Don’t you get sick of hearing that one, Gina? I sure do. I had someone argue vehemently with me that I cannot charge more than the market will bear. I was charging $150 an hour. He, on the other hand, was advocating that we can only charge what the market decides — not the individual client, the market. Meanwhile, a quick check of his website convinced me he just wanted to be an authority on something — he was charging $250 an hour for consulting.

That’s when I had to suppress my desire to tell him to STFU.

I think she would have done better to bill it as “Things I learned in through my first six months as a freelancer.” It’s more honest, less click bait-y. (Honestly, the only reason I clicked the link was because I thought it sounded like advice from an established pro like you or Anne Wayman, who has a similar post up this week.)

Exactly that. It astounds me when I see writers saying they’re not charging much because they feel they love their job too much to charge for it. What kind of idiotic thinking is that?

Must be the time of year for it!

Yes, I suspectin six months, you’d learn something, but that’s a short amount of time.
Still, there’s always a TON to learn. As you say, Paula, you learn well into a career.

This post is so much better than one I saw the other day from a “successful freelancer” touting all the things she’s learned in her whole six months of freelance writing. Please, I’ve had projects take longer than that, hon.

I’ve been a full time freelancer more than 15 years, too, and I’m still learning new things every day. Sure, most of it has to do with technology, but still – there’s always more to learn. (Even after those first six months of freelancing, LOL!)