I'm justifying a quote, I can be totally transparent about how I'm calculating it and how long I expect each part of the project to take, but it all comes back to my hourly rate and knowing how quickly I can get something done. The difference is that if I quote my hourly rate, I can take as long as I want, whereas if I quote a project fee, I now want to get it done in as few hours as possible. For clients - you never hire someone for hourly work without an expected result, right? So if someone writes for $15/hour, that's fine, but they need to outline what they are going to accomplish in that hour and include that in a proposal.

What I would recommend for employers is to have Freelancers actually give their rates per hour and then base their proposed project fee on their own estimate of how much time something takes. I have clients that pay me $45 for a 500wd article, but I don't think they realize that I write the article in 30 minutes. They just pay for it because it's good work and I write it as fast as I can to maximize my hourly rate.

What we're ultimately talking about is risk mitigation for the freelancer and for the client. The freelancer proposes a price and a deadline - if the project goes longer than expected, will the freelancer work extra for free or will it cost more? If the freelancer is super efficient and works very quickly, should they be able to leverage that to make more per hour or should employers leverage that to get the same work done in less time and for less money?

Personally, I believe in playing for the draw. My best clients show me a lot of good will - they trust my quotes and that I'm working hard to give them the best results and I take great care of them by consistently over delivering on projects. When I say something will take seven hours and it takes eight, they make sure there are no hard feelings, even if it means opening their wallets a little bit.

My best clients are people I've stayed up entire nights working for because they needed to hit a deadline. We have great relationships, so it no longer matters how I quote because they're going to make sure that I feel like the deal is fair. A good personal relationship makes a good business relationship and you should start off by offering a totally transparent quote that reveals your hourly rate and what value you expect to provide in how many hours.

You make a really good point on the topic. I get where you're going. I'm not knocking what you're saying and it actually all makes sense contrary to what some may say, my only problem is if the person isn't willing to pay your hourly rate why would they pay your per project rate? Or are you just speaking on low hourly rates that some of us stick with in hopes of securing more clients? I know freelancers who charges $55/hour for hourly projects. Folks are quick to hire him and he works consistently.

I think a common fear with charging per project is that a lot of freelancers think they won't be able to charge a fair amount. But if they work per hour with one of those little time keeping screenshot apps the client will be more inclined to pay because there is proof that the person is actually doing the work. I can think of a few people who charge per project and are doing great too.

I guess I'm trying to figure out if this logic is across the board or just being thrown out there as a general rule of thumb to ensure that the worker/self-employed person gets more money for their work in general?

Another question I have for you is this: Are you completely against charging per word? Why or why not?

In the previous, I'm a develop freelancer, so I charge per hour, I remember that about $12-$18 per hour. I see that almost my friends also charge per hour.

Hourly work is not punishing, it depends on what work for people. Hourly is less accountable. I do't like it personally but you get yourself protect from any under estimation.

If you agreed per project and then you realized there are things that has been missed in the original estimate. You are in for trouble big time. So, keep that in mind.

Hi,

I have noticed that working by the hour has become cheaper for most clients right now. Sometime last year, I made more by working per hour but for some reason, it is cost effective for them.

If you charge around $50-100 per hour, then you can be rest assured that you'll be getting a lot of money.

As for it being the bane of your existence, I can relate in many ways! I have worked on some projects by the hour, and it has been like a waste of time.

I think one way it can work is for the client/employer to have a particular time frame they need for the task, and create an agreed milestone for the hours you've agreed to work and if you do the job within the time-frame, it should be paid as soon as you're done and anything else can be charged as overtime.

This is just my 1 cent, and I hope it's worth something!

I think both ways are fine as long as you're providing the best to your client. If you meet all the requirements of your project and provide a good content with all necessary things there's nothing to worry about for both client and the freelancer.
However some clients are reluctant to give their work on hourly basis, especially to new freelancers, as they are not sure whether they complete their projects within the allotted time. The best way to deal with this is that to firstly show them your previous work so that they may trust you with theirs and if you don't have any you can keep your client update with the work you are doing and giving estimation about the details that you will be covering. This will satisfy your client and make him trust you more.
It also solely depends upon the speed with which you complete your work as early as possible, so for those who are quite speedy may get more benefit with hour-based projects.

I used to charge a flat fee for web development, currently, I charge on a hourly basis, and I make a lot more money as my clients receive higher quality work and support. It works out for me

Of course you have to charge on Project not the hour...

...otherwise what is the difference between you and a slave?