So I’m a Graphic Designer who’s only ever done free work. After watching a podcast on how to build a client list, I decided to try it out. I tried his tactics out by hitting up my community Facebook Page, posting on its wall talking about my services and such and not even an hour after posting it, I received a message from a lady who lives by me, asking for me to design an advertisement. She said that this advertisement is going to be placed in a community magazine a couple miles from my communit and will be reached out to 96 families. The only problem is that I don’t know how much to ask for money wise. If you take the cost amount for her product ($4,995) and multiply it by the potential amount she can make off this advertisement ($479,520). How much should I ask for?
How much is your time worth? What's your experience level? How long will it take?
If it's a 10 hour project and you think you're worth $50/hr, charge $500.00. Is this reasonable given your experience? Or ask what her budget is. Or go on freelancer sites and find a similar-sized project and deduct what others would charge for it. Given that you have zero paid references, you may want to under-charge and over-deliver, thus beginning to build a referral chain and a reputation. The better your reputation, the more you earn in the future.
For your first gig, I'd say the amount is of little importance compared to the other stuff: delivering value, creating a satisfied customer/potential referral source/potential repeat customer, etc.