Rates: How to set them, raise them, and fearlessly ask for what you need
Guess what? You should probably charge more.
But how do you figure out what to charge when there’s not a go-to source for setting freelance writing rates?
In this episode, we cover strategies for setting rates, as well as some ways to justify those rates to the clients you serve.
How do you set your freelance writing rates?
There’s a lot to take into consideration when you’re setting your rates. Remember: freelancers don’t get the same benefits as employees. No paid vacations, no insurance or healthcare, no sick time. That’s all on you.
If you want to make a career out of freelancing, you have to cover your costs. Your employer used to cover your costs of working—anything ranging from your office chair to your laptop. When you become a freelance writing business, you’re the one footing the bill for everything from your internet connection to your healthcare costs.
So how do you set rates? Sometimes the best place to start is by laying out what you already know:
What were you making before you went into freelancing?
What expenses do you need to cover?
Start with your minimum income requirements and work your way from there. One trick is to take your most recent annual salary, divide it by the months, weeks, down to the hours. Now you know roughly what you were making in your full-time role by the hour.
But don’t stop there. Next, you want to double it. Increasing your rate isn’t being sneaky or finding a way to rack up as much income as you can (insert evil villain laugh here). No, this isn’t a reflection on you. This is a business. You have to take the whole picture—the cost of running a business—into account.
Hourly vs. project pricing
Being quick and effective shouldn’t chip away at your income, but hourly pricing does just that; it penalizes you for being efficient. That’s why we’re big fans of project-based pricing. Project pricing protects you and your time; it takes into account the years of experience you bring to the table.
As much as we want to have it all figured out, there’s no “one size fits all” approach to project-based pricing. Every project or client is different. More than anything, think about the value you’re bringing. You want to focus less on the time it takes you to complete a task and more on the actual return-on-investment.
“Think about the final-product value more than anything else.”
You’re not going to know how much time and energy goes into each project or client relationship until you start working. That’s more than okay. Changing things up is the nature of freelancing. Test, refine, test again.
Find out what doesn’t work, then adjust accordingly.
What can you do to justify your freelance writing rates?
Confidence is so important when it comes to communicating with clients about your rates. But it’s hard to feel confident if you don’t have a lot of experience under your belt or you feel like you’re drawing numbers from a hat. Here are some ways to justify your freelance rates:
Ask your freelance friends. What would you charge for this? Even though we’re over seven years in, we still check in with freelancer friends when we’re pricing new projects. Try to connect with freelancers within your niche and across industries to get a solid range of ideas. (Find out how to build your network of freelancers in this episode).
Create a seamless onboarding process. Even if clients don’t read all three (or seven) pages of your onboarding document, they’ll trust you to get the job done. Showing them you know what you’re doing will validate your rates.
Recognize your value. Companies need you. Your services solve a business problem and they have marketing budgets for the solutions and results you provide.
“What sounds like a lot of money to you may not actually be that much out of a company’s marketing budget.”
Still stuck? Take a look at these resources for setting rates:
“How much do freelance writers charge?”— a benchmark study by Ashley Cummings.
“Benchmarks, budgets, and trends” — a roundup of insights from Content Marketing Institute.
When should you raise your rates?
Raising rates can be intimidating. You don’t want to scare anyone away, especially if you’re in the early stages of business. How do you know if your rates are too low?
The answer: when every proposal is getting approved.
“If all of your proposals are getting accepted, your rates are too low.”
It sounds counter-intuitive, but you want to get rejections. You want people to say no to you sometimes. Weird, right? Why would I want prospects to say no?
No helps you understand your market. We’ve even heard of some freelancers doubling their rates until someone says no. Like most things freelancing, trial and error are crucial to finding the right price. Getting a mix of yes’s and no’s will help you narrow in on pricing that works for you.
Remember: You bring REAL value
You’re a professional writer who provides real results. Clients need you. The bottom line? You should probably be charging more. You provide more value than you realize.