Cathy, maybe that's it. We've been at it a while. It's easier to turn away from a lousy deal.

Anne, you do that already with your gentle "no" technique. I loved that enough to blog about it. 🙂 If they're being congenial enough, I try to leave the door open a crack so they can say yes or no to negotiation. I won't lower my rate just because they have a number in their heads that they're going to pay. That's just nuts.

Kim, I was the same way. I thought it was my job to please them. Funny how a few scorch marks can change the attitude! 🙂

But next time I approach a new market, I'll try Jenn's tip. The beauty is 10-cents/word doesn't sound very drastic, but it makes a difference when multiplied by thousands of words. That gives a concrete figure, and even if you don't get that extra 10-cents a word, it doesn't look like you're making a big sacrifice for the job.

I had calculated my corporate world equivalent hourly rate (from a formula I read that sounded reasonable. In the beginning, I used that as my benchmark. The toughest part for me was figuring out my time. And I admit that I had the "newbie" backing off from that fee when I was in a dry spell.

Now that I have been freelancing longer, I find it easier to walk away from gigs that don't pay my bottom line.

On leaving that network a colleague recommended an online publication. She told me she charged $.25 per word. I decided to pitch them at $.10 per word more than what I knew they were paying her. They accepted — no questions asked. And I continued charging that rate, and higher, and haven't had many issues with clients balking or trying to talk me down. Then again I can come across as a bit of a hardass, so I'm not the type who screams "Hey, I'm flexible!" They come in knowing what they're going to pay, and 9 times out of 10, they pay it. In the end, the whole minimum rate issue seems to boil down to confidence.