[TriLUG] How much could a penguin make...

[Thunder Bear]

What Jon is saying makes a lot of sense.  This is the ballpark that I 
charge for long-term clients, or short term ones that just happen to 
have a project I want to get my hands dirty with.

For short term contracts (a couple of days or so), you can and should 
raise these rates significantly.  I've recently heard of others who do 
more of the short term projects charging anywhere from $100/hr up to 
$150/hr and on up from there.  If you really know your stuff and have 
the right combination of skills, you might be able to charge a daily 
rate of $2000 (in one day blocks, so you are no longer even punching an 
hourly clock).

Unless you are also pretty good at accounting, hire an accountant.  I 
just send my accountant copies of my accounting files and all of my 
receipts.  She tells me how much money to send to the IRS and the 
state.  She prepares my taxes and all I have to do is sign.  The cost 
is very reasonable when you consider how much more you make as a 
consultant, and the reduced hassle.

If I may interject a little bit of politics here for a moment, it is 
hard for me to fathom how anyone can support a politician who wants to 
increase or maintain our current level of taxes.  If you are working as 
a W-2 employee you probably don't even realize how much is flowing out 
because you lose it before you even get your check.  But if you are 
working as a contractor, you have to send off a check FOUR TIMES A YEAR 
for a large sum of money to pay your taxes.

But I digress.

Independent consulting can be rewarding work.  But it can also be very 
scary.  For example, how do you find steady work as a consultant?  My 
biggest challenge right now is finding enough work to keep me busy.  So 
I am not quite tapped in yet to whatever channels one uses to drum up 
work.  Any suggestions from those that are having to turn work away?

On Monday, September 23, 2002, at 08:14 AM, Jon Carnes wrote:

> It really depends on the market (or what you want to charge).  The
> current market is fairly light. In general I charge:
>   $60/hr on-site
>   $40/hr remote work
>   $25/hr maintenance, log reporting
>
> But if I don't want the job, I'll as much as double my rates (and of
> course, those are the ones you *always* get!).
>
> Jon
>
> On Sun, 2002-09-22 at 23:25, Chris Knowles wrote:
>> ... If a penguin could make money?
>>
>> I'm about to embark on doing some work for a sometime business
>> acquaintance, and I have no idea what the going rate for computer
>> services are.
>>
>> I've been (Trapped/Employed/Wanking) in the same job for several 
>> years,
>> and so have lost touch with things.
>>
>> What are the ranges of hourly rates for doing things like setting up a
>> company's Mail server/Web server/Firewall?
>>
>> When he asked me what I thought a fair rate was, I basically had to 
>> tell
>> him I'd get back to him.  done a little poking around on the web, but
>> what I'm finding there are either a) obviously old or b) hideously 
>> high.
>>
>> Anyway, thanks for your insight/advice/limitless-greed.
>>
>> CJK
>>
>>
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