How do I make my gig worth my time?

[taranplamondon]

I have been having trouble pricing my gig appropriately so that the work I put in is worth the payout, without scaring away all my potential buyers. I offer a sheet music transcription service which can vary wildly in how long it can take and how difficult it is for me to complete.



Occasionally I’ve been lucky, and have earned 10-15$ on a 1 hour gig. However, on the other hand I have had some 5-10$ jobs which have taken over 4 hours. I have a 25$ gig ongoing right now which will likely take an entire day. As a university student this can be an extremely ineffective use of my already-scarce free time and creative capacity. I cannot raise my prices because many people would not be willing to pay 40-50 dollars for a piano transcription.



I pose this question to experienced sellers: how do you ensure that the time you put in is worthwhile? How should I revamp my gig description in order better reflect what I could realistically offer, while still attracting customers? Any advice, specific or general, would be much appreciated. 🙂

[ynneblack]

I think you are doing very well so far! And being a student with limited time myself, I very much understand how you feel.



Maybe you could limit it somehow more specifically. I don’t understand how you do it, but maybe it could be according to how many lines/notes/whatever that is are there, not by time? So it would be more fair. I’m just assuming some melodies are simplier and some are full of notes.

You can offer extra fast for more - being a student and doing good job (according to your reviews you do), you could charge more. Or make it 3 days keeping the same price, at least.



It’s hard. There are people working for nothing because in their country it’s a lot. It’s hard to compete with them. But you can slowly build it up to prices that are fair to you. 🙂 In the beginning, I’ve drawn several semi-realistic pictures, each took about 3-4 hours, and each cost 5 dollars. I’d never EVER possibly do that again, maybe for some honest charity, but otherwise just nope. But I don’t regret doing it, I got nice reviews and returning customers; now I always aim to get 8+ dollars per an hour, sometimes even 20 dollars, and in rare cases about 32 dollars. It’s not too little, it’s not too much - so or so I’m satisfied.



Some people will be willing to over-pay you, because they’ll love what you do, some people will ask you to lower your prices and it’s up to you if you do it or not… but in the end, I believe you’ll find a way that is good for you! 🙂