I have been posting my layouts on one of my mommy forums and some of the girls want to pay me to do LO's of their children for them. I have no idea how much to charge. DH says $25 a page... how much would you charge?

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~Christi
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www.craftymommy.com
ALABAMA MOMS

this is a hard one to answer. there are groups dedicated to discussing just this and it's hard to nail down. depends on your time, market, experience, etc. are they premade or unique, etc. i've seen $5 to $70 myself! i know that's not a helpful answer! i heard it a lot and hated it myself, but i do see why it was given. $25 might be too much in some areas and too little in others. you'll need to determine the time you'll invest in it and go from there. geesh, how unhelpful am i? sorry! Ü

I was thinking since it's close friends I would charge less and then if I get more orders reconsider my prices. Each page will be unique so the time is the main factor.

Thank you for your input - you were helpful even though you didn't think so! LOL

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~Christi
www.identityhosts.com
www.craftymommy.com
ALABAMA MOMS

Make sure you make it worth your time. Sure you can charge $5 a page but if it take you 2 hours to do it then your are making $2.50/hour! People tend to think "well any money is better than none" but is it really? Time is money.

I agree with Amanda- if you're making very little money per hour, you might as well be scrapping your OWN photos! And I'm slow, most of my LO's take me forever- your talking- uh- I'd be making like 50 cents/hr if I only charged $5 LOL! I have never done a LO in only 2 hours- then again I just started scrapping 2 1/2 months ago. If you can get one done in a half hour you'd make $10/hr. But that's some serious speed scrapping!

You'd be better off submitting your own- with a chance to win $25-$75 if you get published. Even if you don't get published, you still have the satisfaction of finished LO's- your own.

I would say that if you were to create a template- where you could plunk a different photo in for each friend's LO- then you could charge say $10. You might even have some LO's that you've done that you could change the photos on. Otherwise, if you are going to create totally unique LO's, I would charge a MINIMUM of $25.

Also, the way I am, once I start getting paid for something- it's work- and there is some pressure involved with timelines, different opinions, and just plain old creative block- or whatever you call it when you're staring at the monitor wondering what to do next!

I have given one LO away as a gift - for me it's easier that way- not as much pressure.

Sorry to ramble soooo long, but the thought has crossed my mind also

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~Laurie Garza~

I used to be a freelance graphic artist - and I started by almost giving my work away at first (cheap but covering cost and some time). After a while word of mouth spreads and you get more and more customers and can start raising your prices. That's how it happened for me.... hope it works for you. Just keep remembering that your doing this because you love it, and well money is good too. My biggest problem was that when I was being paid I felt this enormous pressure to create a "masterpiece" and my work suffered for a bit. Then I started thinking in terms that I was sharing a favor and the money was a bonus. Hope I am making sense... *&%%^$

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

On a similar not... to everyone reading this.... how many of you sell layouts? How do you find your customers? I am just considering doing this professionally, but I dont know... any advice?

-Doris

i do, well have, but am too busy at the moment. but there are groups dedicated to this that would be a great source of info. just search yahoo for scrapping for others groups. hth. Ü

Also, don't forget that it is typically friends that will take advantage of your generosity, but may also be offended if you charge too much. Be sure to explain to them how much time it "REALLY" takes you to create a LO. Let them know that some may only take a few minutes, but others may take hours to create. Also take into consideration the format they are giving you their pictures. If you have to scan the photos, you need to consider that as part of the work. If they were to take a photo anywhere to be scanned, they would be charged a great deal of money. What a fun opportunity to share your creativity, but I agree with everyone else. . . . make sure it is worth your while. Also, find out what styles they like, because just going through the gallery, you will quickly find that everyone's tastes are very different!! Have fun!