How Much Should I Charge?

How Much Should I Charge Clients as a New Writer?

It's your first time writing as a freelancer. You are trying to figure out a fee schedule and pricing plan for your first client(s). Additionally, you find yourself faced with insecurities and anxieties that you may be charging too much or not enough (as a new writer).

You are not alone!

Let's first consider a few key elements in your pricing strategy.

How Do I Charge My Client?

Question Time | Your Needs, Your Competitors, and Your Content

Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

What are my current needs? (build portfolio, financial needs, etc.)
What are my competitor's rates in a specific industry? (i.e. IT, Healthcare, Real Estate, etc.)
What type of content am I creating for the client? ( Blog Post, Article, Whitepaper, Case Study, Web Content, etc)

It is important to understand and consider the most frequently used charging methods as a freelance writer.

1) Charge per Hour

2) Charge per Content Assignment

3) Charge per Word

Charging a client by the hour:

Some content assignments require hours of research. This is especially true if you are writing a whitepaper, article, web content, or blog post that is not in your niche (area of knowledge/ experience). Your hourly rate can be determined based on the size of the project and your experience.

PLEASE NOTE: Charging an hourly rate is not always the best option. For example, you may have a client that you charged 40 pounds or $50 USD an hour on an Information Technology article that only took 2 hours to develop and write. However, the next project for this client may take much longer because you are personally not knowledgeable about a specific area of IT. The client may expect rate would be the same. Therefore, you would need to explain or adjust your hourly rate.

Charging based on each content assignment:

It can be very profitable to simply tell a client that you will invoice them based on each individual assignment. This allows you to make a contract that fits their particular needs.

Just make sure that you are:

Scalable: Allows you to review their project needs and set an assignment fee based on all factors (Word Count, Research Time, Keyword Requests, and Edits).
Flexible: The client may request a few edits to the content. Determine whether edits are included in that original fee...or remain flexible to edit content under the fee that you quoted.

Charging clients based on word counts:

As a beginner, you may want to set your rate based on project size (word count) and your comfortability.

Since you are new to remote writing, ask yourself:

1) Am I willing to write a 300 word blog post for $15 (just to get some experience)?

2) Will my name be on the written content, giving me public credit for my hard work?

THE ULTIMATE GOAL

CHARGE BASED ON PROJECT SIZE and YOUR NEEDS

My advice: Don't worry about having less experience. Focus on the project size and your own financial needs. Great content is worth its value.

Always place the client's goals as a priority, in order to gain a:

Long-term contract;
Repeat customer;
Positive Referrals.

Dually, your own financial needs and portfolio goals are equally important as a paid remote writer.

Analyze What's Most Profitable

Always choose a strategy that provides you with space and time to write for other clients.

Let's say you have a client or platform where you are given 5 posts per week. You are only paid $0.05 per word for 300 word posts. That is $15 per blog post. You may find that this will only help you pay for food or a few bills a month. For others, this may pay their house rent/lease and provide for their family.

On the other hand, you will discover that writing one 800 word article for $120 a week is better than 5 posts at $0.05 per word.

It all depends on the platform you are writing for and/or the client you are working with.

Charging "Approximate Rates"

If you plan on advertising your rates openly, keep all of these things in mind. It may be highly advantageous to simply provide an APPROXIMATE RATE CHARGE. This is not always available, especially when you are advertising your services on certain platforms.

You can always say:

" $0.10 - 0.15 per word, based on your individual needs"

...or ...

" $80 - $200 per article, based on keywords and backlinks, with unlimited edits".

Would you like an extended copy of the strategies ilsted in this blog? Download a free copy of Le Williams' e-book, "Fee Strategies for New Remote Writers | Part 1".

You are welcome to sign-up with RWJ to receive notifications when the next series of strategies and books are set to release.