Sharon Hurley Hall, who is one of the smartest freelancers I know, said something the other day that made me nod my head in agreement so much I thought I’d sprain my neck.
It’s about this notion of a “going rate” in freelancing.
This came up in a discussion on a private forum about yet another freelance rate survey. The premise is the survey conductors ask writers what they charge, then the results are put in terms of median rates.
When I saw some of the median rates, I nearly passed out. There are writers out there working for 6 cents a word writing marketing copy.
Worse, since it’s a median rate, there are plenty of writers out there working for less.
But wait. There’s more.
Sharon said that in her travels around the internet, she’s had to talk writers out of the notion that this was some kind of “going rate” for freelance writing.
There’s the bigger issue —
[bctt tweet=”There are #freelance writers out there who still believe someone else must tell them how much to charge for their services.” username=”LoriWidmer”]
Yea. They do. And I can flap my lips all day long and put up dozens of posts trying to convince them otherwise, but there’s only one thing that has to change:
[bctt tweet=”Freelance writers, in order to be successful, have to stop thinking like employees. #freelancewriting” username=”LoriWidmer”]
That’s what’s happening. What’s the “going rate”? Honey, you should be asking where is that rate going for me?
There’s something else at play here too, though.
Too many freelance writers are hanging out with like minds.
That’s great if you’re hanging out with freelancers who charge like they’re in the business to make money. Alas, too many are hanging out with freelancers who think accepting whatever is offered is the way to go.
Don’t be that freelancer.
Don’t hang out with that freelancer.
When I first became a freelancer, I had no idea what I was doing. I was on a newsgroup (remember those?), and there was a good mix of writers at many levels. They had a neat mindset — they called themselves successful for putting out chapbooks and self-published booklets. That’s attitude, man. And it was a good one, because they inspired you to try. That influenced me in ways I’ve only just come to recognize.
When the internet became more prevalent, I joined online forums. One was with a pretty well-known site, and you had to buy a subscription to get access to all the conversations. I did. And within a few short months, I dropped it.
The conversations were just so negative. So many beginners with the same question — how do I start? Or the same lament — there’s no work out there! Or the same complaint — freelancing is dead!
I spent those few months doing what Sharon alluded to: convincing these freelancers that their reality wasn’t, well, real. But a person can get carpal tunnel with all the trying I did. I gave up. I had to. Their pervasive attitude that freelancing was so impossible to get into was a damn drag.
Those people right there are keeping you in the mindset that you have to accept some magical “going rate” as payment for your hard work.
There is no “going rate.”
There is only what you want to charge.
That’s your magic number. So make it worth your effort and background. And if you’re just starting out, set your rate where you feel comfortable. Got that number?
Now double it because you’ve probably underpriced yourself.
And start hanging out with confident freelancers who don’t mind charging like they mean it. They will inspire you in ways you can’t imagine.
Writers, what are some of the myths or arguments you’ve seen around rates and pricing?
What was your a-ha moment with your own rate?
How should new freelancers be approaching their own pricing?
22 responses to “Friday Frank Talk: The Myth of the Freelance “Going Rate””
Maybe 5-10 years ago I was shocked when a friend who was freelancing on the local level thought charging $50/hour would be greedy. She was then charging $35/hour.
She was thinking in terms of an employee’s hourly pay, like her husband was earning at a well-paying factory job. You know, those people with no overhead because they work in an office they don’t pay for, and who get a long list of perks through their employers on top of their hourly pay: health insurance, paid time off, retirement plans, maybe even free doughnuts at meetings. After I explained that, she realized she was undercharging and said she’d go up to $40/hour. I told her even $50/hour was low here, and someone charging that little won’t be viewed as a true professional. I have no idea what she eventually raised her rate to, but it’s probably little surprise that she’s no longer actively freelancing.
$35 an hour? Good grief! How does she pay her taxes and still eat? That’s way too low.
Think how many clients she’s missing out on, Paula. I remember a friend referred me to her company for content work. I quoted some low rate. She called me and said, “You meant to write $125 an hour, RIGHT?”
She told me privately that her company would not have looked twice at me if my rate was under $100 an hour. That’s why the rate has to be a serious one. They don’t want to work with people who price like amateurs because they may actually behave like amateurs.
That friend didn’t have to worry about paying bills because her husband’s income was enough to cover bills if her income dipped a bit.
In other news, a friend who works in a different profession mentioned a colleague who had underpriced a freelance rate, so she she forwarded her friend’s bid on to the bosses, she upped the hourly rate by another $50, if I recall.
“There is only what you want to charge.” That’s it right there, Lori. I get the insecurity about rates – in the beginning of your career. But that needs to change if you ever want to make a true living at freelancing. No one is going to do it for you.
“No one is going to do it for you.”
Take that to the bank, Cathy Miller. 😉 That sums it up beautifully. You have to look out for YOU because if you don’t, who’s left to do it?
Thank you for this, Lori! Sometimes I feel like I’m smacking my head trying to get others to understand that you are your own company – whether you are a freelance writer, a fiction writer, ghostie, write only about puppies-never sell yourself short. Keep up with these great articles of common sense. When this is your living, you should never sell yourself short.
“When this is your living, you should never sell yourself short.” This all day long, Libby!
And yet so many writers do sell themselves short. They don’t think like business owners, which even that small of a mind shift can do wonders for how one approaches this gig.
“Honey, you should be asking where is that rate going for me?”. I cackled out loud at this, Lori. This discussion comes around so often,and it seems to be a hard mindset for some to shake, but you have to shake it or you hold yourself back, Thanks for highlighting this issue, AGAIN.
And I suspect we’ll both be highlight this one far too many times in the future, Sharon.
Glad I could give you a chuckle. 🙂
What about quoting number of hours?
Hi Gina! Good question. I typically give clients a ballpark number of hours that are attached to the per-project fee. If the project is big enough or complex, I’ll put stipulations on how many hours that fee entails, and how much I’ll charge per additional hour.
Got it. Thanks, Lori. Have you always been good at estimating your time, or did you have to eat some hours earlier on? Also, do you find that different writers spend significantly different amounts of time on the same kinds of projects?
Oh honey, the time I ate early on was just crazy! One job I quoted $3,500. It took me MONTHS to get it done, so obviously I made next to nothing on it.
That taught me to attach a time estimate to larger gigs, and charge separately for overages. One could also just say anything over and above this would require another agreement, but only for those black-hole projects (the big ones that aren’t clearly outlined or defined).
To your second question, yes. It’s going to depend on the client. Example: The first white paper I wrote was for Pinkerton. It was a 14-18 pager (can’t remember offhand), and had extensive research that I had to read through and turn into the white paper. Really comprehensive project (and they were excellent in their research), which meant I had to do a good bit of reading and translating to readable points.
The next white paper I did for a different client was a four-pager, no extensive research. It was based on existing research that I had to find to back up the points the client wanted to make. (I know I used data from a PriceWaterhouseCoopers study.) One interview with the client’s experts, then off I went to pull it together. That was easier for a few reasons: they told me the outcome they wanted, they gave me a verbal outline, and I pulled together a few studies from other sources to validate their points.
So it may not depend so much on the project type, but mostly on the client’s approach, information, communication, etc.
Does that help?
Lori, yes, that was helpful. Thank you. I don’t think I made my second question as clear as I could have. What I meant was, is it not true that different writers will spend different amounts of time given the same project? Or, in other words, is it common for a hiring manager to see vastly different time quotes from different writers for the same project ? I hope I make sense.
Yes, that’s very true, Gina. It will be dependent on each writer’s style, speed, thoroughness, current workload, you name it.
How I would address that should it need to be is to let the client know you strive for accurate results, not fast ones. Frankly, if they’re nitpicking at that level, you may want to rethink working for them at all. Your body of work should speak for itself.
Thanks, Lori. Thanks for the permission to tell clients to take me or leave me the way I work. Haha. Somehow you’ve made this ancient issue finally make sense to me.
It’s a tough issue, and I’m glad you brought it up. Happy I was able to lift the fog a little. 🙂
Remember when one of the major news shows (I think it was on CBS, but it could have been ABC or NBC) did that story on the content mill writer working “by her pool’ writing dozens of articles for $1/each and how “successful” that made her? Crashed so many rates, because potential clients would point to that.
As you work your way up the tiers of clients, you realize that your formula for rates is different than anyone else’s. It has to fit your skills, goals, and needs.
As you know, I stopped working with most local clients because of the “I don’t pay for that” — “you should work for exposure” — “it’s not a real job” attitude that’s prevalent around here. I don’t even argue with them, or try to sell them on the rate, I just say no and move on.
That’s made a huge difference.
It’s a hard realization, but a necessary one — your rate IS the ‘going rate’. If they don’t want to pay it — you GO somewhere else.
PS I miss Compuserve news group!
Oh Devon, I remember that all too well! Yea, it hurt freelancers because this woman sold the notion that $1 an article was acceptable. No. It’s not. Ever. I charge that per word, not per article. My time is worth a lot more than a fraction of minimum wage.
“Your rate IS the ‘going rate’.” A perfect statement if ever there were one!
I miss those groups, too. They’re probably still going on, some of them. 🙂
Lori, I’ll always remember something you said years ago in my freelance career, which I now tell everybody else: If you’re really busy, you need to raise your rates. That was like a thunderbolt. And I’ve done it now for years, and I’ve told friends in other industries the same. A friend who’s a personal coach was struck when I told her that. Then a month or so later, she reported back that not one of her clients balked at her recent and significant rate increase.
I’ve had publishing/PR/other companies approach me to write for their clients, and when I’ve told them my rate, they’ve said, “Well, if you charge that much, we can’t find you work.” Honey, I’m not coming to you looking for work. You came to me!
Charge what you’re worth! Keep saying it, Lori!
Gabriella, that’s great to hear! And you can thank my husband; he first said that to me years ago. It was like a lightning bolt for me, too.
Great response to the companies that approach you and say that. It’s hilarious in a way because it’s clear who needs whom in that scenario, isn’t it?
Charge what you’re worth! I’ll say it to my last breath. And what you’re worth is what you SAY you’re worth, not what someone else says you’re worth.