Your number
$15,750
Your rate card
- Day rate$950 per day
- Hourlyfor anything that does not fit a day$125 per hour
- A content program$5,000 per project
- Monthly retainer$5,250 per month
What to charge for each thing (4)
- Content calendar$1,000 each
- SEO article$650 each
- Case study$1,650 each
- Monthly program$5,250 per month
US rates for content marketers at your level, adjusted for your market. What you last got wins.
- 3 months on retainer at $5,250$15,750
For 3 months on retainer at $5,250, the quote is $15,750.
To take home $85,000 after $9,000 of costs and 30% tax you need to bill $134,286 a year. At 24 billable hours a week for 47 weeks that is $125 an hour, $950 a day. Anything under that is a pay cut you did not agree to.
Content marketers at your level day at about $800; you sit inside the range, so quote it without apology.
A content program runs $2,000 to $8,000 and takes about 40 hours of your time; at your hourly that is $5,000. The number is the higher of the two, because the client is buying the outcome, not the hours.
A retainer is the month, not the hours: a set scope, paid up front on the 1st. It is priced about 20% under the same work bought one at a time, in exchange for the certainty; three months minimum, or it is not a retainer.