Hi lovely people ! I just booked my first client as a freelancer and I am so excited ! I have a few questions about invoicing though.
I got hired as a copywriter to create 3 shorts videos / ads for social media, and also as a social media manager by the same person. She pays me an hourly fee.
I am wondering if I can charge my client for the time I spend researching (the competition, insipiration, making sure I got the right key words, etc.)
Replies8
- The discovery phase is essential to any project as it breathes vitality into any project. With that in mind, definitely charge for it; if not as a part of the project then it should be compensated as part of your hourly rate. I've had clients that prefer to package for the whole project which prevents days of research that don't appear in the final creation - it's all about how you want to work and where your client sees the ultimate value. Hope this helps!
- Thank you all for your answers, I really appreciate you taking the time to answer :)
- Sure you can! Research is part of a creative job and - as suggested - you can share it with the client as a starting point. I usually don't charge the time spent on something only if it's not part of the brief or it's a skill or a knowledge I'm supposed to have beforehand (eg. if I'm hired to work as newsletter designer with Mailchimp but I need some time to master it)
- @Luana D'Elias Thomas Agreed!
- Hi Amandine, totally agree with Helen. I would explain to the client when in inital talks that research/discovery is a phase of the creative process and sharing with this research with the client also allows them to sign off (or provide feedback) the direction of potential outcomes of the deliverables. Which reduces the risk of 1, not being on the same page when it comes down to it and 2, reduces amendment rounds. Hope that helps!
- Yes, your time and effort should be paid. Though I’m very anti-hourly pay but that’s another topic
- @Helen Hartley thank you very much for your answer :)
- absolutely best to agree your methodology i.e, the process up front and call it a discovery phase rather then audit - give some blurb about why this phase is important to contexutalise the work you do and create clear benchmarks before launching into creative. its will help you narrow down creative directions especially with a new client. I always get clients to lok for things they like as well then review it all together as a mini sprint. That way creative research becomes a clear stream of work with value. Hope this helps. and you know your client so this is just what I do but as logn as you show the value and the why, most of you time should be billable with the value attached.
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