Fee Simple: What Should You Charge?

If you are a freelance writer, then you know that the rates you charge your customers will go a long way toward determining whether you can make enough money to survive in this business or go out of business.

Yet, getting a good rate for your work can be difficult, especially in these challenging economic times where the competition for work is stiff and the opportunities limited, at least the good paying ones.

I don’t have a magic number when it comes to what you should charge as every project or assignment can be so very different. Back in the day when print writing ruled, you could charge $1 per word for a magazine feature article. What most people don’t tell you is that those jobs were given to writers whose bylines were well known to the publishing community.

Most of us wouldn’t be able to win these lucrative titles on a regular basis, but we might win one occasionally. The most likely scenario has us writing for those regional publications paying 25-30 cents per word, but even those opportunities seem fairly scarce lately.

So, how can you survive during these tough times? And, is it possible to charge enough to make a living without working 60 or 70 hours per week?

I can only offer advice based on what works for me. I realize my writing path isn’t the way you may want to go, but it should serve as a model from which you can build your portfolio:

Write For Yourself — I maintain several blogs, each of which focuses on areas highlighting my writing expertise. I write about the automotive industry, aviation, college/career, consumer issues and business primarily.  Though you don’t need to maintain multiple sites, having a place where you can demonstrate to clients your writing prowess is as important as maintaining a clip file. A blog can do that for you.

Score Big — Welcoming one or two high-paying clients beats having six or seven moderate paying clients. Then again, never have all of your eggs in one basket — eventually that basket may be turned over and with it will go your only source of income.  In any case a big client can be a tremendous motivator, just the psychological you need to advance your career.

Tier Your Clients — This point may sound contradictory to what I already said, but there isn’t anything wrong with having various tiers of clients. What I mean is this: go for a few big jobs, those paying at a minimum 25 cents per word, but preferably 50 cents or higher. If you could snag five or six of these each month, then you wouldn’t need to do anything else. Trouble is, you probably won’t therefore go after those people who pay by the article–$25 to $50 per pop–and make these gigs your primary sources of income. And, if you can stand them use some content mill work to fill the gaps. But don’t write content stuff if the pay is below $10 per article and you actually have to do some research!

These three approaches have worked for me. Admittedly, I’m not getting as many big gigs as I would like, but I do have two steady print journals who offer decent pay. Most of my work is from the middle of the road clients with, you guessed it, some content mill work thrown in.

See Also — Will You Be Reaching Higher In 2010?

Photo Credit: excl-zoo

Difficult Clients & Managing Their Expectations

It was summer 2008, just about the time when Barack Obama had finally dispatched Hillary Clinton in his bid for the Democratic nomination. John McCain was running away with the Republication nomination with no one, perhaps even himself, expecting him to name Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.

My eyes were scanning the political scene, trying to come to grips with all the changes coming to Washington. No matter who won that November, I knew America was about to embark on historic change by either electing the first president of African descent or the first septuagenarian since Ronald Reagan.

New Gig

I had just been contacted by someone who wanted me to write three articles each week for the next two months covering premium European automobiles. That’s right up my alley, because at least half of what I write is cars-related.

We discussed the parameters of the gig, negotiated a price, drafted a contract, signed it and got started on the work. Immediately, I began to feel the first wave of resistance.

Changed Plans

Case in point: customer initially requests the premium Volkswagen Phaeton sedan be included with my write-ups of the three German brands–BMW, Mercedes and Audi– recognizing that this car competes well with its upscale German rivals. Yes, Audi is a division of the Volkswagen Group, but the Phaeton does (or did) poach sales from that brand.

No sooner had I submitted the Phaeton article when I received an email saying she couldn’t use it, noting that Volkswagen isn’t a luxury brand. Well, no kidding.

Try Again

Undeterred, I submitted the next article I was working on–covering the Audi A8–and it was immediately accepted as was my third article written on the Volvo S80. I then moved down my list to the Saab 9-7x and was about to complete that article when I received a panicked call from my client saying she needed the replacement for the first article right away.

Turns out her “loose” deadline with me was a hard deadline with her boss and I had just two hours to get the article to her. No problem (at least this time), as I had written about this same Saab model for another client the previous month. I promised she would get what she needed within 90 minutes, just enough time to do quick edits and submit it to her boss.

I should have seen what was coming next, but I was truly blindslided by what took place.

Wrong Article

Upon submitting the follow-up article, client calls me back and tearfully says that it was the wrong article. Her boss wanted the article to be about the 9-5 sedan, not the 9-7x SUV. Oh, joy, I thought: this project is really going to be more of a hassle than what it is worth. My notes indicated the next write up was to be about the 9-7x, but I soon realized that she hadn’t cleared those titles with her boss.

Her boss was upset with her which meant she wasn’t too happy with me. When I explained that I was working with the agreed upon titles, she half-apologized and changed the subject.

Managing Expectations

That first batch of articles had me writing five titles and getting paid only for three. I knew if I didn’t draw the line soon, I’d have seven more weeks of battling through my work. Instead of shopping the two unused articles, I decided to place them on my blog. I then set out to clarify my position to keep this difficult client under control.

Yes, I began to manage her expectations by doing the following:

Stopping my work. I told the client that I would not write another article until she cleared those titles with her boss. There was no way I would continue to allow her problems to become mine.

Establishing kill fees. Though not part of the original contract, I told my client that if a previously agreed up title was changed after I had written it, then I expected to be paid for the title whether she used it or not. No pay, then no work.

Clear changes first. I also insisted that any other changes in our agreement, including the delivery of the articles, had to be cleared by me first. That “loose” deadline was firmed up; I began to get my completed work to her at least one full day before she needed them.

Moving On

The changes worked or at least they brought some sanity back into what was an obviously stressful relationship.  When I completed the gig, I was ready to move on.

Oddly, the client thought that the gig was open-ended despite what was spelled out in the contract, meaning that she could extend it at-will. I put an end to that thinking by rightly stating our original agreement had finished and that I was moving on to a new gig immediately.

Even without a new job lined up, I knew that moving on was the best thing for me. Sometimes the expectations of difficult clients can be too much to manage!

See Also — Planning to Collaborate? Think This One Through!