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Had my FIRST meeting with a client today. BUT.. how much do I charge for this?

by krzysiek
9 replies
Hi guys,

I know many of you are probably sick and tired of hearing these 'how much should I charge' questions, and I guess you have that right.

This relates to making a YouTube video for a client and ranking this video in the natural Google results. No websites or anything else, just the YT video.

I know that I should be looking at how much my client could be making from my work and work on a percentage of that, but unfortunately, in this case, I really don't know what their profits are like and I did not feel comfortable asking in the interview. I tried to ask in an email what their budget may be to help me work out the program, but that did not return a reply (other issues were addressed in the reply rather than budget) and thus now I am in a bit of a hole.

The client has an online store selling beverages. They have decent website rankings for a few good keywords, but I have proposed 14 good keywords with at least 1,000+ local searches per month for them (the top one has 12,000, then a couple with 3,500 then a couple of 2,800 and then the rest lower).

The competition, as according to the Google KWT shows them at about 85% (but these apply for PPC, I believe?)

Anyway, I told the client I can work on 2-3 keywords at a time and gradually get them all up online at the top. He however has asked to do all of them at one time.

I said that's fine but would require me to work with someone else as well as the job is pretty big (which I believe it is quite big, 14 KW's at one time).

I am wondering, what should I be charging? They have beverages ranging from $20'ish to several hundred dollars. They're already getting about 5-7 orders per day from this website, which basically takes the order and ships the beverages.

This guy has also made his own Google places map listing and his own business card designs, and has apparently done some SEO work for his websites to be at the decent rankings that they are now (but he does not seem to know much about SEO itself).

So with all of that being said, what should I quote? I told him it will be on a monthly basis till all of the work is done.

Any ideas?

Thank you very much. I would like to get back to him via email within a few hours

Thank you!
#charge #client #meeting #today
  • Profile picture of the author xInd
    Without more data and being there myself, I would try $750 per month in your local currency there I think... Remember, the way to save grace on this one, is to remind your clients/leads that your estimate/quote is also based on your understanding of their situation, and your ability to anticipate their needs and budget. You can always scale it up or scale it down, and the only thing that will really change is the speed of the results.
    If you have a base rate sheet or price you charge for a smaller amount, try totaling the amount of work to be done and multiplying it by the rate per smaller task to come up with your ballpark number if mine is off.
    Hope that helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author krzysiek
    Thanks for your reply. That got me thinking. I might say that I will work 3 hours per day, 5 days a week on it. This works out to be approx. 60 hours per month. Then, I will say a price of approx. $750 or $800 and this works out to be around $13/hr, which really is not bad (actually.. on the lower side when you consider this is specialised work)

    So I think thinking in that regard, will help close a deal. Of course, I would outsource this work to someone overseas, so that I could actually make a profit in the end ( I do not intend to work for $13hr, I want to spend my time signing clients up)
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    • Profile picture of the author xInd
      Originally Posted by krzysiek View Post

      Thanks for your reply. That got me thinking. I might say that I will work 3 hours per day, 5 days a week on it. This works out to be approx. 60 hours per month. Then, I will say a price of approx. $750 or $800 and this works out to be around $13/hr, which really is not bad (actually.. on the lower side when you consider this is specialised work)

      So I think thinking in that regard, will help close a deal. Of course, I would outsource this work to someone overseas, so that I could actually make a profit in the end ( I do not intend to work for $13hr, I want to spend my time signing clients up)
      Exactly. Remember that you are quoting man hours, and if you want to be more clear about your intentions but don't want to have their minds thinking about outsourcing panics or whatever else, then use that term "man hours".
      If they ask, you can say that you intend to spend a ton of time hands on yourself, and once you have everything in place running smooth you may then delegate the tasks and oversee the campaign. This sounds professional and projects decisive action and pre-planning. It also doesn't leave the chance of them thinking... "$13 an hour... High school kids and dropouts want $13 an hour... what's the catch?" or anything of the sort.

      Cheers.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dr Dan
    Try to stay away from the hourly pay mentality. Michael Jordan didnt ask to be paid hourly. No one was able to do what he did, so he could ask for what ever pay he felt was required. If they didnt pay that, then he would play for someone else.

    You are the expert, you are the talent, you set your fees and it does not matter how many hours it will take you.

    If I tell my client there are 13 good kw, then they will say the same thing, do them all and my budget is small. Find out how much profit they make per sale would be a better question to ask. That way you know how many sales they would need to make to recoup what you will charge.

    Sometimes I just pull a figure out of my butt (lol) but it doesnt matter because they will pay it. If they dont, then I just go to the next one that will. Or sometime I might say, that I would normally charge $2,000 for this service, but since I know you know alot of people and if I do a good job for you, you will let them know, I will do all this work for only $1000. But you have to give me a glowing testimonial once I rock this out!

    Reminds me of an old saying we used to say: "Some will, some wont, who cares, next!"
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    • Profile picture of the author xInd
      Originally Posted by rockstarinlife View Post

      Try to stay away from the hourly pay mentality. Michael Jordan didnt ask to be paid hourly. No one was able to do what he did, so he could ask for what ever pay he felt was required. If they didnt pay that, then he would play for someone else.

      You are the expert, you are the talent, you set your fees and it does not matter how many hours it will take you.

      If I tell my client there are 13 good kw, then they will say the same thing, do them all and my budget is small. Find out how much profit they make per sale would be a better question to ask. That way you know how many sales they would need to make to recoup what you will charge.

      Sometimes I just pull a figure out of my butt (lol) but it doesnt matter because they will pay it. If they dont, then I just go to the next one that will. Or sometime I might say, that I would normally charge $2,000 for this service, but since I know you know alot of people and if I do a good job for you, you will let them know, I will do all this work for only $1000. But you have to give me a glowing testimonial once I rock this out!

      Reminds me of an old saying we used to say: "Some will, some wont, who cares, next!"

      While I agree with everything you are saying, and think it's great advice... However the Michael Jordan line is getting a little cliche.. The counterpoint of concern is that it seems this potential client in question, may come from the brick and mortar world in a setting that is accustomed to more employment offers and head hunting, he might understand dollars per hour better than goals and sales pitch.

      The real key in closing a sale, is becoming a universal translator. You need to be able to decipher their language and speak it to them.
      Just like if you go to mexico and you want to buy a silver necklace, if you ask for it in English, it's US $40, if you ask in Spanish, it's 40 pesos and they'll even sell it to you for less if you haggle, offer a pair of pants or something from your country and get 3 for free! Only if you can say it in Spanish though.

      Remember there are many clues in the subtleties.

      Also, your translation must also include spelling out how it's going to improve things for the client, in relation to the dollars spent. So try to form a sentence that relates the monthly rate to the monthly results.
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    • Profile picture of the author Russell Hall
      Originally Posted by rockstarinlife View Post

      Try to stay away from the hourly pay mentality. Michael Jordan didnt ask to be paid hourly. No one was able to do what he did, so he could ask for what ever pay he felt was required. If they didnt pay that, then he would play for someone else.

      You are the expert, you are the talent, you set your fees and it does not matter how many hours it will take you.

      If I tell my client there are 13 good kw, then they will say the same thing, do them all and my budget is small. Find out how much profit they make per sale would be a better question to ask. That way you know how many sales they would need to make to recoup what you will charge.

      Sometimes I just pull a figure out of my butt (lol) but it doesnt matter because they will pay it. If they dont, then I just go to the next one that will. Or sometime I might say, that I would normally charge $2,000 for this service, but since I know you know alot of people and if I do a good job for you, you will let them know, I will do all this work for only $1000. But you have to give me a glowing testimonial once I rock this out!

      Reminds me of an old saying we used to say: "Some will, some wont, who cares, next!"
      Got to agree with this 100%.

      Once you start working for the hourly pay routine you've just signed yourself up for a truckload of work for virtual slave labor rates (if that turns you on then move to the Philippines). That is unless you're a qualified attorney and can charge $450 per hour and $300 per fax!

      I think Rockstar has got it right,... you're the expert,.. not them,... present and sell yourself as the expert and they'll 1) respect you more 2) pay you more! Go for it man!
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      Mvlti svnt vocati, pavci vero electi - Many are called [but] few are chosen

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  • Profile picture of the author krzysiek
    Thanks for the replies guys. Both replies seem great, despite sort of being opposite from each other. I really need to try and think of what to charge here. I don't mind including the amount of hours, and I don't mind excluding it - I guess I just right now feel like I need to 'justify' my price in a sense and this may be why I would include the man hours involved (because then the client can put it into perspective?)

    On the same token, I do not want to sell it for too little - but I do not want to lose this first potential client. I am sure I will be much better later on, but for now - this is big for me. I think I may end up quoting a price around $800 or so, per month for the VSEO work on the 14 KW's. In the end, I think the benefit (once the videos reach top page) will be there - but I am left guessing a bit since I do not know profit margins with alcohol shops.
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    • Profile picture of the author xInd
      Originally Posted by krzysiek View Post

      Thanks for the replies guys. Both replies seem great, despite sort of being opposite from each other. I really need to try and think of what to charge here. I don't mind including the amount of hours, and I don't mind excluding it - I guess I just right now feel like I need to 'justify' my price in a sense and this may be why I would include the man hours involved (because then the client can put it into perspective?)

      On the same token, I do not want to sell it for too little - but I do not want to lose this first potential client. I am sure I will be much better later on, but for now - this is big for me. I think I may end up quoting a price around $800 or so, per month for the VSEO work on the 14 KW's. In the end, I think the benefit (once the videos reach top page) will be there - but I am left guessing a bit since I do not know profit margins with alcohol shops.

      Another good way to ensure success, is to put part of your quote into a based on results. For example, you could stipulate above your base contract rate, that you are entitled to a nominal bonus for maintaining 1st page rankings for each keyword. This provides a win win, because you know you will get more if you do well, and they know they aren't paying so much unless it works out great. $50/mo per keyword sounds small, but multiply it by 14 and you've about doubled your pay.
      Locking both sides in for a long term win win with the results plus increasing funding is a great way to leave room to grow....
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  • Profile picture of the author krzysiek
    Not a bad idea...!

    I just emailed him back, I ended up saying $1000 per month because I honestly think the value is there. About 36,000 viewers per month according to Google KWT for all of those search terms combined, so even if I got 5% per month looking at his video... I am sure it would bring more profit.
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