How much should I charge to manage my clients PPC campaigns?

Zachary, if you do a little research, you'll find the most common model is based on a percentage of the monthly ad spend. Some charge a setup fee, others don't.

If I were in this position, here's how I'd go about it...

1. Estimate how long it takes me to do the initial setup, keyword research, set up ad groups, write the first ads, etc. To keep the arithmetic simple, say it's 10 hours. Multiply that by the $70/hr you mentioned, and the setup fee becomes $700.

2. On a month to month basis, I'd charge 15% of the ad spend to monitor and manage the account.

3. If the client's business model allowed me to track actual sales figures, I might go for an advance vs. royalties arrangement.

Charging by the ad is going to be a tough sell. If I'm behind the counter and you propose that to me, the first thought in my head is, "yeah, so you can write me a hundred different ads every time you need money..."

Charging by the hour makes you a commodity the client can bid out and use to squeeze you.

I didn't answer your poll, because this isn't one of the options...

John has good points.

Seems that most charge a percentage. I don't. First, on a small account, you'll just do so much work for so little in return. If someone wants to budget $5 a day, even 15% is just $23 a month.

The up side is of course if they spend $1000 a month. Better but not all accounts are the same. I have a client spending that much but there are dozens of groups which makes a cost per ad group very low. Good for them but you are nowhere near your $70 per hour fee should that be the case.

There is also the psychological aspect. Clients can think you'll just spend more so you can make more.

I now charge a set up fee (did not used to but some experiences has made me do it). It is based on the number of products/landing pages. Like John, I figured the average time it takes me to do research multiplied by the hourly rate I want. I then charge a monthly maintenance fee per landing page and number of PPC search engines used. Same kind of calculations there. I do set a minimum per month for small accounts.

Clients like this because they know how much they will be paying each month. It is fixed. This way too, if they decide not to use you to do on-going management, at least you covered your time for the research. Again, I learned that from experience.

You can also try John's third options. I have a few clients like this but accept this only after doing research and estimating I can do as much or more money the other way. You could also barter as another option. I once proposed to manage a campaign for free in exchange for free web hosting, which is the client's business.

It is going to vary greatly based on the size of that account and the number of keywords you manage. I currently manage accounts as small at $5k a month up to $300k per month and fees range on the low side at $1k per month up to $14k per month... But there is a lot involved in managing an account that spends $10k a day. So, I think you have to figure out who you want to deal with and set up a schedule based on that... I also think you need to limit the amount of keywords managed at each price break.