It’s a tough issue, and I’m glad you brought it up. Happy I was able to lift the fog a little. 🙂

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.

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.

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.

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?

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?

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.

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!

“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. 🙂

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.