I live in Cumming, Georgia, not Manhattan. Additionally, the typical Flash projects I get are small in scope; either support apps for existing CMS systems, custom built small apps (such as a airport control tower radar screen configurable by XML used in a recent movie), or custom web apps (most recent is a Flashcom freestyle rap app, based on my old MX freestyle app for a big r&b artists website).
Budgets typically are low, or already severely ravaged by inhouse team members, giving me the outsourced contractor whats left, which typically isn't much. About $600 for a Flashcom app, which I had PLENTY of opportunity to say No... and I did, twice, I swear. I said yes because I get 4 FCS projects a year, and even then only 1 is something that is even worthwhile of doing and getting paid to do it. The largest ran for $12k, which wasn't hourly based; it was a budget I negotiated and had to work with it because the deadline was harder than platnimum. 2 months whether I liked it or not. However, I felt I could do it quick enough to justify my time involved (don't remember the actually end result but it was good). So, either I take the project because even though the budget is far below my standards, I dig the work and want the resume piece... or it's only a 2 weekend project that's worth 500 bucks to me. I do this for fun, not for a living. The Flex market, however, is totally different. I've been offered 2 positions that actually had the potential be real (which I had to cordially pass up). I'm sure based on what the recruiters said, it'd be another enterprise company that needed Flex muscle and were willing to pay big company salaries/contracting rates. As for contract, the budgets I did get mirror what Ted Patrick said in the past; higher payout rates. However, I haven't had time to take such jobs, prove their return, and adjust my rates for such projects. I'm sure if they had bigger budgets, I'd charge accordingly. When I have time again, and an opportunity arises, I'm sure what you say will be accurate. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rob Rusher" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2005 11:45 AM Subject: RE: [flexcoders] How much do you charge for Flex development? What?! Are you guys crazy? My mechanic charges me more than that. Consultancies are going to charge between $100 (newbie) and $250 (guru) an hour for a Flex developer. Sure, as an independent, you will charge less but not that much less. Maybe I'm spoiled, but Jesse you're worth way more my friend. Regards, Rob Rusher RIA Consultant Macromedia Certified Flex Instructor e:[EMAIL PROTECTED] c:303.885.7044 im:robrusher -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of JesterXL Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2005 11:04 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [flexcoders] How much do you charge for Flex development? Busy/Bad Mood = $60/hour I like you/Not Busy/Good Mood = $30/hour As far as salary, I'd think because of your server background, 70-90 is fair & market rate (per various job sites & the USA government department of commerce salary reports) depending on company size, but depends on the direction they are going with Flex. For example, the reason I'm asked to do contract Flex by clients (beyond the fact there aren't many Flex contractors) is because I know how to get the GUI to work. The reverse holds true in having a good server-side developer on the team doing Flex because he/she knows the impact on the backend and can offer valuable insight into making the application work better, leaving the GUI/wireframe/frontend visual details up to someone like me. ...of course, the same logic applies to my Flash projects, hehe. Flex/Flash, here's my typical scenario: "Jesse, can you do Flex contract?" "No, but these people might have time." :: forwards list of contractors :: *alternate universe where Jesse has time for more than 1 contract job a year* "Sure, but I'm really busy right now, what are the details of the project?" :: gets details / specs / whatever wireframes are available, if any :: "Ok, swag time estimate is X hours @ 60 an hour, my rate, thus that'll cost you $XX for my services." "Geez, we don't have the budget for that...." :: negotiations :: "Ok, I've adjusted the scope of what I can do, rate, and hours based on our discussions. We agree to $XX for the project since that fits nicely in your budget. Let's knock this shiz out of the park!" So, I say a rate, but rarely ever get it because of budgetting, which is understandable and I'll adjust what I can do and what I charge accordingly, if at all possible. Now, as far as salary, I'd treat it similiarly to any New Media + Front-end JSP Development type job, and you'd have an accurate assessment of salary range. Naturally, all the other rules of location, budget, company size, time, etc. all factor in which is beyond the scope of this email; there are plenty of resources online both professional, independent, and governement which can help you make a more educated inference based on the numbers I gave above. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Devin Holloway" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2005 3:59 AM Subject: [flexcoders] How much do you charge for Flex development? As a CF developer, I've been recently been putting more serious thought into becoming a Flex developer. It would be a long time before the company I work for could move into this direction, if ever. So I'd have to become a contractor or find a Flex position at another company. But I'm curious as to how much a Flex developer should be making. I realize much of that depends on your skillset, but does their exist any averages? or possibly some minimums and maximums? Let's pretend I make around $75K/yr as a full time CF developer. I'm by no means a Flex guru, with less then a month of learning it. I would also be seeking a CF position with an emphasis on Flex development, for, it seems as though I'd have to take a good sized pay cut if I were to become purely a Flex developer with what little experience I have... and therefore would need to offer my CFML skillset as well, to counter the pay cut. Personaly, getting a CF position with a Flex emphasis and making approximately the same amount of money would seem like a bargain to me. But would I be short- changing myself? Would a lack of Flex developers allow a person to be less competitive and ask for more? And what would contractor generally charge? I don't see myself becoming a contractor yet, for I'd rather seek a fulltime position where I could learn first. -- Flexcoders Mailing List FAQ: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/flexcoders/files/flexcodersFAQ.txt Search Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com Yahoo! Groups Links -- Flexcoders Mailing List FAQ: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/flexcoders/files/flexcodersFAQ.txt Search Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com Yahoo! Groups Links -- Flexcoders Mailing List FAQ: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/flexcoders/files/flexcodersFAQ.txt Search Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com Yahoo! Groups Links -- Flexcoders Mailing List FAQ: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/flexcoders/files/flexcodersFAQ.txt Search Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com Yahoo! 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