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Self-inflicted scope creep and perfectionism

February 8, 2013 by Jake Poinier

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Dr. Freelance: I have a tendency to let my perfectionist side get the better of me, kind of like scope creep but it’s not the client’s fault. I’ll start with “just that little bit extra” to make sure that what I turn in is absolutely impeccable, then realize that I’ve spent 2 extra hours that weren’t in my estimate. Doc, save me from myself!—Little Miss Perfect

LMP, I’m going to give you a little tough love here: Every writer, editor, designer or other freelance creative who’s worth a darn has a perfectionist streak, but if you fail to keep it in check, it can be disastrous for your profitability. Take your example, and multiple it out across a couple of clients a month, and you are doing a lot of work for free. You’re not getting $XX per hour, you’re getting $XX-10%. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Make More Money Freelancing Tagged With: client, client side, estimate, estimating, freelance, perfectionism, scope creep

Raising your rates and driving traffic

December 19, 2012 by Jake Poinier

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Found this two-part question about raising your rates and increasing traffic lurking on my “Freelance ghostwriting rates” post from quite a while back…

Dr. Freelance: I’m a former literary agent and I am just starting out after about a decade out of the publishing business as a freelance editor and ghostwriter. I plan to charge 20 cents a word for ghostwriting and 1 to 4 cents a word for editing, depending on the level. You say here that 50 cents a word is rock bottom for ghostwriters, but I’ve seen 20 cents elsewhere. Should I up my rates or is this fair since I’ve been out of the game for a while? [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Make More Money Freelancing Tagged With: Driving Traffic, estimating projects, freelance editor, ghostwriter, pricing, Raise Your Rates, Your Rates

Freelance invoicing beyond the usual

August 7, 2012 by Jake Poinier

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A freelance writing friend of mine, call her Sarah, asked for some input on a freelance invoicing situation — one which we all encounter at one point or another. I believe her solution was a good one, and worth sharing here.

Sarah had been hired with a contracted hourly amount for “writing services as needed.” Subsequently, she was asked to provide web content for a new site, as well as to offer consultation on what the web developers were doing. She wasn’t, however, asked to provide an estimate for the new tasks, and wasn’t 100 percent clear on the scope. She continued plugging away on an hourly basis, as originally agreed upon. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Make More Money Freelancing Tagged With: client relationships, collecting a check, freelance invoicing

Write like you’re rich

January 18, 2012 by Jake Poinier

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I play in a Thursday golf league here in Phoenix, and a few weeks ago one of the partners in my foursome made a comment that I felt I needed to write down: “You just gotta play like you’re rich,” he said.

Think, he said, about the über-wealthy who cruise in on their Gulfstreams to play the best courses in the world. The golf game is part of it, but so’s the camaraderie and the post-round cocktailing, and simply some time away from a high-intensity reality. A rich guy is likely hypercompetitive (read: Trump), and many of them are also highly skilled golfers…but on the other hand, many of them aren’t, and yet they still get enjoyment out of the game. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Make More Money Freelancing Tagged With: competition, The Wealthy Freelancer, Well-Fed Writer

Freelance pricing revisited, again

January 5, 2012 by Jake Poinier

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In the past week, I’ve received three different questions about freelance pricing that were essentially the same: new freelancers who want to know “How much should I charge?”

I don’t mean to be dismissive to respond, “It depends.” Pricing is one of the tougher items to figure out when you’re breaking in, but the main thing to remember is that you can always go lower—raising your price after cutting a deal is very difficult. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Make More Money Freelancing Tagged With: business, Freelance Pricing, how much to charge

Twitter ghostwriting rates

August 31, 2011 by Jake Poinier

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Dear Dr. Freelance, I am a rookie soon-to-be freelancer based in Europe who’s wondering how much to charge for Twitter ghostwriting.

The background: I am currently finishing a webdesign/copywriting project for a small software startup. Since they are both colleagues of mine and they were offering me the chance to collaborate on future projects, I gave them a 30% discount on an already very conservative estimate. Still, it was quite a lot of money for them. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Make More Money Freelancing Tagged With: flat rate, freelance, freelance writing, freelancer, ghostwriting, measuring results, rates, Social media, twitter

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