Here are a few numbers to have in mind.
Communispace charges a whopping $15,000 - $20,000 per month for communities of 300 - 500 people - mostly market research projects. Great work, if you cna get it.
Some companies charge per day, e.g. moderation for £200 - £400 per day. This doesn't include developing your online community and driving interactions etc...
Companies like Telligent and Jive Software offer a premium platform packed with analytics, hosting and excellent features/support for around the $15 to $40k per year mark. This doesn't include active management.
Some companies charge by a cut of the value generated e.g. 30% of all affiliate sales from the community. This is risky (the business might not give you much support). Not recommended, but if you decide this charge a high %.
Salaries average around the $75k - $85k mark (depending if you're male/female, surprisingly).
My retainer-based fees generally range from £4.5k - £9k per month, non-inclusive of expenses and costs involved with the community (e.g. hosting events, developing a website etc..).
The range is determined upon a broad criteria. Namely how hard it will be to develop the community, what the value of the community is (e.g. I'd charge more to build an online community for billionaires than a community for a local gym club) and the level of support being offered to develop the community.
Thanks for putting together such valuable information for both freelance community builders, and those looking to employ us!
How many hours are included in your monthly retainer fee? Without knowing that, it's hard to get an idea of how much you really charge.
Posted by: Martin Reed | Thursday, 15 July 2010 at 22:23
Hey Martin,
I don't charge by the hour, I consider it usually bad practice. It ties the value into time-spent rather than goals-achieved.
Instead, I agree goals for each month with the client and then we work to achieve them. This way everyone knows what to expect for their money.
Posted by: Richard Millington | Friday, 16 July 2010 at 08:42