Query re: Pricing Content Strategy as a Consultant

[jdn74]

Hi Everyone,

I'm adding content strategy as an offering in my business (currently
content marketing consulting) and am curious how much to charge. Do
most strategists quote an hourly rate or a project rate? I prefer a
project rate.

I'm not a tech or design guy, so am coming at this more from the
editorial side of things. I'm considering breaking down the phases and
deliverables as (roughly) follows:

[Planning]
Content Brief (Overview of Answers to Why, What, Who, When, Where, &
How)
thru Stakeholder Interviews
w/ Key Messages Laid Out (extra?)
User Personas
Competitive Analysis

[Sourcing]
Content Audit
Content Mapping (to the sales cycle)

[Creation]
Content Lifecycle
Editorial Calendar
Editorial Style Guide
Actual Creation/Writing

[Governance]
Usability Testing (User Test/User Interview)
Coversation Review (SM+)
Trend Review
Surveys

Any insights would be appreciated.

Best,

Jason

[Amy Thibodeau]

Hey Jason,

It's about a year old now, but Contentini published an article awhile back about content strategy rates based on some research we did:

http://contentini.com/how-much-does-a-content-strategist-cost/

Hope it's helpful.

Thanks,

Amy

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[Noz Urbina]

That link doesn't work for me?

--
Noz - http://lessworkmoreflow.blogspot.com // @nozurbina
"I find quotations at the bottom of email signatures somewhat trite..."

[Rick New]

Try the cached version

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://contentini.com/how-much-does-a-content-strategist-cost

[Amy Thibodeau]

Weird - wonder why it's not working for some of you.

CC: Dan to look into what the issue might be.

[Kathy Hanbury]

Hi Jason,

I typically provide hourly and/or day rates and avoid project rates
because, in my experience, projects are rarely defined well enough to
give an accurate estimate up front. And while I like your deliverable
list, it's rare that I've been able to provide such a cohesive set of
deliverables. I frequently do more consultation where I help in-house
staff or other project vendors carry out some of these activities, and
sometimes deliverables are eliminated to fit the budget or because the
project doesn't really warrant it. Also, I don't often do extensive
writing projects because many clients feel that they can hire writers
for less than a content strategy consultant (and it's not my favourite
thing anyway), so I typically stick to proof-of-concept content and
style guides or subcontract my writing projects at a different rate.

In other words, I would recommend a flexible approach to pricing and
products, depending on client and project needs. I started my business
just over a year ago, priced slightly low to gain some experience and
client references, and now have more work than I can take on with my
pricing in the high-range of what Contentini's survey results indicate
for my experience level (1 year as in independent content
strategist... about 8 in related fields).

Hope this helps!

- Kathy

Kathy Hanbury
Principal & Founder
E3 Content Strategy
www.e3ContentStrategy.com
778.285.0666 (Pacific)

Twitter: @KathyHanbury
Blog: e3ContentStrategy.blogspot.com

[Daniel Goddard | London Websites]

I price my web services at £150 a day, no half days, no exceptions. If
the customer wants to pay for travel expenses then I go in, otherwise
I find it easier working remotely.

Find a niche, stick to your rates is my advice.

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Kind regards,

Daniel

Daniel Goddard
Web Content Editor | London Events 2010
www.londonevents2010.com
eve...@londonevents2010.com
+44 (0)7561 313 198

<http://www.londonevents2010.com>

[Rahel Anne Bailie]

Wow, I didn't realize there was such a range in pricing! I guess it's quite dependent on what you do. If I were to imagine a scale, it would be something like:

content strategy/content management consulting $xxx/hr

content strategy including technical-side-of-content consulting $xxx/hr

content strategy with limited technical-side-of-content $xx/hr

content strategy limited to editorial $xx/hr

copywriting and/or editing  $xx/hr

Just shows the breadth of our field -

===
Rahel Anne Bailie, Content Strategist / CM Consultant
Intentional Design Inc. www.intentionaldesign.ca
Content strategies for business impact      Tel. 604.837.0034 (PT, GMT -8)
Social apps (skype, twitter, etc): rahelab
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/rahelannebailie

[Ruth Kaufman]

The pricing range is not surprising to me because the functional range in the field is similar to the range in, say, a marketing field. To draw an analogy or two, "marketer" is not a realistic job title because direct, database marketing and advertising creative are as different in terms of skill and scope of thinking as, say, civil engineer and and urban planner. 

Judging from what I've seen in my time in the corporate world (~14 years), editorial and technical content consulting are lumped together more because the executives who own the web in non-media companies are just ignorant of what it takes to put out content across the entire content supply chain, not because these areas of expertise naturally go together. I seldom encounter someone who's outstanding at writing and editorial, as well as at CMS and technical consulting. It's possible, but it's also possible to be a painter and a car mechanic --just a matter of being multi-faceted.

Having said that, I think it's true that project structures and processes are what is pushing these disparate skill sets together. I'm personally just very skeptical that this coupling will withstand the test of time. 

And now I'll get off my soapbox because I believe I've meandered off topic a little. :-)

Ruth

[Trisha Brandon]

Last month, eConsultancy published the results from a survey of digital agency day rates by role. In it, the average day rate for a content strategist is £639. 

Trisha

[jdn74]

Thanks Everyone for the links and the comments. I guess I was hoping
for project fees since they are less open-ended and the client knows
what to expect upfront, but I guess this is much easier to do with
straight copy than with content strategy. How do people handle the
issue of price, though, in terms of giving a quote? I'm assuming I
would do an initial discovery/assessment of the client's needs &
goals, make content strategy recommendations to meet those goals, and
slap a price on it (given my estimation of the number of hours/days it
will take)? Or do you tend to go with a ballpark figure?

Sorry if this is way too much of a newbie question, but I'm used to
saying $X for X pages of copy. The parameters are much clearer.

Thanks again.

Jason

On Sep 9, 9:22 am, Trisha Brandon <trishabran...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Last month, eConsultancy published the results from a survey of digital

> agency day rates<http://econsultancy.com/uk/reports/digital-agency-rate-card-survey>by

> role. In it, the average day rate for a content strategist is £639.
>
> Trisha
>

> On 9 September 2011 16:04, Rahel Anne Bailie <rahel.bai...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > Wow, I didn't realize there was such a range in pricing! I guess it's quite
> > dependent on what you do. If I were to imagine a scale, it would be
> > something like:
>
> > content strategy/content management consulting $xxx/hr
> > content strategy including technical-side-of-content consulting $xxx/hr
> > content strategy with limited technical-side-of-content $xx/hr
> > content strategy limited to editorial $xx/hr
> > copywriting and/or editing  $xx/hr
>
> > Just shows the breadth of our field -
>
> > ===
> > Rahel Anne Bailie, Content Strategist / CM Consultant
> > Intentional Design Inc.www.intentionaldesign.ca

> > Content strategies for business impact      Tel.604.837.0034begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            604.837.0034      (PT, GMT -8)

> > Social apps (skype, twitter, etc): rahelab
> > LinkedIn:www.linkedin.com/in/rahelannebailie
>
> > On Fri, Sep 9, 2011 at 12:24 AM, Daniel Goddard | London Websites <
> > londonwebsi...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >> I price my web services at £150 a day, no half days, no exceptions. If
> >> the customer wants to pay for travel expenses then I go in, otherwise
> >> I find it easier working remotely.
>
> >> Find a niche, stick to your rates is my advice.
>

> >> >778.285.0666begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            778.285.0666      (Pacific)

> >>+44 (0)7561 313 198begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            +44 (0)7561 313 198      

>
> >> <http://www.londonevents2010.com>
>
> >> --
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> >> "Content Strategy" group.
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> >>http://groups.google.com/group/contentstrategy?hl=en.
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> - Show quoted text -

[Rahel Bailie]

I usually break it into phases. Much easier sell and more predictable for the client. Charge for a small discovery phase. Then deliver the best gap analysis you can and estimate for the next phase. If they understand the problems, they're more likely to want to adopt the solutions.

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