Hourly and Fixed Price Jobs Explained

A freelancer has 2 types of work, Hourly and Fixed Price jobs. The best thing it is we are free to choose whatever type of jobs we like. We can go for hourly, fixed price or we can do both at once for a more profitable freelance career. Let me explain what these freelance jargon then choose what is best for your career afterwards.

Hourly Priced Jobs

Hourly jobs are the jobs paid on every hour worked. Perfect for those that are just beginning a freelance career because it is less stressful and more manageable. Plus it builds up your discipline since working online has so many distractions. 

Advantage

1. Set your own rate based on your skill and capability. A higher hourly rate means more earnings per day.
2. Payments are guaranteed. Every hour worked provided that you send a snapshot of your hourly work or an invoice of your job on that day. Alternatively, websites like oDesk and Elance have desktop application that automatically takes screenshot at upload it to your client as proof.
3. Can stay on a client for months. If your client likes you, you can work for months until he decides to end the contract or you end your contract with them.

Disadvantage

1. Must complete the time limit per week in order to get your maximum earnings. If you have a 50 hours  per week limit, you must meet that, not because your client wants you to but because you won't get your desired earnings in a month if you missed even an hour.
2. You missed your job for 1 day and you have a lot to catch up on.
   
   

   

   Time = Money

   The maximum time that we have in a day is 16 hours if we have 8 hours of sleep, 14 if we have 6 hours of sleep. Allot 2 hours for eating, taking a bath, rest, etc and we now have 12-14 hours of work per day. If we miss a day of work, we have to adjust our time of work the next day in order to complete our number of hours per week.
3. Cannot request an upfront payment.

Fixed Price Jobs

Fixed price jobs get paid for every project, milestone or per module sent. Most experienced freelancers find this kind of job very profitable because it has more multitasking advantage over hourly jobs.

Advantage

1. You won't work per hour. Work whenever you feel like it because the payment you and your client agreed on is fixed. If he agreed you get paid $250, then you will get than in full even if you missed a day of work when the project is done.
2. Can request for an upfront payment. Its not only an advantage but a must for fixed price jobs. Request at least a 10% of your pay on the project not only to be sure that your client will pay but also your motivational tool.
3. Can be paid per milestone reached. A client can pay you for every portion of the project until it is completed or every project you sent(ex. get paid per article).

Disadvantage

1. Clients can accept or decline your project. If creating a project and your project was declined your client has the option to pay you or not pay at all thus leaving all your hard work for nothing.
2. No guarantee.Sometimes they pay in half, in full, sometimes they don't. Oftentimes they pay at least 25% of the proposed rate but most of the time they intend not to pay at all.
3. Deadlines. Unlike hourly rate jobs where your client can hire you for months, fixed price jobs have very short deadlines that sometimes their requirements are hard to meet(ex. 50 unique articles in a week), when you fail to meet the deadline, you won't get paid and it will reflect to your professionalism.

What type of job is right for me?

• For aspiring freelancers that have day jobs, a fixed price jobs will help you manage your time.
• For full-time freelancers that had just started, hourly priced jobs will keep your career going because of a longer contract term over fixed price jobs.
• Experienced freelancers can do both particularly if their projects are easy.

Additional Tip:

Multitask

More computers mean increased productivity and profit.

Posted in: basics, contract jobs, hourly priced jobs, tips