Writing Rate Wake-up Call: Is Today Your Day?

I remember the exact moment I realized that compromising on rates to get the work is stupid.

I was working my way up the “rate food chain” and as I brought on new clients, I would charge them a little more than the existing ones. I didn’t want to give up those tried-and-true clients now, did I?

Well, not until this happened:

Three checks came in the same week. One was for a magazine article, the other two for client work.

I was signing them to deposit them. I looked at the one check, for a job that took me about four hours to complete.

The amount: $1,200.

The next check was for a job that took me a little longer. I was writing blog posts, and the time I had invested came to about eight hours that month.

The amount: $600.

That’s right — I’d just worked twice as long for half the pay.

That’s a lesson you don’t forget.

I sure didn’t.

So what did I do? Right there, I contacted the lower-paying clients and informed them my rates were about to go up at the start of the following month.

I’d love to say they loved my work so much that they paid without question. Alas, the relationship was unbalanced from the start. They’d hired me for my skills, yes, but they led with price. And they put a lot of emphasis — a lot — on negotiating my rate down. Another lesson learned: when there’s an imbalance in the relationship, someone is going to feel inferior. (Yes, I replaced those clients easily.)

But this is about money. In fact, it’s about your money.

When it comes to what we charge, we freelancers are all over the place. Seriously. While I’m of the opinion that writers can and should charge what they want for their work, it becomes an issue when a writer clearly undersells themselves. And that happens quite a lot.

A writer charging $5 a page to proofread, or $35 a page to edit.

Another writer writing magazine articles for 10 cents a word.

The question becomes this: when is it okay for you, and when should you increase your rates? And are you really okay with earning what you’re earning?

Here are some hints that it may be time to bump them up:

If you’ve charged the same amount for the last three years.

If you were working in an office, you’d have at least a 2-4 percent cost-of-living increase. But here you are, slogging away for $40 an hour. Don’t you think it’s time you charge at least double that? (Yes, you should.)

[bctt tweet=”If you’ve charged the same rate for the last three years, time to raise your #freelancewriting rates.” username=”LoriWidmer”]

If your clients are pretty much all the same kind of client.

If you can’t break beyond the pool of clientele you have now, can’t quite reach the ones who will pay more for what you do, then your rates are definitely too low. Here’s your litmus test: is that client nitpicking every syllable? Late with payments? Telling referrals how cheap you are?

If you have one client already paying a higher rate.

Right there is proof your writing is worth more than the price tag you’ve attached to it. Do yourself a favor — dig out those check stubs. Hold the one with the highest amount next to the one with the lowest amount. Which would you rather be earning consistently?

If the writers who are most successful are charging more.

I didn’t want to include this one because I think we should all determine our rates without the input of others. However, if you’re noticing that the writers around you — the successful ones — are demanding higher rates, why do you think they’re so successful? (Hint: because they charge more.) They may not be better writers, but they’re more confident in their pricing. That’s all it takes.

Writers, when was your wake-up call? When did you realize your rates weren’t cutting it?
How far did you raise them? Did you lose clients over it? Have you ever regretted it?