Are you thinking about increasing your freelance writing rates in 2008? Is this something that you want to do, but are a bit afraid of? If so, you are not in an uncommon position. After all, every freelance writer has to deal with this as each new year starts. The fact of the matter is that increasing freelance writing rates is not as easy as it sounds. In other words, you cannot simply ask for more money without giving it any thought.
Here are several details to keep in mind if you are considering increasing your rates.
1. How much of an increase are you thinking about? This is the most important detail because it can make or break your business in the new year. It is very important that you increase your rates enough to make a difference, but not so much that your clients will object. For instance, you may charge $200 for a sales letter right now. In my mind, a fair increase in 2008 would be $50 or so. If you attempt to double your past rate to $400, you may run into some resistance. This is especially true with clients that you have worked with in the past.
2. What are you basing your rate increase on? You need to have some sort of reasoning and method to your changes. Your best bet is to consider your current rate sheet, experience, and what others are charging. From there, you will have a better idea of the percentage increase that you should put into effect. The bottom line is that you should not make a change for the sake of doing so. If you do, you may find yourself backpedaling during the first few months of the year.
3. If you increase your rates and later find that it was a mistake, you can always switch back to 2007 pricing. Remember, as a freelance writer you are your own boss. This means that you can do whatever you feel is best for your business. If you are not generating enough clients due to higher pricing, you can tweak this until you find a happy medium. Of course, you want to avoid changing your pricing too often; this will become confusing for both you and your clients.
Personally, I am not going to make too much of a change to my freelance writing rates in 2008. I feel comfortable with my rates as they are right now, and my clients have not expressed any concerns. Even though I may be able to get away with charging a few more bucks on each project, at this time I see no point in doing so. Instead, I am going to attempt to increase my income by increasing my output and adding new income streams.
With all of that being said, how do you plan on handling pricing in 2008?
At the beginning of every month I write a post detailing my freelance writing income for the previous month. Within the post I include information on how many projects I completed, how I was paid, and of course, the total income. While this gives a lot of information to the reader, some of you have asked for further information on how much each project pays.
Instead of getting into all of the finer details, I am going to touch on a few of the projects that make up my monthly total. This will give you a better idea of what percentage of my freelance writing income comes from large projects, and what percentage is made up of smaller jobs.
First off, let’s take a look at three of my biggest money makers. These three projects consist of just around 50 percent of my total income. While not exact, if I earn $5,000 it is safe to say that half of it will be from these three projects alone.
These jobs differ in how much they pay, but in most months each one consists of anywhere from $800 to $1,000. Again, this shows that these three projects usually make up half of my monthly income.
The months where I earn more than $5,000, such as October, I always receive a lot of smaller jobs. While jobs that pay $200 to $400 may not sound like that big of a deal, by completing five of these in a month, it adds an extra $1k or $2k to my bottom line. If it were possible, I would always complete these jobs as to keep my income above $7k. But as mentioned above, these are not regular jobs but instead come through from time to time.
There are a lot of people who believe that one or two projects should not make up your entire freelance writing income; and I agree with them. After all, if you lose that client your business will suffer until you have the chance to replace them. With that being said, it can often times be difficult to control this situation. If you feel that one or two clients are making up a large percentage of your income, begin to market your services more heavily. This will give you the chance to diversify your income.
Hopefully this will give you a better idea of the size of the projects that I complete. Of course, the income levels listed above change from month to month. It all depends on the amount of work that I am doing, and what the client is asking for.Â
In order to fully understand the freelance writing industry, you must first have a better idea of why clients hire for this type of help. When you know why a client may hire you, it will make it easier for you to position yourself for success.
Here are four common reasons that a client will hire a freelance writer.
1. In many cases a client may want to do the work on their own. But due to time constraints, they are forced to hire a freelance writer. Just as you do not have time to take on every job, the same thing holds true for your clients.
2. You can do the job better. Freelance writers specialize in creating content that works. Believe it or not, some companies do not have anybody on staff that is capable of writing with a high level of success. In turn, if they want to get the job done right the only option is to hire a freelance writer.
3. In many cases, hiring a freelance writer is cheaper than having somebody in-house do the work. This holds true for two reasons: 1. An in-house employee already has enough work to do. If they must also work on writing projects it can affect their quality across the board. 2. Hiring a full-time employee for nothing more than writing related tasks can be quite expensive. But on the other hand, outsourcing jobs to freelance writers is cost effective.
4. A freelance writer can bring a fresh outlook to the client. The fact of the matter is that a company often times gets stuck “inside a box†because they do all of their own work. A freelance writer will be able to offer insight and suggestions for improvement.
Of course, there are many others reasons that freelance writers are hired; these are simply the more common ones. Now that you know why you may get hired for a job, you should be able to better position your offerings. For instance, you can play up the fact that hiring you is more cost effective than having a full-time employee. Get creative with the marketing ploys that you use to increase business.
All in all, companies have been hiring freelance writers for many years, and this will never change. By playing off of the four points above, you should be able to come up with several new marketing ideas.Â
