Comments on: Raising Freelance Writing Rates – Demand Isn’t Enough

By: 7 Financial Things to Do to Start the New Year Right | All Freelance Writing

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:17:09 +0000

[...] consider how you fared last year. You don’t always have to raise your rates just because you have more demand for your services. The clients who wanted to hire you in 2009, might not want to pay your higher 2010 rates, which [...]

By: Mitch

Mitch — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:04:52 +0000

And now I know the full name of Y.L. Prinzel also lol

By: Yolander Prinzel

Yolander Prinzel — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:03:28 +0000

Oh, I know The Writer. NOW he knows who Jenn Mattern is ;-P

By: Mitch

Mitch — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:37:39 +0000

No, if we’d gotten in trouble with each other, I probably wouldn’t be reading your blog. lol But we’ve shared conversation in some of the same posts every once in awhile.

By: Jennifer Mattern

Jennifer Mattern — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:26:34 +0000

Have you gotten in trouble with me there yet? Can’t play favorites with AFW readers after all. But while the handle sounds familiar, you don’t jump out at me as one of the typical troublemakers in the community. So that’s good to know.

By: Mitch

Mitch — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:24:29 +0000

I go by The Writer

By: Jennifer Mattern

Jennifer Mattern — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:43:56 +0000

Mitch, out of curiosity, what’s your DP username? I often don’t connect posts / handles there with readers / comments here.

By: Mitch

Mitch — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 07:17:33 +0000

Man, I learn so much every time I read one of your posts. I have to say, though, that I actually had figured out this part of the pay thing when I started looking at the time it took to research certain things as opposed to writing other things I knew something about. I think I even mentioned something about it on the Digital Point forum.

For instance, I created a website for one client and asked him for content. He just never came around, but luckily, I knew a big part of his business, so I just wrote it and shared it with him. Charged him for the writing time also, but he loved it, so it was all good.

Of course, I wouldn’t be mad getting more of those in the pipeline.

By: Jessie Fitzgerald

Jessie Fitzgerald — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:42:17 +0000

Oh, and as a side note, I started at $12 per page…until I got smart and realized that $105 was more realistic for all factors involved.

By: Jessie Fitzgerald

Jessie Fitzgerald — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:39:12 +0000

Jenn is right on target.

Wolfster, I have seen you here quite a bit and I empathize with your situation. I’ve had so much dabbling previously in freelance writing career but thanks to Jenn and Yolander Prinzel (FreelanceWriterville.com)I’ve been able to identify a marketable and enjoyable specialty for me.

My suggestion for you is to truly analyze your abilities, interests, talents, education and experience to find a specialty that is strongly marketable for you. Myself, I’ve got a strong passion for being business, having started seven businesses. I’m also very pro paperless and green and savvy on the Web because I’ve grown up with it. I’m a big time networker. Everything came into play for me as an authority ebook ghostwriter.

Once you find an extremely marketable specialty, then network your toosh off. Networking needs to be your primary marketing strategy for you to build a sustainable platform to the long-term success of your business.

When you find this, it is just a matter of finding our your hourly and budget stats, accounting for not working all the time and then ADDING THE VALUE OF YOUR SERVICES INTO YOUR PRICE and then standing firm with this. Make sure your online portfolio stresses your USP of your extremely marketable platform and be a good networker.

Your rates shall come to you then!

Do continue to return to AFW, Wolfster, because you are definitely going to succeed as a freelance writing business owner if you take to heart and to action what you find on this blog.

By: Jennifer Mattern

Jennifer Mattern — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:25:15 +0000

I won’t speak for Jessie, but mine usually fall anywhere in the $150-400 per hour range. It’s not so much about slowly increasing rates over time. It’s more about choosing the right target markets early on (despite what you’ll constantly hear elsewhere you do NOT have to start at the “bottom” and work your way up — people who do that usually target the wrong market and then have to change things up down the road). It’s also about landing those long-term regular gigs where you get to know the clients’ businesses intimately well. The more you work with them, the faster the work goes and the more valuable you are to the client. Your hourly rate naturally increases (and without quality suffering).

By: Wolfster

Wolfster — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:43:43 +0000

@ Jessie,

$200 per hour? Wow, if you don’t mind sharing the strategies you used to increase your rate over time (or philosophy that you are using), that would be helpful. If not, that’s okay, too

By: Wolfster

Wolfster — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:23:41 +0000

Thanks for discussing this topic and I will also come back to visit the comments from other posters because I’m still not sure how I feel about this topic and what the best approach should be. I really struggle with the idea f rates/whether I am charging the right amount/and could I or should I charge more?

For myself, I have been leading towards another model, though. First, I take into consideration other factors than just the $. How much does the topic interest me? Can I use it as a sample or can I use the experience to get something else? I’ve taken things that I don’t like/am not interested in before, and for me, it = a much, much lower rate because I can’t focus and am not a happy camper. So it may take me 60 hours just because I’m not interested, even though it could be finished in 40 hours.

If I am working insane hours (like I was over the first few months as a freelancer, although it was inconsistent – 60 hours for one week, 20 the next, 60 the next week), then I start to increase my rate. I only have ten months to use as a model, but month 6 through 10 was when I mainly took clients that paid a certain rate (turning away others) and that had interesting projects, the amount I earned per month increased dramatically, and the # of hours worked per week dropped. I also finally had time to work on things for my business (eg webpage), which would not have happened unless I followed this model.

I am thinking of trying to raise my rates again next year, so I am at this exact point (Do I start over? How do I get/land those other clients?).

At the moment, I am working on a project that doesn’t interest me … notice that I am reading a blog and posting rather than working. Augh!

By: Jessie Fitzgerald

Jessie Fitzgerald — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:51:33 +0000

Jenn, very insightful. Glad you brought up the part about changing your rates could mean changing your path / starting over. In my fourth year I’m “starting over” because as an ebook writer charging about $0.35 per word, I’m not going to be writing any PLR content for Internet marketers. I’m working exclusively on authority ebooks for platform-building. That gives me the opportunity to charge based on value to clientele that can afford it. I end up targeted other serial entrepreneurs because they are capable of affording my rates. I was in a meeting yesterday and when I told my client that each hour of my time would cost him $200, he didn’t flinch. He knew the value was there. I don’t see another rate hike any time in the near future because I feel like I’ve found that right price point for myself and the budgets of my clients. Thanks Jenn!