Freelance Writing Course

  • Learn how to earn a full-time freelance writing income
  • Daily emails, one-on-one training and more
  • "Your course has taught me a lot about freelance writing. I particularly enjoy the daily emails. My income is on its way up!" - Sheila Escuro

Hire Me

  • Many years of freelance writing and consulting experience
  • Web content, blog content, sales letters, feature articles and more
  • Competitive rates, Bulk discounts
  • Contact me today

How to Present your Freelance Writing Fees

Putting together freelance writing fees is often times easier than presenting this information to potential clients. This is when you will find out if you have priced your services correctly, or if changes are in hand sooner rather than later. When it comes down to it, the way that you present your freelance writing fees to clients is very important.

Since a lot of people may find you via your website, you will not have to worry about the formal presentation of fees. Of course, this only holds true if you list your prices online. Instead, buyers will go over your rates and then get in touch if they like what they see. It is important to not scare potential buyers away with complex pricing. If you do this, you will find that you do not receive a lot of inquiries via your website.

Unfortunately, things are not always this easy. There are going to be times when you are contacted via email or phone, and asked questions about your freelance writing fees. Handling this situation with care is very important.

Simply put, when a client asks for pricing information you want to be to the point and truthful. If you know what your rates are, you should not have any problems supplying this information. Tell the potential buyer how much you charge for a project like theirs, as well as why if you feel that an explanation is necessary. Remember, this is your business. You should never act in a shy or apologetic manner when giving out price quotes. If you do this, the buyer may feel that you are asking too much and in turn attempt to negotiate a better price. While you not want to lose the business, you need to stick to your guns. If you make an exception for one client, you are more prone to do it for others. In the end, this means that your fee schedule is pretty much a waste of time.

Some freelance writers will negotiate with clients, whereas others never deviate from their set schedule. This decision is up to you. When I first got started with freelance writing, I usually did whatever it took to obtain new business. As I gained experience and confidence in my work, this happened less and less. Now, I very rarely lower my prices and have found that most clients have no problem with this. They may ask for a better price, but after I explain myself and what they are getting, they agree to the original quote.

Finally, never present a “final” quote until you know exactly what the project entails. Although a 500 word sales letter may sound simple enough, until you know every last detail, hold off on quoting exact price. You never know what else the client is going to expect from you.

The way that you present your freelance writing fees has a lot to do with the number of interested buyers that you convert into clients.

Digg del.icio.us StumbleUpon Reddit Technorati
Subscribe to my RSS Feed, or receive updates via email.
Freelance WritingDecember 26th, 2007

4 Responses to “How to Present your Freelance Writing Fees”

  1. Laura Says:

    “You should never act in a shy or apologetic manner when giving out price quotes.”

    I really agree with this statement, it’s very true.

    I’m also one who is in favor of publishing rates as guidelines simply because it shows prospective clients that you do expect to be paid for your work. I can’t tell you how many times a “so-called” prospective client has contacted me with a “job” that they want done for free.

  2. chrisblogging Says:

    Laura - Glad to hear that we are on the same page. The information you provided is dead on with my way of thinking!

  3. Courtney Says:

    These are great tips! I especially agree with your last point. I always make it a point to tell clients, here are my normal fees but that may change depending on the level of work involved. It only took me a couple of times of misquoting editing jobs to be sure to use that phrase.

  4. Freelance Career Management Linky Love Says:

    [...] all wonder how we’re going to get paid. Two good posts on the topic are How to Present your Freelance Writing Fees from ChrisBlogging and All Freelance Writing’s post on Changing Services and Writing Rates in [...]

Leave a Reply

Copyright 2007-2009. Freelance Writing at Chrisblogging.com. 120 Media, LLCWeb Design by Blue Wave