Welcome to the final part of our How To Earn Money As A Game Dev Freelancer series, you can catch the penultimate fifth part here! Industry veterans, Rick Davidson, Tim Ruswick and Richard Salyniuk are here to help you price yourself as a game dev freelancer.
If you still don't know who Rick, Tim or Richard are, check out the first post in our series... The 'F' Word, Free Vs Not Free As A Game Dev Freelancer to learn more about these game dev industry experts!
You're good at what you do, but you want to make sure you price yourself and get paid correctly, right?
In this 8 minute audio post, they provide tips on how you can price yourself as a game dev freelancer. Check it out 👇👇
- Where you find clients is important. How you obtain clients can be a big factor on how you price your proposals. For example, someone who browses the Unity store won't be comfortable spending $100/$1000's. Whereas an established indie studio may be willing to spend a little more to acquire your services.
- Ask the client what they're willing to spend. Asking a client what they're willing to spend can sometimes feel like an awkward conversation, BUT if the client says they want to spend $20,000 on the project, you can advise them that a project of that nature doesn't cost that much and you'd be happy to charge them something like $2000 or whatever you value your time and skill at. The client will appreciate your honesty.
- Write proposals with 3 different options. Presenting a client 3 different options will help them make an informed decision. Options and choice is important. Example, Option 1 could include 4 things that you agree to work on and be below budget, Option 2 could include 8 things and be on budget and Option 3 could include 12 things and be above budget. The above budget option will make the below budget option more attractive.
- Be honest with your pricing. As tempting as it may be to accept a job with the client paying over the odds, it's also very damaging to your reputation. Be honest with clients, if they're willing to spend too much, tell them that you'd be willing to do the job for a more reasonable amount. The client will be happy with how fairly they're treated and will be more likely to recommend you, most work comes with word of mouth.
and most importantly...
"Your reputation is the gold standard"
Hope that's helped with your game dev freelancer questions. Want to read or watch our entire series? Visit our first post The 'F' Word, Free Vs Not Free As A Game Dev Freelancer.
You can also catch the whole episode in the Devology Livecast course - it's free to join. Click here to listen in full, and Learn How To Earn Money As A Game Dev Freelancer!
Until next time, happy game dev'ing.
