I have found it much easier to just not charge by the second. Granted I havnt had as many jobs as mark & clint (and the fact that I suck prob helps :) but my company had a standing policy of price per sec and most clients bawked and fled when they saw it. It wasnt even the highest in the area. ONce we switched it to a flat rate, we are starting to get calls again....its sort of how car repair men dont charge by the hour anymore...ie the book says changing this part is 1 hour...they will charge you the hour but if it goes over the hour, they usually will eat it. If its less they keep it. Also I have found in my own freelance work that contracts are a bad ideal. Granted Clint may have experiences I never had, but most of my clients (not nec. graphics stuff) dont trust contracts. For the hobbiest contracts are a lose lose situation (IMHO). Think about it..if there was a disspute would you have a good enough lawyer to counter the suit? If the client was evil enough you may find that they will make you sign there contact and then use it against you. Fact is that (IMHO once again) freelanceing is a person to person deal. You wash there hands and they wash yours. You go out of your way to please them and they will do the same. Remember you dont have to be the best, if they like you and your comptition is a jerk (even if he is better), they will probably stick with ya just for the customer service. *all opinions expressed are just opinions and should not be taken as law. This is based on my editing experiance, not my graphic experiance. -brent