If you are going to become a freelance writer remember this: you should get paid to write. In other words, you do not want to work for free. Sure, there are some cases when you may want to write a free article or offer free advice, but you should limit these situations. Remember, you are a professional and the only way that you can make a living is to ask for payment from clients. How many professionals do you know that offer free work?
Many people want to get paid to write, but do not know where to start. In other words, they do not know how to set their initial rates. This is a common problem. Some freelance writers are worried about setting their rates too low, and others are worried about going off the high end of the scale. This is common, but it should not hold you back. Every freelance writer runs into this from time to time, and you are not going to be any different.
The best way to set your initial rate is to determine how much money you want/need to earn. For example, if you want to earn $40k/year you should break this down into an hourly rate based on how much you can work each day. For instance, if you know what you will work 40 hours per week, you need to earn approximately $20/hour to hit your income goal. When you break down your career into an hourly rate it is easy to see just how much you should be charging.
It is not as hard as many people think to get paid to write. Does this mean that anybody can do it? Of course not. There is a big difference between getting paid to write a few words and becoming a high quality, successful freelance writer. If you know how to set your rates right, you should be able to earn a solid income while also reaching corresponding goals.Â
Many members of my freelance writing course have expressed how difficult it is for them to successfully negotiate a fair rate. To take this a step further, negotiating freelance writing rates on the phone can be much more difficult than doing so via email. After all, you never know what the other person is going to say and you must be able to think on your feet.
When it comes to negotiating rates on the phone, these three tips should help:
1. Prepare yourself to negotiate. If you have a call setup with a potential client, you should assume that a rate negotiation session is going to take place. It is very important that you are prepared for any questions that come up, and that you have all of the proper information in front of you. Being prepared is the best way to calm your nerves, and to hopefully give you the confidence that you need to negotiate with success.
2. Know why you are worth it. You may have to back up your rate quote with benefits of your service. In other words, how are you going to justify your rates? You may not want to do this, but in many cases the buyer will more or less ask why they should hire you if your rates are higher than the competition. If you are prepared you will not have any problem answering this concern, as well as any follow-up questions that may come into play.
3. Set a minimum in your mind and then stick to your guns. For example, you may head into a conversation knowing that you want to receive $.25/word for the project that you will be discussing. While there is nothing wrong with this, you need to know how low you will go if the client does not accept your initial proposal. Will you work at $.15/word? How about $.10? Some freelance writers never negotiate. They know what they are worth, and they feel that negotiating shows that their initial offer was never solid. This is not the way I operate. While I hope that every client accepts my first offer, I am open to negotiating to a certain degree.
4. Don’t be afraid to say, “I will get back to you.†It can be difficult to quote a price on a project if you are put on the spot. Imagine being unprepared for a conversation and a client asking for a quote on a 2,000 word feature with three interviews due by next week. This is a lot of information to take in. Instead of rushing and quoting the first number that comes to your head, tell the buyer that you will get back to them within the hour with a solid price. This will give you time to break down the project so you can supply an accurate, fair quote.Â
As a freelance writer, negotiating rates on the phone can be a difficult task. But over time, with the help of the four tips above, you will become comfortable doing so.
Like most freelance writers, you are probably interested in landing big time clients that have a lot of work and pay good money. If you don’t feel this way you are the odd man out. And while there is nothing wrong with this way of thinking, you should know that small jobs can turn big in a hurry.
Late last year I completed a small job for a client. They wanted me to write 10 “guides†for $500. This was far from a huge job, but it was simple enough and the pay was halfway decent. Although this was the only project they had for me at the time, I continued to stay in touch. Well, my persistence paid off. Last week, this same client got in touch and offered a job of 100 guides for a total of $5k. If I wouldn’t have taken on that first small project I would have never landed this contract.
Not every small job will turn big. Some of them will, some of them won’t, and with some clients you will never know what they are going to send your way in the future. But if you have the time and the pay is right, you should consider completing small projects from time to time. In more than one case this has paid off for me. Don’t be afraid to complete small jobs because you feel that they are not worth it. You never know when something small will turn into the next big thing in your freelance writing career. Â
