Words on the Page

Writers Worth: Hanging on and Letting Go

Posted on by lwidmer

I love freelance writers. I love how they work, how they collaborate, and how they, the good ones at least, will help someone they barely know. So when Paula Hendrickson sent me a note saying her friend Rick wanted to post for Writers Worth, I knew instantly Rick was one of the good ones. His…

Writers Worth: Why Real Writers Cost Money (and Why They are Worth It)

Posted on by lwidmer

Here’s what I love about Sharon Hurley Hall — everything. Sharon is the brains behind Get Paid to Write Online, a terrific blog devoted to online writing advice. She’s also a warm, vibrant soul who shares openly her experiences and helps others improve what they’re doing. She shares good advice no matter who offers it,…

Writers Worth: Ending the Waiting Game

Posted on by lwidmer

About seven months ago, I had a conversation with a potential client. At the time, he and I were talking not just price but also project length, time frame, and duration. It’s a long-term, ongoing arrangement, so I was about to see my workload double, possibly triple. That takes some serious rearranging of the work…

Writers Worth: Content Mills, Desperation, and More Effective Freelance Marketing

Posted on by lwidmer

On Content Mills, Desperation, and More Effective Freelance Marketing [Audio Post] by Jenn Mattern Content mills have been a pet peeve of mine for a long time. I went after them harder than most for years, and for good reason. They target both new and desperate writers and they have a tendency to twist the…

Writers Worth: Taking Tough Love

Posted on by lwidmer

We’ve had a lot of encouraging posts so far this Writers Worth Month. How about we look at something you need just as badly? Tough love. I’ve never been a person who enjoys giving criticism. I look for it whenever I know it’s constructive and given with the right intention. Still, it’s really tough to…

Writers Worth: What’s the Actual Rate?

Posted on by lwidmer

Once upon a time, I had a simple idea — Writers Worth Day. Soon, the interest was such that I stretched it to a week. Good, right? Not so, according to freelance writer and friend Paula Hendrickson. Paula suggested (and kept suggesting) that I expand the event to a month. Eventually, I caved. She’s very…

Writers Worth: A Work in Progress

Posted on by lwidmer

There’s this quiet little success story happening right in front of us every day. Her name is Cathy Miller. Cathy is a former corporate communications wonk who did what every 9-to-5 slave dreams of doing — she chucked a lucrative, soul-sucking career mid-meeting and went into full-time freelancing. In 2008, right when the recession hit…

Writers Worth: My A-Ha Moment

Posted on by lwidmer

What I love about Writers Worth Month is the various ways in which writers interpret worth and value. Ashley and Anne have taken the them and given us two very different twists. I think what stuck with me in both posts is these ladies had somewhat of an a-ha moment — that instance where they…

Writers Worth: Think You Don’t Do Enough?

Posted on by lwidmer

One of the first people, if not the first, I met when I started freelancing was Anne Wayman. Back then, Anne was the freelance writing guru at About.com. Since that time, she’s morphed her business into a successful standalone blog and now a supportive forum I was proud to help establish — About Writing Squared….

Writers Worth: Where Your Value Lies

Posted on by lwidmer

I was on a business trip recently when something kind of incredible happened. Well, let’s say incredible and incredulous — there was both going on. I was walking through the exhibit hall when I realized I was standing in front of the booth of a former client prospect. I say former because this was a…

Cathy Miller

My moment was a hard slap to the side of the head. It was my first year of freelancing. I let a smooth-talking salesman convince me to do a marketing analysis in exchange for introductions and referrals. Guess what did not happen? Yep, the introductions and referrals.

That lesson stuck with me. I won't say I didn't still stumble in realizing my worth but it sure made saying"No" a whole lot easier. 🙂

Lori Widmer

Wow. That sucks, Cathy! You'd think with the one-on-one exchange like that he'd have stuck to his side of the bargain.

His karma will get him.

Anne Wayman

I began to understand how low I'd priced myself when someone challenged me to double my rate – back then I couldn't go that far, but did a quote at 25% more than I thought I should. I noticed how easily the client accepted it and realized I had left money on the table… that was the start of the breakthrough for me.

Lori Widmer

Isn't it funny, Anne? I've had similar head-slapping moments. When I quoted my rate and the client accepted without missing a best, I knew I'd gone too low.

Paula

Lori, I love your advice to think of your business as a child or person you want to protect. Funny how most of us are willing to endure less-than-acceptable conditions, but wouldn't never accept the same for our loved ones.

Okay, from today on, my business is my baby!

Jennifer Mattern

Knowing what a jerk this person was in how they criticized your rates, you made the best decision. And it must have felt great putting them on the spot. 😉

I rarely get these kinds of inquiries anymore (a perk of keeping your rates public), and when I do they're never nasty about it.

What I generally do is politely tell them that I can't work within their budget (unless there's a way to change the scope to make that work).

Then I refer them to newer writers who will work for less. Either they realize they're happy with a less experienced writer, and that writer is getting paid what they want (win-win for both), or they realize they really do want a more experienced writer and they come back after they've found a way to increase their budget or decrease the scope of their project.

More come back than you might think!

Out of curiosity, would you consider working with the company if a different point person contacted you? Or did he ruin it for the lot of them?

Ashley

Once, waaaay back in the beginning, I tried to negotiate with someone who was firm on her pay rate. The pay wasn't as abysmal as content mills, but it still wasn't what I knew I was worth. She ended the negotiation immediately, wishing me luck. In her reply, she touted the fact that she paid much higher than many others for the same work (true, like I said, higher than content mills). I was really upset about that loss for a long time because I was afraid I couldn't do better. But now, looking back, I know it turned out for the best, because I still might be working for that person at that price.

My, how things have changed … I had an inquiry a few days ago from someone paying a rate much, much lower than I'm willing to accept. And I didn't hesitate an instant to turn it down (kindly, even though it was really low).

Lori Widmer

Don't forget to feed your baby, Paula. 🙂

Jenn, you ask a good question. Would I work for them if someone else were the point person? I'm thinking no — the response was just so cold and deliberate that it felt like a directive from above. It was the sense I got, especially since she knew my price going in. It had to come from someone who would tolerate that behavior (or promote it).

There would have to be proof (once this woman is gone) that the attitude stopped at her, or I couldn't do it. I have plenty of other opportunities to work with clients who aren't rude (and who can afford me, which I think is the larger point in the whole scenario).

Ashley, feels good, doesn't it? You were right to walk away from that, and shame on her for fussing about how great her rates were. People who do often realize they're not paying enough. It's a defensive move.