Pricing - Manual: Policies & Procedures

[geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA]

 Cindy Bailey wondered whether she should charge less for
 doing P&P manuals than for software (etc.) docs "because
 they're easier to do". In a word: No!!! Nobody's adding any
 more hours to your lifespan, so an hour of your time is an
 hour of your time, whether you're writing easy stuff or
 hard. Your clients benefit from faster turnaround and lower
 bills with easy stuff because you'll be done faster. That's
 all the price break they need.

 Important exception 1: You should certainly _raise_ your
 standard rate for work that really annoys you, that takes
 you away from important personal occasions (e.g., family
 dinners), or stuff that makes you work more than 40 hours
 per week. If the job really annoys you, double your rate...
 you'll either have a paycheque to celebrate with, or they
 won't give you the job, which you wouldn't enjoy anyway.

 Important exception 2: If you really need the cash, and are
 bidding against someone else, you might consider lowering
 your rate to ensure that you get the job. But even then,
 it's a bad precedent to work for less than you're worth.

 --Geoff Hart     @8^{)}     geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
 Disclaimer: Speaking for myself, not FERIC.

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