Money makes the world go around. Does it really? Sure it does. But we also need a fair dose of passion, dedication, integrity, hard work and excitement. For freelancer writers money is the butter on our bread, the tea bag in our tea cup and the steak with our vegetables (although vegies here in Australia have become way to expensive).
When we take money into consideration, our dedication to writing become a job. Admittedly our “job” is one of immense satisfaction since we can work from home. Since jobs are paid in monetary terms, fair payment is important for every freelance writer.What determines fair though? Who says you get paid fairly and justly?
Guess what, it’s you all over! Only you can determine how much you are really worth.
One of the hardest aspects of becoming a freelancer is to set rates. I constantly get asked by friends and new freelance writers what I get paid for writing for such and such Internet marketer. Let me tell you this: I don’t talk rates. Client confidentiality is something that is very close to my heart. After all, I’d like to keep my job, my relationship and the trust I’ve built up with my client. If you really want to know, check out my portfolio site and you’ll have a good idea anyway.
Sure, there would always be some kind of guess work, since many clients might actually pay me more, but a girl has got to have some sense of secrecy.
Discussing pay rates about existing clients is not a good idea
Funny enough discussing freelance writing rates between upcoming writers seems to be the thing to do. I think this is a bad idea and if you happen to do this I recommend you to stop ASAP. Over the past month alone I’ve had no less than 5 inquiries about my rates with specific clients.
As it happens, in the online world people network a lot. Therefore it is highly possible that paths will cross over at some stages. If you happen to talk shop a lot it might come to haunt you. Such and such knows you, the guy your write for knows such and the other such knows the guy you write for. Did I confuse you yet. (Purposely of course).
What is fair to me might not be fair to you
The main reason I never discuss my rates with other writers is because of client confidentiality. This is a given for me. It’s also called integrity. But besides, have you ever thought about this: what might be a fair rate for me might not be so fair for you.
If you look at the following factors you know why:
Location
A friend of mine told me that people in India could live a very good life for about $1000-1,500/month. In Australia you’d barely scrape food on your plate for this kind of money. Heck, these days it costs me $200/week for groceries alone and this doesn’t even include meat. I think people on the dole could probably rack up this amount if they tried really hard. As a matter of fact you couldn’t live a normal lifestyle, especially if you run a business.
Depending where you live, extra factors will have to be accounted for when you set your rates.
Experience
How can a brand new writer expect to earn the same money as the writer who has been doing this for years? Comparing rates with experienced writers will only serve to confuse you. Plus, if they have integrity, they won’t discuss them with you anyway. If you have no idea on where to start, browse forums, portfolio sites and sites like writers market.
Knowledge
You might know a lot about dogs. But if you have no idea on how to write a SEO article for a dog site, you can also not expect to be paid the same as the person who does. This is a great moment for you to go and learn these things. Until you are absolute certain you know what to do, learn the ropes by pricing yourself a little lower to stay competitive.
Quality
I’m afraid quality is in the eye of the buyer. If your client doesn’t feel you hand over quality work, they won’t come back and neither will they recommend your services to other people.
Quality is the most important aspect of your writing business. If you lack quality, you will soon lack clients. Always give your best (I think I actually said this before, but it is worth repeating).
I sat back many late nights to finish off and polish a client’s project to perfection. While there is a distinction between working to our best of abilities and totally and utterly wasting time, while trying too hard to be perfect, I certainly go for the former most of the time.
This doesn’t mean I rush jobs or deliver crap. Far from it actually. But my rates are based on the time it takes me to complete the job. This gives me an economical viable business. Others choose the anal perfectionist rule and end up working for pennies instead.
The fair pay rule
While taking all these aspects into account, there comes a time when we have to call for fair play. Those times are seemingly obvious when we find ourselves spending far too much time on a given job due to a client’s ever increasing demands.
When this happens, I usually observe the situation for a while. If I find there is no way I can do the job in normal time without cutting corners and risking my quality of work, I approach the client and explain the situation.
This is the time for a well deserved pay rise. If you communicate with your client without accusations all the while explaining where you stand, they will come back and pay you what you are worth. Especially if they appreciate your quality of work.
Monika
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Discussing about money is always sensitive. When many people try to negotiate the price, they often forget that companies are also charging based on the same factors. Like PR firms for examples, they charge by the hour and usually there’s a minimum retainer fee each month. What they factor in, are basically the overheads and profit in general. Pretty much just like the utilities bills we need to pay, food we need to eat, livelihood needed to provide for the family.
@ Ed: I understand. It is easy to forget that the person (or company) we deal with needs to cloth themselves, eat and pay their bills too.
In the end, if we expect quality work, we need to be prepared to spend the money for it.
Another great post. I’ve been reconsidering my stance on discussing issues relating to money. Not only is there a question or professionalism, but I also find that in today’s economy it is often better to keep your mouth shut.
Thanks for another great read!
Deborah
@ Deborah: Well said and like you already know I agree. Thanks for coming by again to comment. I was impressed by your post on communication too.
Hi Monika - this is really well explained. And I guess when a writer takes all these points in to account, they will have an easier time working out what to charge.
I find writing for SEO difficult - it seems to be quite a difficult skill to master. I don’t really do it on my blog anymore. But I really keyword stuffed on the site attached to the blog and James (MWP) said it sucked. I had to edit it all.
@ Cath: Don’t worry about the SEO bit. Opposed to you I find it easy but then I have been doing a lot of SEO work for clients for some time now.
I don’t use it on this blog though as it would make for boring and in your face aggressive reading. SEO is an essential part of niche marketing though, as without it, your site would hardly be found and you would be pushed to make decent money with it.
Hope this helps and thanks for stopping by.
Excellent post Monika, and one with universal appeal.
I think most of what you say applies equally to all manner of freelancers. I know from personal experience that many of the same factors come into consideration when you are a freelance designer. The subjectivity of value of the finished product is an issue all creative freelancers need to deal with on a daily basis.
In the the end I think we each decide our own worth in the market place. In the short term this can sometimes mean turning down low paying clients, or adjusting our expectations accordingly, but ultimately the responsibility of setting our own pace and our own price lies squarely in our hands.
Hi Monika,
I appreciated your article. It really helped me think through some ideas I have been having about freelance writing. Thank you!
Your post is a good soft guidance for new freelance writers. Setting price for a writing is not an easy matter…It’s like selling a painting. Something that is not easy to be converted in value because it comes from intelectuality and creativity. The value is highly depend on the person who read and seen it. I thik reader appreciation is a good parameter for the writer performance.