Fortuitous Oddity

Web Worker Daily talks about setting your hourly rate.  He highlights several things I’ve learned. 

Those new to web work often want to set the lowest possible rate, so as to attract business. I personally counsel against this, for three reasons. First, if your rate is too low, people will be suspicious that you’re not really professional (would you trust a doctor who offered to perform brain surgery for $12.95?). Second, the clients you get at low, low rates tend to be the biggest nuisances, who demand rework of everything and take forever to pay their bills. Third, it’s a lot easier to offer a discount than it is to raise a price you already quoted. To my mind, it’s far better to quote a fair rate than an artificially low on in the first place.

This is mirrored in my own experience.  It’s about profit maximization, not revenue maximization. 

The FreelanceSwitch Hourly Rate Calculator is very useful for helping with this.

I had no idea John Derbyshire was anything other than a crusty National Review writer. Apparently he’s also writes great books on advanced mathematics.  Here’s his homepage.

Is It Better to Buy or Rent?, a very handy home-buying calculator thinger.

Don’t worry, Roger, some us still ski in our ski jackets.

(North Face and Patagonia is a long way from grunge, but anyways.)