Words on the Page

Writers Worth: Handling Client Controversy

Posted on by lwidmer

Have you left your comment yet? Just engage in conversation on any of the Writers Worth posts and you’ll be entered to win one of a few nifty prizes! Legitimate comments only — if you’re anonymous, posting in a foreign language, or linking to your Swiss watch website, I’m afraid that won’t count. While Writers…

Writers Worth: The How-to’s of Comic Writing

Posted on by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Glorious by MaMuse 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…

Writers Worth: Persistence

Posted on by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Late in the Evening by Paul Simon 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…

Writers Worth: Beyond Sticker Shock

Posted on by lwidmer

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

Posted on by lwidmer

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

Posted on by lwidmer

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

Posted on by lwidmer

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

Posted on by lwidmer

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

Posted on by lwidmer

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

Posted on by lwidmer

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…

Cathy Miller

Bravo, Anne. I love the idea that when a prospect/client says your fees are too high that it means the cost is not worth it to them – and that has NOTHING to do with you, the writer, or your rates. It simply may mean they cannot afford you.

There's lots of things in life I can't afford. And the main one is I can't afford to reduce my rates below my worth.

Cathy Miller

Make that there ARE lots of things…

LOL! Did I lower my worth? 🙂

Lori Widmer

Not at all, Cathy. 🙂

Anne, thank you for your post and your wisdom. Much appreciated, friend. 🙂

Jennifer Mattern

Great point Anne (and Cathy). It's always nice to see a reminder that one prospect doesn't determine the value of our work.

Anne Wayman

Cathy… "I can't afford to lower my rates…" excellent way to say it.

Jenn… yes, even a couple of potential clients doesn't determine the value of our worth, and certainly says nothing about us.

Ashley

I can't afford to lower my rates! I'm stealing that for sure 🙂

Just tweeted this post for #writerWednesday and Writers Worth!

Lori Widmer

Actually, Cathy has hit on the perfect reason to give to clients: I can't afford to lower my rates. How can they argue that? ANd frankly, no client should argue your rate. Negotiate, yes. Argue? No.

Samar Owais

Great post Anne!

This is one of the scariest things to do in freelancing but when you raise your rates, you start attracting the clients that can pay those rates.

They won't come to you immediately. But slowly and gradually, you'll find them.

I feel every time I raise my rates, I have to up my marketing game because past marketing activities were attracting clients at my old rates. New rates require some new marketing activity.

Cathy Miller

Steal away, Ashley 😉

Paula

Hey, if the cable company's snotty customer service rep can defend a massive rate hike by saying, "No one's forcing you to have cable. It's a LUXURY," surely we can say no to lower rates.

Lori Widmer

Samar, I've found the same thing — higher rates net clients who understand they're paying for skills.

Paula, that's when I'd switch providers and let the old provider know why. No one should talk like that to any customer!

Sharon Hurley Hall

Excellent advice, Anne – the longer you freelance, the more all of those reasons apply. And I love Cathy's line too – every client understands the concept of affordability.

Devon Ellington

Yes, we are worth a lot. When a client starts to nickel-and-dime you, walk away.

They're not doing you a favor by hiring you — they're lucky to get you.

I'm lucky right now in that I"m booked fully until the end of June. I'm not going to even start pitching until the beginning of June, and have turned down several projects this past week that simply weren't worth my time, especially in the time/money/annoyance ratio.

Raise your standards on the type of client you want, and the positive experiences and fair pay come into play.