Blog Viewer

Know your Worth - IPA Section's Second Annual Practice Survey

By Kyle Niederpruem posted 01-25-2018 01:47 PM

  

The Independent Practitioners Alliance Second Annual Practice Survey

For the second consecutive year, PRSA’s Independent Practitioners Alliance Section launched a survey to gather information on how indies work – what do they charge, how they spend their time and to sample the type of work delivered to clients.

The results from 99 anonymous participants were gathered from members of the IPA section, PRSA’s general membership and the Solo PR Group. The survey was conducted online from August through October 2017.

While no geographic breakdown for rates is provided based on the size of the sample,  the survey provides a benchmark for those who are working independently, virtually or as subcontractors to larger agencies. It is also one of the best attended webinars from IPA at the start of the year.

The good news: Rates are up a bit on the hourly side. The bad news: Health insurance accounts for almost a quarter of individual earnings. The change in work: Social media is now almost even with media relations work provided in 2017.

Largest representation overall

  • From the Western states/no geographic comparisons per survey sample size
  • In the 45-64 year age range or mid-career
  • More than 70 percent female
  • Most based in urban/metro settings
  • Most are sole proprietors, followed by LLCs then S corps
  • Primary workplace is the home office

Rates and Billing

  • The average hourly rate is $139 an hour ($2 higher than last year)
  • Lowest hourly rate was $38
  • Highest hourly rate was $375
  • Almost 2/3 offer a discounted rate to nonprofits with an average discount of 22 percent on the hourly rate
  • Most billed on average 20.8 hours a week
  • The vast majority are working a full 40-hour week for billable hours
  • The average markup for vendors and services (such as media tracking/clipping) was 19 percent

Work Type

  • Most frequent work is provided in the areas of crisis communications, rush projects and strategic counsel (by type)
  • Primary business sectors represented were corporate, nonprofit, small business or subcontracting to other agencies
  • NEW this year – social media work is now even with media relations work in terms of time spent

Expenses/Income

  • Most spent on average of 23.2 percent of their income on health insurance
  • More than 70 percent contribute to a retirement fund most commonly in the form of a SEP IRA, Roth IRA or 401K
  • The two largest groups for annual gross billings – 1) under $40K and 2) over $160K
0 comments
101 views

Permalink