Did you ever see something online that made you scream out loud? Same here.
Could be something someone claimed, or one more of those “turn your side hustle into a freelance career!” posts. Could even be something ridiculous you saw that spouted something really inaccurate about freelancing. For me, it’s usually bad advice or guidance. Or misinterpreted facts. (And if the last four years has proven anything, it’s that people will believe shit that confirms their own biases.)
That’s what today’s post is about — the inexplicably bad things floating out there that are just plain bullshit. What grinds my gears is that the stuff I see is about freelance writing, and it’s usually doled out with the same care as one takes shoveling manure. See if you agree.
Untruth #1: Writers should refer to rate charts and surveys before setting rates.
Hogwash. Did Starbucks look at McDonald’s and say “Damn, we can’t charge more than 99 cents for coffee now”? Answer: Hell no! They went ahead and charged their own rate. Is their coffee any better? Is it worth more? I’ll leave that to you because I’m a tea drinker, but I’d say because they’re selling an experience (and a feeling), it doesn’t matter if their coffee is any good. People are lining up to buy it because they want to be part of that feeling.
That’s why I bristled when I saw a rate survey. Surveys are different in that they ask the same question of writers at all career levels. That gives them a median rate. Nothing wrong with that as it shows just how far we’ve progressed or we need to progress. What is wrong is that there are writers out there who look at those rates and think this is what they should charge.
That’s why I’ve never liked rate charts, either. What I charge for my specialty is different than what someone in a different specialty would charge and completely different than yet another writer in a different field might charge. Or we might charge the same and it’s higher than what these charts show. Are we to feel bad? Guilty? Nervous? Hell no, but those purists who don’t know any better use that “charge what the market will bear” BS to justify why we can’t earn a decent living at freelancing. Which again, is BS.
I remember the feeling when a prospective client told me in email that my prices were outrageous. After the initial “What a jerk!” reaction, I felt vindicated; not because my price insulted him (and that’s his personal issue, not mine), but because at that very moment, I had three other clients paying that same rate. McDonald’s, meet Starbucks.
Untruth #2: Someone else should judge whether you are writer material.
Sharon Hurley Hall has this great post about that time she was told by a teacher she’d never be a writer. Man, did that resonate. I was told that once, too. In fact, I was married to the person who’d told me that. I really do not like talking about my ex in public, but he was wrong. So very wrong. And I was fortunate enough to know that he was even as he was saying it.
There have been plenty of examples of people who were told they wouldn’t amount to what they thought they would, who then turned around and became masterful at that very thing. Is everyone who wants to be a writer cut out to be a writer? No, of course not. But that’s a realization they need to come to on their own. Some may disagree with me and say “But how can you let them embarrass themselves when they’re clearly not very good?”
Because we were all once not very good at something. Maybe at this writing thing, even. It’s not up to anyone else how long you want to keep trying or when (or even if) you want to call it quits.
[bctt tweet=”Untruth #3: Writers shouldn’t call themselves #freelance writers.” username=”LoriWidmer”]
I’ll admit I’m on the fence on this one for a few reasons, but in general, I don’t think it matters a lick what you call yourself. I’ve seen people argue this (to the point of moderators having to shut down threads), and it seems like a waste of energy. In general, it makes little difference to the clients who pay you.
I spent some time worrying about this about two years ago. Then as I was searching for the right keywords to replace “freelance writer” with, I realized that most of my first clients found me with those very search terms. From there, I built on my client base and yes, I billed myself as a freelancer. And they still hired me.
However, if you’re finding that clients and potential clients are still asking you ten years later “Are you still freelancing?” and it bothers you, you might want to call yourself something else. If you think it’s getting in your way, change it. If not, don’t worry about it. What matters is how well you market your skills and how well you do the job.
If you’re in a niche in which you think having a better way to describe what you do will help, by all means do that. But don’t think it’s a requirement to drop “freelance” from your vocabulary. Nor is it worth having debates about it with fellow writers, in my opinion.
Untruth #4: Talking about money upfront with a prospect is a bad idea.
That’s true only if you’ve never spent 20 minutes of your time fleshing out project details only to find out at the last minute that your prospect wanted to pay $20 an hour to your $150 an hour. Look, both you and the client are thinking about it. Bring it up. Here’s a fairly painless way to broach the topic early:
Before we get started, can we talk about the budget you are setting aside?
I myself would follow up with what the scope of work is that they’re attaching to that budget. If you’ve done a little homework before that call, you may have already the project details. But we get blind calls, and in those cases, this is a perfectly acceptable, logical question. In all cases, really. The times I’ve not done that in the past include:
- A page of notetaking only to find out the job paid 3 cents a word (from an established magazine, no less)
- A 15-minute interview for a book, and the author assumed he’d pay me royalties only
- A trip to an office complex and an hour watching the prospect shift book topics, only to find out, again, he was planning to pay me royalties
- A trip to another office and two hours of my life only to find out the prospect expected me to cut my rate in half so he could make a bigger profit
That’s why now, that question comes first.
Writers, what untruths have you faced in your career path?
How did you overcome the limitations of that untruth?
Great post, Lori!
Interesting. I didn’t know there was a furor over freelance. I do think it sounds sort of like the person who doesn’t really work much but wants to appear productive and creative. Still, when people say, “Are you still freelancing,” I don’t get offended. Personally, I call myself a professional writer.
On the rates up front, yep, I now do that all the time. Every. Single. Time. I can’t tell you how many times people contact me and say we should work together, and then I find out their pay is pitiful. So when I’m approached, I always say something along the lines of, “I’d love to talk to you. I charge __ per hour and __ per word. If that’s something that fits your budget, let’s arrange a time.”
Nearly every time, the conversation ends.
But I’ve had people say, “If you charge that much, I can’t find you work!”
Dopes. If I can charge that much, it means I don’t need you to find me work. You contacted me, remember?
Have a great day!
Love those last few lines, Gabriella!
There’s been a minor kafuffle over it, Gabriella. I think it’s energy wasted, personally. But I’m all for anyone calling themselves whatever they think is necessary to attract clients. I’ve never had any issues with calling myself a freelance writer. Bring the goods and there isn’t a problem, right?
Yep, I’ve learned myself to lead with that conversation on rates. It’s just better for everyone involved. I had an email from a company about two months ago asking if I worked on this or that kind of project, and what were my rates, and would I like to have a phone conversation? I told them yes to the projects and here’s my rate. If the rate is amenable, we can set up a call. Crickets. But again, it’s a corporation, and things do go on the back burner.
Either way, no time was wasted on either side. They got a quick answer, and they’ll come back if it’s within their budget.
Another good one, Lori. I admit I’ve found rate sheets useful when trying to price something new, although I soon moved on to seeing what my peers charge, which is a much better guide. And of course, I always need to keep in mind what I consider compensation that values my experience.
As for leading with the rates, yes, yes, YES! It saves a lot of wasted time on both sides.
They were at first, weren’t they? The difficulty is that you start to think “Well, that seems low.” That’s when you know it’s time to move on. 😉
Doesn’t it save time? It’s the question people dance around. Why not just bring it up? Straightforward is a good business trait, too!
Pitiful rate story: A family friend recommended me as a ghostwriter to one of his friends. He promised that she had a “real” budget to write this book. I asked her what her budget was, and she said she was still putting together numbers, so we had discussions about research time and sources needed, structure, time frame, etc. She’d read some of my work in her field and really liked it.
She then asked me for a quote based on our discussions. When I gave her one, she came back with 1/11th of that quote, then questioned the necessity of ANY research or fact-checking.
Needless to say, I refused.
I have also refused all “referrals” from this individual, because he doesn’t understand “real money” when it comes to writing. It’s not like he charges so little for what he does.