I have a quick question. I was asked to do a newsletter. It is for print, quite small (letter-size, double-sided, 6-spread, 12 pages in all) probably full-bleed, probably digital output. Also it looks like they would need some stock photos. Would anyone have a ballpark guess as to a price?

This charge would be for design only.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

I have about as much of an idea of a ballpark price as you do…

It's difficult to say without knowing a zillion variables: Like are you typing it, or is the copy coming in? Is the copy in final edited stage or are you going to be doing a lot of editing on the page? How much of the content is done? Are the images that are coming in good resolution Do you have to colour correct? What is it being printed on? How many people will be proofing it? Will be needing to supplement with any charts, graphs, illustrations, etc? What is the client like? Have you worked with them before?

There are a ton of variables that can either make it efficient as heck or a time suck depending on those variables.

Generally speaking there is no formula or a ballpark amount of time it takes to do a page, that you can just multiply by the page count and come up with a figure for. If the clients wants you to ballpark, then you need to ask those questions to the client and not a message board so you can come up with a more accurate quote.

Otherwise you more often than not will come up with a rough quote that you will lose your shirt on because the client holds it as a firm price.

Its better to tell the client what your hourly rate is, and then tell them it's hard to come up with a ballpark price until you get a sense of what all is involved. If you DO have a good idea of what all is involved then I still would be hesitant about it giving a number, only because again you are held to that usually regardless how much additional work and proofing has been involved.

One thing I have found that works well is to tell the hourly rate, and then explain that it is difficult to ballpark until you have a more refined sense of what is involved. Then ask what they were looking to spend, citing that you will warn them at increments of 25%, 50% and 75% of that price so they have a sense of where they stand monetarily.

Like I said, ballparking something like just doesn't work when every client and job is different.

Ex. The same contractor could do two kitchen renovations in the same house for two different clients, and that doesn't mean the price would be any where near the same.

Another item to ensure headaches is the time spent on refining the newsletter after you've provided a proof. This is also hard to estimate as a larger or smaller photo on the cover makes text reflow throughout. This can be nothing at all or a major change, especially if approval is by (ugh) committee instead of one person.

You'll find divergent opinions on this subject, and I can only speak from my own experience.

Among the many problems with quoting an hourly fee is that it leaves guesswork on how much the job is going to cost until the very end. It also penalizes the pro who can turn around great copy in a short amount of time, versus someone who maybe will need a lot more time to hit the mark (and I say this with no disrespect to hourly wage earners).

So how much to charge? Well, that's really a question I can't answer without the facts. Figure out how much your time is worth, how much of it you will spend on this project (research, writing and revisions), and see if the figure you come up with meets your client's budget.

You'll find divergent opinions on this subject, and I can only speak from my own experience.

Among the many problems with quoting an hourly fee is that it leaves guesswork on how much the job is going to cost until the very end. It also penalizes the pro who can turn around great copy in a short amount of time, versus someone who maybe will need a lot more time to hit the mark (and I say this with no disrespect to hourly wage earners).

So how much to charge? Well, that's really a question I can't answer without the facts. Figure out how much your time is worth, how much of it you will spend on this project (research, writing and revisions), and see if the figure you come up with meets your client's budget.

I don't think there is anything wrong in letting the client know your hourly rate so long as you provide an estimate based on that hourly rate. It is an estimate afterall and if there is good reason for going over the estimate (most notably problems created by the client) that are justifiable there should be no problem.

This is how I have always provided my estimates to my clients and how they are billed (hourly) and I have a 100% satisfaction rate with 95% of my clients being repeat customers who also provide me with referrals.

You hourly rate or $100 a page, whichever is less. At least the client will know what the max price will be and that revisions and needless BS cost money. You flat rate these guys and you become a full time employee working for free.

The question is: How long does it take you to come up with a design? How many concepts will you give the client? Are they expecting something free-flowing or a rigid template. Is it design-heavy, or typographic?

Myself, depending on the parameters, a single concept might take approx. 6-8 hours per concept. I usually give them a cover and a two-page spread as an example of how it might look.

For example purposes only:

2 concepts (16 hours total) x your rate ($50/hour for this example) = $800.00

Stock photo acquisitions: whatever you pay per photo—I charge it the end of the project, but keep a tally so the client is always informed.

+ GST/HST (if applicable)


One thing to keep in mind is revisions:

I tend to give my clients the first two rounds of edits for free with the proviso that any edits above and beyond incur an hourly charge of my usual rate. This allows them to make any changes they like (or give them room for a complete redo if they are not satisfied with the initial concepts) but also keeps them grounded and prohibits excessive requests. Some clients will go crazy with edits that they lose focus.

I spell out what I consider a round of edits to the client so that there is NO misunderstanding. There are the occasional clients that will rapid-fire a dozen e-mail (or phone calls) with changes. To head this off, I inform them that I consider each incident a round of edits. This (should) push them to take time and collect a list of things they want changed/fixed/altered in one lump sum.

Of course, there are always one or two little mistakes here and there so if the client is nice, I'll overlook it.

Once the client OKs a concept, I'll go forward with the layout and production with another round of approvals/edits, followed by a final sign-off and collection of files for the client.

Make sure you keep a paper trail of everything—decisions, questions, delivery dates of text/art/photos, etc. It might save your butt down the road.

Thanks everybody for your suggestions! Working full-time for a big company, I never had to deal with pricing issues with customers.

I am taking your advice and just making sure it is fair and communicated with the customer.