Are Freelance Writing Fees Negotiable?
Is hiring a freelance writer the same as buying a car in the way that the price is negotiable? Well, this all depends on the writer, as well as how he or she runs their business. Some feel that making freelance writing rates negotiable is part of the industry. Of course, I know just as many writers who like to stick to their fee schedule no matter what.
Consider the following three questions when thinking about whether or not to make your freelance writing fees negotiable.
1. Do you have any wiggle room in your price? In other words, can you afford to negotiate down to a lower price, but still earn a reasonable hourly wage? This is an important question to answer. If you can lower your price but still do well for yourself, you may want to consider doing so. For this reason, it may not be a bad idea to set your freelance writing fees a bit high to start. This way, if the client agrees you are ahead of the game. And if they want to negotiate, you have room to do so as well.
2. Who is attempting to negotiate with you? If it is a client who you have done a lot of business with in the past, you may want to consider lowering your price. After all, some clients are simply better than others. There is nothing wrong with lowering your price for a client that offers a lot of work, and is good to you overall.
3. Are you willing to keep your prices lower for a client? Or will you attempt to raise them to your standard for future jobs? If you lower your price once, a client may expect you to do so on all future work. In many cases, if you attempt to charge them your standard rate on future jobs they may balk and feel that you are cheating them. This is why it is very important to consider the situation and who you are dealing with before negotiating.
What do you think? Are your freelance writing fees negotiable? Personally, I will negotiate with particular clients and am more prone to do so with those that I have worked with in the past. As long as I can still earn a solid hourly wage, slightly lowering my fees in return for business is a trade off that I am willing to deal with.Â
