Flat Fees vs. Hourly Rates

My daughters like to play bookstore at our house. They hide behind one of our beds, pull up a giant pile of books and ask me to buy them—and I'm happy to oblige because 1) I love books and 2) it costs me pretend money. And I'm willing to buy nearly anything with pretend money.

When you're discussing rates for freelance projects, it can often feel like pretend money. You hate to quote a flat rate because that number may sound too high and scare off the buyer but you also hate to quote an hourly because that can lead to some concerns over what are really billable hours.

Freelancer Art Spikol has a great breakdown on the topic here:
Flat Fees vs. Hourly Rates

Also, if you have some concerns about freelancing, here's his take on what makes freelance life so good:
10 Reasons the Freelance Life is a Good Life

Oh, and before you ask if you can come and clean my house out of books with your pretend dollars, know that all books must be returned to the bookstore and restocked on the shelves at closing time. Sorry, those are the rules of "Ella and Anna's Most Awesome Bookstore." You can thank their CEO (me) for the rule (but the bookstore name can be attributed to them).

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