Hello everyone!

I am attempting to discover what people feel their time is worth in the social media marketing world. When operating as an independent contractor and attempting to win a job, how do decide what we deserve to be paid without under/over selling our value? There are so few benchmarks available for our industry and there are so many different levels of quality of work provided. 

What are your thoughts?

I have compiled a list of salary sites on my site, Getajobtips.com, found at http://www.getajobtips.com/2012/05/how-to-learn-salary-range-for-job-you.html – it could be helpful information if you are looking for a full-time job.

I would suggest looking up the job title on all of the salary sites for your city and then determinng your range within that greater range. Then when people ask you your salary range, say, “From my research, the going rate for this position in this area is $XX,XXX to $XX,XXX. My salary requirement is within that range based on benefits and promotional opportunities.”

That wording gives you room to negotiate.

Kathy Bernard
Getajobtips.com
OPEN to friend invites

@kathybernard Glad ot hear about your website. I’ll have to check it out.

@sean-swentek Your local economic development authority might have some salary information and associations often keep industry data. Our EDA (Fairfax County) has small business counselors available through SCORE: http://www.fairfaxcountyeda.org/score-counseling which could provide some guidance. 

As Eileen @supereb mentioned, you’ll need to decide on hourly rates vs. package rates. A photographer might charge $60/hour plus expenses for an event or $250 for a 2 hour event. It depends on what your target customer is most comfortable with. 

@sean-swentek

“Whatever the market will bear” is a vague phrase that unfortunately works here.

Different parts of the country or world will pay more or less. Your experience will dictate what people will pay. How much you’ll do for them will affect your costs.

If you choose to go hourly determine how much you need to make to pay your bills and put some away. If you want a monthly retainer, be very clear about what you will–and won’t–do for that retainer.

If you want to be able to charge more, consider doing some pro-bono work or lower cost work where you can really move the needle for a client, with the understanding that if you do a good job you can use them as an example of your caliber of work.

Good luck!