Freelance Writing Blog

Writers Worth: Beyond Sticker Shock

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Don’t forget to comment to win! Stop by the blog, comment on any one of the Writers Worth posts, and you could win one of these prizes: An Amazon gift card worth $25 or a copy of my ebook Marketing 365! Just leave your comment to enter the random drawing. Winner to be announced June 2nd! For years, I’ve…

Writers Worth: That A-Ha Moment

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What’s on the iPod: White as Snow by U2 Don’t forget to comment to win! Stop by the blog, comment on any one of the Writers Worth posts, and you could win one of these prizes: An Amazon gift card worth $25 or a copy of my ebook Marketing 365! Just leave your comment to enter the random drawing….

Writers Worth: This Job, Not That Job

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Last week I mentioned that chum Jenn Mattern had sent over two lousy job offers for us to dissect together. The first one, which appeared here, was bad enough. This one makes that one look almost tame by comparison. The winner of the Worst Job on the Planet award: ScrewWritersWorldwide (not its actual name) is…

Writers Worth: Stop Chasing Payments

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Starting today, enter for a chance to win! Stop by the blog, comment, and you could win one of these prizes: An Amazon gift card worth $25 or a copy of my ebook Marketing 365! Just leave your comment to enter the random drawing. Winner to be announced June 2nd! I consider myself extremely lucky to know many…

Writers Worth: Your Pen of Expertise

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Starting Monday, enter for a chance to win! Stop by the blog, comment, and you could win one of these prizes: An Amazon gift card worth $25 or a copy of my ebook Marketing 365! Just leave your comment to enter the random drawing. Winner to be announced June 2nd! Cathy Miller is a vital…

Writers Worth: This Job, Not That Job

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What I’m reading: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison What’s on the iPod: Untitled (Love Song) by Counting Crows Part of understanding your worth as a writer is identifying a lousy deal when you see one. Sometimes they’re not easy to spot — they’re wrapped in layers of exclamation points, copy, or details so that…

Writers Worth: 9 Reasons You’re Worth a Lot as a Writer

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Sometimes friends are more like family. Such is the case with Anne Wayman, who with me started the About Writing Squared 5 Buck Forum for writers and creatives (still the best bargain in town at $5 a month). While I gave up the forum co-ownership to pursue my poetic side, Anne and I are still…

Writers Worth: Change One Thing

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What’s on the iPod: Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye Thanks again to Ashley for yesterday’s blog post. I love it when you guys give your perspective. I learn something new every time. Ashley, you framed worth in one of the more creative ways I’ve seen. I think the primary challenge we writers…

Writers Worth: Who’s the Boss?

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Welcome to the first full week of Writers Worth! Thanks again to everyone who posts, comments, shares, and makes this a fantastic celebration of awareness and personal growth. There’s still time for you to contribute, if you’re interested. Just send me a note at lwbean AT gmail and let’s talk. One of my favorite people…

Writers Worth: Why Your Price Isn’t Arbitrary

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What’s on the iPod: I’m Shakin’ by Jack White I’m back again for the second installment of this month’s Writers Worth Month celebration. I promise you’ll hear from plenty of guest bloggers in the coming weeks. This week, short as it is, I wanted to talk price with you. Imagine this scenario: You contact a…

9 responses to “Writers Worth: Why Your Price Isn’t Arbitrary”

Cathy Miller

May 2, 2014

Our bills and living expenses aren't arbitrary so why would we think our income should be? 😉
Lori Widmer

May 2, 2014

AMEN! Leave it to you to boil it down to one succinct sentence. 🙂
Sharon Hurley Hall

May 2, 2014

Cathy's good at that! 😉

I like #4 – must remember to use that if it comes up.
Paula

May 2, 2014

I've had to use #4, Sharon, so I hope it never comes up for you! The publisher treated all of his writers as if we were just trying to earn a little extra money. A friend who also wrote for them taught me a new phrase when she said she told the publisher was wasn't working for "pin money."

Any idea where that originates? Someone saving up to buy pins? Money to pay for a bowling game? (Not sure why, but I visualize a little old lady, circa 1930, pinning a dollar bill to the lining of her skirt.)

Needles to say, neither of us write for that joker anymore.
Paula

May 2, 2014

Could I have any more typos in one comment that I did above?
Anne Wayman

May 2, 2014

when someone says they can't afford me, I usually ask what they expected or what their budget is. If it's way under my rate I say something like, "obviously we're way apart – thanks for telling me."

If we're close I may do a bit of negotiating… I find often on large projects spreading out the payments can help.

I never argue with them – I might remind them they aren't paying my benefits, but rarely… I know all four of your list are true… if they don't get it, they don't get me.
Eileen

May 2, 2014

If your client can't afford your fee, ask what they can afford, and tell them what you can do for that money. This happened to me a couple weeks ago. I quoted a project at $3K, and the client said they had a thin budget. He asked me, point blank, "What could you do for $1500?" We were able to cut back the scale of the project so that we were both happy.

As for working smarter, another client has just learned this. They expected to need me on retainer for 28 hours a month. But because I'm actually working all 28 hours and not in meetings, standing around the water cooler, etc., they actually can't keep me busy enough. They'll be cutting back their hours (but the big discount I gave them will shrink along with the hours).
Paula

May 3, 2014

Now I'm imagining the different tones of voice Anne might have asked,"What were you expecting?"

I'm sure you were perfectly polite, Anne, but I'd have a hard time keeping the snark out of my voice.
Lori Widmer

May 5, 2014

Sharon, I doubt it will come up. You charge what you're worth — rarely do those clients question price. They know you're worth it!

Paula, I think that's the misconception many get about freelancers. One of my longest-running clients still says "Are you still freelancing?" when he writes. And another always reminds me of their toll-free number so I'm not paying for long distance…?? Doesn't everyone have nationwide rates these days?

Anne, good way to handle it. I never like answering back with contention, so I try to find a cordial, friendly way of expressing disappointment or conveying that we're far apart on price.

Eileen, excellent way to get some kind of project commitment! People don't always have the budgets for us, but their circumstances going forward could change for the better. They're more likely to remember writers who were flexible with them.