When giving a quote for a freelance writing project you should consider two things: your rate and the details of the job. With these two details in mind you will be able to offer a fair quote that should suit both you and the buyer. If it doesn’t, you need to decide whether or not to renegotiate. Some freelance writers will drop their price a bit to land a gig, but others stick to their guns no matter what. Which group do you belong to?
Obviously, your freelance writing rates are the most important detail when giving a quote. No matter the client or the project, if you follow your rates it should not take you long to give a quote. For instance, if you have a set rate of $500 for a 500 word sales letter you can pretty much tell the buyer right away what you charge.
I don’t want you to think that the project details aren’t important, though. Sometimes the details of a given project may change your rate. As I have said many times before, one keyword article, for example, is not the same as the next. Just because you have a base rate does not mean that you will use it for every quote. The difference from one keyword article to the next can be huge. Length, subject matter, and research time should all be considered. For me, a 500 word article on the game of basketball would come much easier than one on landscaping tips. For this reason my quote would be different for each article.
When giving a quote consider your rate first. From there, let the project details guide you when customizing the quote. You may be able to offer a slightly lower price if the topic is right. But on the other hand, you may want to charge a bit more if you know you will be spending extra time on the project. Remember, you don’t have to rush to give a quote. You can take your time to ensure that you quote the right price.
Even if you get along with all of your freelance writing clients there is going to come a time when a payment is taking entirely too long to arrive. This is not the most fun part of being a freelance writer, but it comes along with the territory. Remember, you are more than a writer. You are also in charge of many other aspects of running a business including accounts receivable.
If a payment is late you will know it. In this case you need to send a payment reminder to the client. That being said, you don’t want to go overboard and accuse them of trying to rip you off. Not only will this anger the client, but it may harm your relationship as you move forward. Remember, just because a payment is late does not mean the client is trying to stiff you. They may simply be running behind for one reason or the next; this does happen from time to time. In fact, I have found this to be the case more times than not with some of my larger corporate clients.
Since you probably send most of your invoices via email this is the best way to send a payment reminder. Believe it or not, you can be quick and to the point when doing so. Take the following, for example:
Good morning:
I wanted to send a quick note to checkup on the most recent invoice. I wanted to make sure you received it, and that there is no problem with processing my request. Please let me know if you need anything else from me.
Sincerely,
Your Name
As you can see, the above is friendly while also getting the point across. I never accused the client of holding out on me, or came across as rude and/r disrespectful. In many cases all it takes is a quick reminder to push the client to immediately send the payment.
Sending payment reminders is part of running a successful freelance writing career. If you customize the note above you should not have any issues sending a reminder if the time comes.Â
Do you value your freelance writing career? If so, you want to avoid anything that may hold you back. Believe it or not, there are many ways to commit freelance writing suicide. And as you can imagine, this is not a good thing. Here are three situations to avoid at all costs:
1. Never plagiarize. If you get caught doing this you are going to run into more issues than you can imagine. Not only is your current client going to turn you away, but you are also going to get a bad reputation within the industry. This is never easy to overcome, and is a sure fire way to commit career suicide. As a freelance writer this is something that you must take seriously every day you sit down at your computer.
2. Don’t be an angry freelancer. Are you the type of person who is always in a bad mood? Do you always see the glass half empty? Nobody wants to do business with a freelancer who is difficult to get along with. You may be able to land clients, but if you show an evil side you will never land long-term gigs. It is your job to not only produce quality content, but to also keep an even disposition so you can form long lasting relationships.
3. Acting like you know more than the client. Even though you may have a lot of knowledge, you don’t want to come across as arrogant. If you do, your clients are going to toss you to the curb sooner rather than later. There is nothing wrong with offering your opinion, but you definitely don’t want to come across as a know-it-all. Simply put, it is your job as a freelance writer to do what the client asks. As long as you are getting paid and not crossing any legal lines you should move ahead with the project as it is outlined for you.
As you can see, you don’t want to commit freelance writing suicide. Instead, avoid the above situations at all costs.Â
