Need advice for pricing

18 replies
A client is wanting me to submit a proposal to manage the following:

- Adwords
- Facebook (but they would answer all inquiries & do their posts)
- online marketing (various listings, possibly Facebook ads, etc)

YellowPages was doing it for them and they let their contract run out. They have a new proposal from them and they told me the price is a bit expensive - but I have no clue what it is.

Im familiar with Adwords but I have no clue how to price it for a client.
I would prefer helping with the set-up & evaluating the monthly results, etc...but they would pay directly for their Adwords. Does this make sense business wise?

Any feedback/advice would be greatly appreciated!
#advice #pricing
  • Profile picture of the author RexMapes
    I really don't know what to suggest as far as actual pricing, however I would write the contract for $XX PLUS ALL EXPENSES with some expense money up front. Otherwise you can ask them to pay it separately, but if they don't stay on top of paying on time then all of your work will come to a halt.
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  • Profile picture of the author origin
    start by working out your hourly rate and then estimating how many hours you will spend on their marketing and quote according to that. Example $10 per hour x 10 hours per month = $100 pm. thats what you quote them then.
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    • Profile picture of the author infinityplr
      Originally Posted by rob19028 View Post

      Yellow pages are priced high! You will beat their prices. They are already used to paying a monthly fee for this service. I would ask for an upfront fee plus 300-500 per month and list out all the things you are doing
      Originally Posted by origin View Post

      start by working out your hourly rate and then estimating how many hours you will spend on their marketing and quote according to that. Example $10 per hour x 10 hours per month = $100 pm. thats what you quote them then.
      I agree.

      set your hourly rate and other rates that you will be doing for the project. Enumerate each and how much it will cost on hourly bases and then add it to your proposal.
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  • Profile picture of the author rob19028
    Yellow pages are priced high! You will beat their prices. They are already used to paying a monthly fee for this service. I would ask for an upfront fee plus 300-500 per month and list out all the things you are doing
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  • Adwords can take a lot of time to manage. I'd imagine depending on what they have you doing with their facebook page that could be just as time intensive.

    If you know how much they are spending on Adwords and it was a reasonable amount say $5000/month or even $10,000/month I'd propose that you would work for 15% of their monthly ad spend. If it's less than say $5,000. I'd think about charging somewhere between $500 to $1000/mo. The reason is between reporting and the actually management you'll be spending a good amount of time on the account. Also, if you can help save them $500 or even $1,000 a month (because often times the person managing the account doesn't know what they are doing) it would be worth it.

    As for charging for Facebook I'd figure out how much time you're going to spend on it and then work your way to a price point. If you're combining all 3 I'd recommend reducing the cost in a bundle. You may even want to show them what you normally charge and then tell them because you're bundling all 3 you'll reduce it by X amount. Ideally expressed as a %.
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    • Profile picture of the author dagnyjbarber
      Originally Posted by AustinSEOFreelancer View Post

      Adwords can take a lot of time to manage. I'd imagine depending on what they have you doing with their facebook page that could be just as time intensive.

      If you know how much they are spending on Adwords and it was a reasonable amount say $5000/month or even $10,000/month I'd propose that you would work for 15% of their monthly ad spend. If it's less than say $5,000. I'd think about charging somewhere between $500 to $1000/mo. The reason is between reporting and the actually management you'll be spending a good amount of time on the account. Also, if you can help save them $500 or even $1,000 a month (because often times the person managing the account doesn't know what they are doing) it would be worth it.

      As for charging for Facebook I'd figure out how much time you're going to spend on it and then work your way to a price point. If you're combining all 3 I'd recommend reducing the cost in a bundle. You may even want to show them what you normally charge and then tell them because you're bundling all 3 you'll reduce it by X amount. Ideally expressed as a %.
      I thin you should go for it. Completely I agree with this.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mekanism
    Agree with Austin, i charge 15% (industry standard) and then a minimum of $500 monthly. so if they spend only $2000 per month on ads, then i still charge $500
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  • Profile picture of the author redcat56
    Does anyone have a sample of terms and conditions for managing the facebook page?
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    • Profile picture of the author vndnbrgj
      Originally Posted by redcat56 View Post

      Does anyone have a sample of terms and conditions for managing the facebook page?
      No, but it shouldn't be too much to have your lawyer whip one up real quick.
      Just have laid out:
      What they expect from you
      What you expect from them
      The amount
      The course of the agreement
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  • Profile picture of the author 300SMG
    Ad agency standard rate is 15% of their ad budget but if it's non ad related such as SEO or web design/redesign then you need to come up with an hourly or per project price. And that would be in direct relationship to you overhead and living expenses. You can do a search for formulas to estimate pricing for project based services.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeremy Bratcher
    My favorite tactic is to ask them "What is your budget for this project?" They always disclose a price point in my experience.

    As far as Adwords goes, it is common to charge 10-15% of their spending budget. For example, if there budget is $2000 a month, you would charge $200-$300.
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    • Profile picture of the author DABK
      How much profit are they going to make from your efforts?

      How much are you worth?

      Forget the amount of time it takes you, think in terms of what they get. If you're going to make them 100k in profits, they'll be willing to pay a lot more than if you are going to make them 25k in profit.

      You're not sufficiently specific for specific answers. Facebook set up could be expensive at $149 or cheap, depending on what goes into it...
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  • Profile picture of the author humili
    When it comes to pricing, you don't want to undercharge your client but at the same time, you have to make sure you deliver quality products.

    Honestly, there is not a right or wrong answer. You charge how much you are worth with the work you are able to deliver.

    Understand the clients' objective and your efforts involved in the delivery process will probably hope you judge how much to bill to your client.
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  • Profile picture of the author fronpy
    If you get and apply adwords coupon ,you may minimize your cost about to half.
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    • Profile picture of the author Q Estherr
      Originally Posted by fronpy View Post

      If you get and apply adwords coupon ,you may minimize your cost about to half.
      Adwords coupon will work but IMO it works only in the short term.

      Many people here stated that 10-15% is the industry standard and $500 is the minimum to charge.

      But how about Facebook ads? The creates, the angle... all included the in $500 if that's the minimum rate?

      I have a client who wants me to manage his FB ads and do some publicity for him by contacting celebrity bloggers in his niche. The only thing that pulls me back from doing this is the quality of his website.

      I honestly don't think his website converts and he spent over $4k on it. Told him numerous times that the design has to be changed. He understands that but didn't want to further invest even more money to change something he just spent money on developing...
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnnyBattles
    If you are not sure how intensive it will be why not do a 1-3 Month trial for an introductory rate with the expectation that rates will go up or down based on the workload of the project.
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  • Profile picture of the author ProAffiliate01
    You have to charge for your time and whatever it costs for promotion (i.e. the PPC ads). Make the fee reasonable for what you can afford to live on but not too expensive.
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  • Profile picture of the author betterwtveter
    It is just like in my construction business. I usually charge $30 an hour, but if it is a custom job, than I would charge $35 an hour. Charge a about $15 more than your actual product cost and that should be reasonable.
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