Freelance Heroes

Aug 02, 2012

Hi, and welcome to the "Freelance Heroes" thread, a place where Articulate Freelancers help each other. Got a question about freelancing? Or perhaps you have an e-learning asset that may be valuable to those "doin' their own thing"? This is the place to share--to give.

To start things off, I'd like to share a short list of questions that help me figure out what kind of training a potential client wants. (So often they have no idea what they want.) The list is far from exhaustive, but may be of some help. Looking forward to meeting you. --Daniel  

1293 Replies
Robyn Short

Adele Sommers said:

Robyn Short said:

I also saw the Chapman Alliance PPT, which is very helpful for average price ranges. My struggle is not really determining the rate, but creating an actual Rate Sheet, which I’ve never done before.

Would you say it should look like Slide 14, with each task broken down and how much that task will cost per finished hour?


Hi, Robyn!

Thanks so much for the kind feedback; I very much appreciate it! And yes, I thought afterward that I really didn't address the "rate sheet" aspect of your question.

Slide 14 of the Chapman survey results might indeed be one way to approach it. Here is another rate-sheet variation you might consider from WritingAssistance.com, which is designed in a tabular format. It covers various kinds of information design activities, including instructional design at a very high level. As you can see, some kinds of task rates are much more detailed than others, since they're easier to estimate at a granular level. Perhaps there's a simple way to adapt the Chapman data to this kind of format, given that WritingAssistance.com has already taken a stab at it.

In fact, what you're working on could really be very useful for all of us! I personally haven't had the need (yet) to aggregate the data in the form of a rate sheet, but I very well might need to do so in the future!

Adele


Thanks Adele. I actually ended up using the Chapman Alliance slide as a basis and simplified it a bit, then filled in numbers based on my estimate of what was required for this specific project. They were happy with it.

If you (or anyone else) would like to see what I came up with, I'm happy to share it via email

Robyn Short

Adele Sommers said:

Bruce Graham said:

The problem with "rate sheets" is that they tie you to a rate for further work, and run the risk of placing you in a cost vs. cost battle.

Rates should vary, they NEED to vary, as no job is ever the same.


Hi, Bruce!

Good points -- that's why I always present a range of both hours and rates, so clients know that there is a ballpark of possibilities into which their projects might fall. It gives me a lot of flexibility to modify my rates and times accordingly. If I even quote an hourly rate, I'm usually very upfront with them about whether I'm offering them a "preferred-client discount" rate because the project will have a large volume of work, or whether it's a higher rate for just a one-off, short effort.


Bruce and Adele, I agree with you. The thing is that when you are working with government agencies or associations that have federally-funded projects, sometimes they HAVE to have pricing in a certain format because of the way their finance department requires them to report and justify the spending. So while we may prefer to price per project and say "it depends," sometimes we have to make adjustments based on what the client needs. That's why I had to create a Rate Sheet for this project.

The result: In the end, we ended up shifting in scope from actual courses to just a conversion to video lectures for this phase (courses will come later), which did simplify things a bit. I was indeed able to create the rate sheet that they wanted (thanks!), and I explained to them after reviewing the sample materials that the rate sheet was based on one of the samples used as a baseline, and that these presentations would indeed vary in cost depending on length, extent of video and slide cleanup, etc. They were understanding of these variables, and they still had what they needed for the powers-that-be in finance. It also proved helpful because they could do their own basic estimation of subsequent presentations (e.g. cost of a 30-slide vs. 60-slide presentation; cost of clean video vs. one with terrible video, etc.)

Just thought I would share in case this is helpful to someone!

Thomas Delfs

Hello,

First time poster, so hopefully I've come to the right place, if not please bear with me. We are a small creative media production company based in London, specialising in the Healthcare and Science sector.

We have a number of Storyline projects coming up, mainly for internal training, and are looking for experienced freelance developers/designers, ideally based in London or within commuting distance, Also open to remote working with the right person. Fluency in English essential and experience in the healthcare sector a plus.

Many thanks and please private message me with a brief resume.

Thomas

Suraj Karakulath

Thomas Delfs said:

Hello,

First time poster, so hopefully I've come to the right place, if not please bear with me. We are a small creative media production company based in London, specialising in the Healthcare and Science sector.

We have a number of Storyline projects coming up, mainly for internal training, and are looking for experienced freelance developers/designers, ideally based in London or within commuting distance, Also open to remote working with the right person. Fluency in English essential and experience in the healthcare sector a plus.

Many thanks and please private message me with a brief resume.

Thomas


Hi Thomas,

I just sent you a message with my details. Let me know what you think !

Cheers,

Suraj

Julie Stelter

Hi all!

I'm looking for some development help to start immediately, as in today and finish oh let's say on Monday. Yeah the timeline is tight. The work is taking a PowerPoint and developing it in Storyline. Only North American developers should apply as the client directions need someone who speaks English as their first language. This is code that the directions aren't great, but not bad. Everything needs to be custom built, no built-in freeform interactions can be used. This is a resume building job so experienced newbies should apply. The pay will be by the project as that is how I'm getting paid. If you can start next week, still contact me. I have 17 projects to develop. Don't call me but email me at julie@waldengroup.net.

Cheers, Julie

Joel Bennett

Hi All You (WOFOTs)

Wonderful Oustanding Freelancers Out There (WOFOTs):

We are embarking on a small Storyline project for a client and would prefer to have someone local (Fort Worth/Dallas area).

75% Content is built from previous classroom and some StoryLine work.

Need someone to do slide mechanics, scene builds, Likert scale development, audio synching, quality testing.

Again, prefer local but definitely U.S.

Starts soon (by end of month) and likely 20 to 40 hours (estimate).

INTERNS ENCOURAGED TO APPLY!

Joel

EMAIL owlsnew@gmail.com

Julie Stelter

Hey Storyline developers, I need more help!

I have two different project types: One is a project manager, some instructional design work, interfacing with my developers in India and responding to client requests. The work is over the next 7-10 days.

The other project is developing modules (about 15 slides) from a PowerPoint. The work is over the next 7-10 days.

Email me with your interest. I'm hiring today!

julie@waldengroup.net. Please do not call me though.

Attila Szabo
Dear All,

UNHCR (The U.N. Refugee Agency) is looking for French speaking Articulate experts for consultancy work in the field of e-learning development, editing, and revision.

If you are interested or know any directory of such, please post your reply and let's get in touch.

Best wishes,

Attila Szabo

Staff Development Associate - UNHCR

szaboat@unhcr.org

Annick Rivkine

Hello Attila,

We are an eLearning development company based in Geneva, expert in Articulate and fluent both in French and English.

We would be extremely interested to do some work for UNHCR. To get in touch: annick@eskills.ch

Looking forward to learn more about your projects!

Annick Monnier Rivkine

Managing Director - eSkills

www.eskills.ch

Cathlyn Haigh

ROC USA, LLC, a national non-profit social enterprise, is seeking an Articulate Storyline Consultant. Please see attached Request for Proposals and Work Plan. Interested parties will be granted access to the private online community center where we host our training videos.

Thank you,

Cathy Haigh

National Network Training & Education Manager

Bruce Graham

Daniel Brigham said:

Thanks, Bruce. This conversation would've petered out after a month, if not for you. "Bruce drives invigorating conversation." And he gets it when I say

"I'm together, I'm apart

I'm forever, at the start

Still, I am."


LOL.

Got to go and have dinner, accompanied by another goblet from the cask of '43.

Anne Gleeson

Hi all,

I would like to find an expert instructional designer highly skilled in Articulate Storyline who is based in Melbourne.

I need help with my Articulate Storyline projects. I have only learned the very basics and I want to work with a skilled designer who can help me improve my skills in the longer term.

I have a number of business writing courses that I am keen to develop to a professional level of online distribution.

I want to be able to meet and discuss with someone in person about my needs and ensure we can work together.

I will pay you for your time and expertise but ultimately want to boost my own skills at the same time - hence the need to be Melbourne based.

Please let me know if this might interest you or someone you know. You can contact me via this site or:

annegleeson@gapswriting.com or 0412 141 9950412 141 995.

Many thanks, Anne

This discussion is closed. You can start a new discussion or contact Articulate Support.