[datawalke]

Freelance may be my best choice at the moment. I do however have to make sure I have a little more in the bank before I make the jump if I don't have a full time position lined up. Instead of killing myself with extra side-work raising my freelance rate may be in order just to have a little bit more of a cushion. If I didn't have a family to care for I wouldn't be as worried.

Thank you for your advice.

[kls]

Do not work for less that 40hr freelance. The agencies are charging no less that 80hr for you if you go through them and charging less than 40hr gives the impression that you are an amateur. Realistically, you should try to get what an agency would get if you have a direct client. When I have too much freelance work, and my regular peers are booked up. I always look for the guys that are in the $80-120 range. There are some hacks that have the audacity to try and get that rate, but for the most part those are the rates of a good self-starter that you know will be able to take the ball and run with it. If I am looking for another hand on a project that I am running, I look for the $40-60hr guys.

[mgkimsal]

It's hard to raise rates on existing clients in a short time frame - giving them some notice (3 months?) would be more professional. Your current predicament is not their problem, really. However, if you could offer extra services (like, you never did DB work for them, now you'll do DB work) having a different rate for different types of work is more palatable.

[datawalke]

Oh, I mean raising my rates on new clients only. The rest of my clients would receive an early notice.