How to set Powerpoint consulting fees?
TracyM
I've never done Powerpoint consulting, or much of any consulting,
though I've taught basic Powerpoint as part of teaching basic computer
skills in community colleges. However one of my students just said she
convinced her company (a nonprofit) to hire me to do a major
presentation of about 75 slides for a civic project and she wants to
take a look at the text etc. and then tell her my cost for the entire
project. She wouldn't be providing any graphics - I'd have to find
some - but images aren't the focus, since the presentation will be
used in teaching dozens of regulations to people applying for a
special kind of driving license. Since I've only done small Powerpoint
projects for my students, I feel a bit out of my league in regard to
how to determine the time involved in such a project, and how to set
my fees (this would be for the Hartford Ct area). Any suggestions -
especially before late Wednesday Sept 3 when I have to present my
costs - would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Tracy Marie Schultz
Steve Glover
This may or may not apply... but at a previous job, we often were asked to
prep powerpoints for our clients, and they were billed at the standard
creative (interactive) rate of $120/hr... I bet in 98 and 99 we did $40k a
year off of PowerPoint alone. Of course, our clients were multinationals...
I don't know if this would apply to your situation (nonprofit).
One thing I know you can count on, and that is a per-slide time of 30
minutes, minimum. It's easy work, just time consuming to get the images and
other content sequenced right for a presentation. Once you do the first
draft (10 minutes), first review (1-10 minutes per slide) changes and
modifications (5 minutes) and a number of walkthnrus where you tweak
individual slides (1-5 minutes per slide, per walkthru)... It adds up. 75
slides can amount to almost 38 hours of your time. Don't be afraid to quote
a project fee, rather than an hourly fee, and give them some sort of
nonprofit rate.
Best,
Steve
"TracyM" <tracy...@netscape.net> wrote in message
news:bj2f6...@enews1.newsguy.com...
g9u5dd4...@yahoo.com
$120/hr seems really steep for this (nonprofit-civic) application.
If they have 75 slides and it takes 30 minutes per slide minimum, then
that's roughly 38 hours. Multiple that by your current annual salary
divided by 1000. That should give you a rough idea of the minumum
fee. So an annual salary of 40K would result in a minumum fee of
$1520.
On 2 Sep 2003 21:26:38 GMT, "Steve Glover" <mmn...@NOSPAMmmvbc.com>
wrote:
Mike Turco
"TracyM" <tracy...@netscape.net> wrote in message
news:bj2f6...@enews1.newsguy.com...
>
> I've never done Powerpoint consulting, or much of any consulting,
> though I've taught basic Powerpoint as part of teaching basic computer
> skills in community colleges. However one of my students just said she
> convinced her company (a nonprofit) to hire me to do a major
> presentation of about 75 slides for a civic project and she wants to
> take a look at the text etc. and then tell her my cost for the entire
> project.
Tracy,
I can almost guarantee that no matter how much time you think this will
take, it will take longer. (With all due respect to Steve: I thought your
breakdown was impressive.)
It comes down to where you want to go with this kind of thing. For example,
do you want to use this opportunity to kick off a side job of consulting?
The opportunity is there, but it raises a number of questions. For example,
to start a business you need a business plan and a marketing plan and a bank
account and...and...and... In other words, don't let the fantasy get to your
head. Yes, absolutely, you can become a consultant, but you have to look at
this one job, in particular, as an opportunity to bring in a little extra
money for the holidays.
How about this: double Steve's time estimate and, since this is a side job
for a charitable organization, cut the hourly rate by two thirds. That gives
you $40/hour x 76 hours, about $3000.00. Make sure to give yourself plenty
of time to get this work done. For example, tell them that you'll have the
job done by Thanksgiving, and that you expect to be paid at least two weeks
before xmas (so that you have plenty of time to spend that extra money).
Good Luck!
Mike
Barry Stevens
Steve's analysis is great.
If good people want to do good work for good causes, they have to make a
good profit - in order to have the power, and the breathing room, and the
space to do that good work.
Doing good doesn't mean that you can't do well.
Barry Stevens
Spiritreneur
Venture Capital, Venture Building Services
barrys...@NOSPAMearthlink.net
[Excessive bottom quoting elided by moderator. -- Mike]