Three Ways to Set Your Rates as a Freelance Writer

Three Ways to Set Your Rates as a Freelance Writer This post is about one of the most important conversations and considerations you should have as a new freelance writer. And that's about what to charge as your rate. Many people hold off on getting started as a freelance writer because they don't know how to set their rate. They might even be under the impression that prices in the market are too high or too low for them to really get involved and they are not really sure where to start with the research so they don't know how to calculate their rate as a freelance writer. The good news is that there is plenty of material out there to help you determine what other people are charging as a freelance writer and even though this might only inform how to begin your research of setting your own rates, it can be really valuable to understand where the market is at.

You should also never trust all the resources that you find because there is going to be great variability based on the type of content that's being produced, the industry that it's for and the area in which you live. All of these factors can influence what people charge as freelance writers and for the same piece of content across the internet, you will find people who fall anywhere on the spectrum from charging relatively inexpensively to charging a whole lot of money. That means that their clients are willing to pay that as well. There are actually three steps that you need to follow in order to set your rates as a freelance writer.

Why You Shouldn't Let Pricing Hold You Back Pricing holds a lot of people back from getting started or even succeeding as a freelance writer because they don't really know where to start and many people psych themselves out because they think, "well, a client is going to sense that I am not that confident about my rate or client is going to think that I am charging too much so they are not going to give me the opportunity to work with them. And that holds a lot of people back from getting started. I know when I first got started as a freelance writer, I would not have considered myself an expert on pricing either. I had a little bit more market research than most because I was working on a freelance job board where people were submitting proposals. So, I had some idea of what other people were charging but really didn't know what I was charging was in line with the rest of the market. So it can be a little nerve-wracking if this is your first time setting your own rates.

Time and Value The first way to set your rate as a freelance writer is to think about your own value or your time. So, how much is your time worth on an hourly basis? Most people start off charging their clients on an hourly basis because it's just the easiest to quantify, right. You can estimate how many hours a project is going to take and clients will also be familiar with the pay for an hour's model. However, most freelance writers don't use this model and instead charge flat rates per project. There is a dynamic that can be set up when you are working with somebody hourly where you or the client ends up feeling like they are being taken advantage of. So for example, if you quoted somebody that you would take about 5 hours to complete a project and gave them an hourly rate, then the client might be expecting to receive the completed project in five hours. If you are a new freelancer though, you might not understand how much time it would take you to complete the project and then when you submit a bill for 10 hours, the client is going to say, "Well, why on earth was this worth twice as much as what we discussed. It just tends to set up a difficult dynamic. That can happen with fixed price projects too, where you give a flat fee quote but it's a little bit easier for you to either work through those challenges or bring it up to the client and say, "Hey, you know these are the options that I can present you. I can do half of the job as we discussed or we can increase the budget and accommodate more of it." But really, how many hours it takes you shouldn't really impact the client. The bottom line is that you provide them with high-quality service and products that they can count on, and so if it takes you twice as long and you quoted them a

different number, you should try to honor that as much as possible. Unless it was the client who changed the scope. A basic way to approach the idea of doing your rates is how much you want to make per hour or per piece and then does the price match up with the value provided. A lot of freelance writers forget that what they are providing to their clients is something that lasts for many weeks, months, or even years. So, it's a onetime creation for you but they are going to get a lot of long term value out of it. So, this is why I recommend that new freelance writers don't undersell yourself.

Cost Plus Pricing The second way to price your work as a freelance writer is very simple. It's cost-plus pricing. So, what is the bare minimum that another freelance writer in the marketplace would charge and then add your mark up to that? So, this model works best if you are a brand new freelance writer. You are trying to break into the market, you don't have clips, you don't have references, you don't have a reputation anywhere; so, you are trying to get that experience and get your foot in the door. So in this case, it might make the most sense to charge the least expensive price and then only add a little on to that.

However, you can really get trapped into this model very easily for the long-term where you are being underpaid for your work.

Evaluate the Marketplace The third way to price your work is the one that I would recommend and it's something that will evolve over time. Experienced freelance writers as well as new freelance writers can benefit from doing a market rate analysis. So what are others charging in the marketplace? You can use research to help answer this. So you could participate in forums where writers are active and get a sample idea of the quote that they would provide for the type of content that you are going to be generating. You can visit sites like Upwork, Freelancer, or Guru.com and actually put out a bid for a dummy job where you could see how people respond and how they would quote. These can be really helpful exercises because it tells you what other people are providing. Now you shouldn't use this as be-all and end-all. You might record information from your research from doing this but then realize, "well, some of what these people suggested was way too inexpensive. I could never have that be my bottom of the line rate or some people charged way too much. I can't see myself changing that." Again, it's about your value. So what do you bring to the table that is different from those other individuals? How do you stand apart from them and if you are wanting to charge more, make sure that you keep that in the back of your mind when you are pitching clients? Be familiar with the concept that your clients might be getting these bottom of the barrel quotes.

How are you going to stand out from the person who is charging $15, $20, $25? Differentiate yourself, so that the client sees the clear value in choosing to work with you. There are many different ways to set your rates and it can change as you go along as a freelance writer. I strongly recommend you think carefully about your time and what you'd like to be making during the hours that you are working. But I strongly recommend using the market rate analysis method of determining your rate as it can be the most informational and help you set up a successful future. Using market rate analysis is something that you can use when you are a new freelance writer but it's also something that you can use when it's time to raise your rates, too.