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By Dana K. Cassell 

A good way to get a better handle on what to charge for projects (or which assignments to take on or which markets to pursue) is to track how much time it’s taking you to do various aspects of your work.

Now I’m not talking about the time you put into marketing or administrative tasks. I’m talking about the time you put into projects that are earning money — activities such as research, interviews, tape transcription, writing the rough drafts, editing, and polishing.

If you have some idea of how much time you need for each production activity, you can better and more quickly gauge the number of hours or days you will need for a particular project. Multiply that by the amount per hour or per day you need to make in order to be profitable, and you will arrive at a base amount you know you can’t go below.

So how do you keep track of all these activities? Several tools can help you here:

• Years ago I had a darkroom timer. It worked especially well because I could position it at 0, start the timer ticking off the minutes, and when interrupted by a phone call (or child’s question) could easily stop the timer; then restart when I returned to the project at hand. I kept a Project Sheet with each project, and simply noted how much time elapsed while working on each project activity. At the end of the project, I totaled the various activities, which gave me a total time for that project.

• Another writer once explained in our newsletter Freelance Writer’s Report how she used her oven timer (which happened to be within earshot) to alert her when she had been working on a particular aspect of a project for, say, 30 minutes.

• You can download a free timer/alarm utility called 1 Time. I’ve been using it for quite awhile, and find it useful. It works in the background, counting down for the time length you have set, then beeps (or you can set it to alarm to any of several sound files).

A double benefit with 1 Time (or your oven timer) is that you can set it to count down until a specified time frame (90 minutes, 60 minutes, 45 minutes, whatever), note that amount of time thus far on your project log, then take a break to relieve eyestrain, wrist strain, neck strain, or simply walk around your office a minute to stretch those leg muscles. Then reset your timer and go back to work.

• If you prefer a non-computer, more portable, timer, look in housewares sections of grocery and discount stores for a kitchen timer. I bought an EKCO Kitchen Timer several years ago for less than $10. The advantage of the Kitchen Timer is that you can use it as either a count-up timer (like the photographic timer), or as a count-down timer (like 1 Time or an oven timer). The disadvantage (in addition to having to buy it as opposed to the free 1 Time download) is that it runs on a battery, which you will have to replace if you use it regularly.

Why time each activity instead of the project as a whole ?

Because projects are rarely alike. But if you know about how long it takes you to transcribe an hour-long interview, and you know the proposed assignment will entail three such interviews, you can project an educated guess as to how long you will need for the interviews and transcribing. If you know how long it takes you, on average, to dig out medical statistics online and via phone, you can project how much time you will need for that phase of another article heavy on statistics. And if you know your average time for a first draft for a 2,000-word article, or for a 4-panel brochure, you can factor that into your pricing.

So when an editor calls and describes the assignment, ask her or him to email or fax you what they have in mind for the assignment and you will get right back to them. This will allow you the time to list the various components and activities, plug in your average times for each, and arrive at your minimum total for the job.

But you don’t have to wait for an assignment. When you explore an idea for possible querying, go through the same process. By knowing how much time it will likely take you, you can better determine what you need to earn for it, so will be able to market it to those publications or websites who pay at least that amount of money.

Excerpted from Climb the Mountains to Freelance Success: 100 Steps and Strategies Toward a Successful Freelance Writing or Editing Business

Dana K. Cassell is a full-time author and runs the Writers-Editors Network. Learn more about Dana » 

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