Dr. Freelance

  • HOME
  • BOOKS
  • WEBINARS
  • BLOG
  • PUBLISHING
  • ABOUT
    • CONSULTING
    • ABOUT DR. FREELANCE
    • ABOUT JAKE POINIER
    • CONTACT US
  • Get New Clients
  • Make More Money Freelancing
  • Manage Your Freelance Business
  • Videos
  • General

Size doesn’t matter (when it comes to rates)

August 11, 2015 by Jake Poinier

Like this post? Please share it!

size doesnt matterDr. Freelance: I’ve been freelance writing for several large, successful companies. I have established rates with them that are manageable for their budgets, but definitely high on the pay scale. Now I’ve been contacted by a mid-sized company in the same industry; they’ve very interested and asked for my rates. My question is: What pay/rate scale do you find is most palatable for mid-sized companies? They would be looking for me to create information manuals, website content, and other consumer-facing collateral.—Dot

Dot, I’d never assume that the pay is lower just because a company is smaller! If it’s a successful organization, size doesn’t matter: They understand the fact that high-quality, professional writing (and the level of service you deliver) is about value, and doesn’t come cheap if they want to compete with their larger peers.

Even a small company will gladly pay as much as a Fortune 500 if the vendor has what they need; conversely, I’ve encountered a fair number of big companies that didn’t value content, and paid surprisingly poor writing rates.

Think about it this way:

  • Those pieces you listed are incredibly important to this company’s brand image, operations, and sales potential—they don’t want to just fill them with words.
  • They’re actively seeking outside expertise—if it didn’t matter, they’d assign someone on staff to write them.
  • Within a business, consumer-facing pieces are also viewed as an investment with some shelf life—the client will be using them for a decent length of time.

Presenting Your Rates Strategically

Although this prospective company asked for your rates, I recommend using caution in how you present and negotiate them. First, as you may have read on my blog and in my books, I’m not a big fan of citing hourly rates—too many problems can arise. Second, in my experience, no one outside of publishing talks in terms of per-word rates, and even per-page rates can be tricky if they’re not well defined. Ultimately, it comes down to reading the client, and determining what is going to be most persuasive.

You need to communicate your #freelance rates to clients in the way they want them communicated.

Click To Tweet

That may include not giving them a “rate” at all. My approach, based on the information you’ve given me, would be to request the specifications on the given projects—and tell them it’s best for both parties to define a project cost for each piece or, my favorite strategy, create an estimated range. That gives you negotiating leverage, and it gives them an incentive to be easy to work with (i.e., they can keep their costs down by minimizing back-and-forth, etc.).

Finally, there’s a psychological aspect. By asking for the specs, it positions your business differently: You’re not just saying “my rate is $XYZ per hour,” which can easily be rejected without discussion, or negotiated down. From a client perspective, you’re showing that you’re a serious businessperson who is interested in understanding their problem…before you put a price tag on what it’s going to take to solve it.

Want more strategic advice on pricing your freelance services? Check out Dr. Freelance’s The Science, Art and Voodoo of Freelance Pricing and Getting Paid—available in Kindle and paperback versions.

Like this post? Please share it!

Filed Under: Make More Money Freelancing Tagged With: client perspectives, pricing freelance jobs, sales strategies, size doesn't matter

Like What You've Read? Subscribe to Dr. Freelance

* indicates required

Subscribe to Dr. Freelance

* indicates required

Books by Jake Poinier

Follow Dr. Freelance on Twitter!

Tweets by @DrFreelance

Categories

Recent Comments

  • Jake Poinier on A freelance pep talk and open-line Friday on 3-26
  • Joy Drohan on A freelance pep talk and open-line Friday on 3-26
  • Jake Poinier on What three business problems are keeping you up at night?
  • Jake Poinier on A freelance pep talk and open-line Friday on 3-26

Your Prescription for Success

Looking for better paying freelance jobs? Trying to improve your flow of referrals? Tired of marketing strategies that don't work? Join Dr. Freelance for one of his upcoming webinars! READ MORE.

Search

Book Better Freelance Business

Three Dr. Freelance Guides offer professional business advice for freelance writers, editors, designers, and other solo creative entrepreneurs. Whether you want more clients, better pay, more referrals, or all of the above, you've come to the right office. READ MORE.

Healthy Connections

Dr. Freelance enjoys talking shop on social media. Check him out on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or LinkedIn to hear his latest diagnosis or ask a question about your business.
  • HOME
  • BOOKS
  • WEBINARS
  • BLOG
  • PUBLISHING
  • ABOUT

Dr. Freelance: Healthy Business Prescriptions for Freelance Creatives.
All contents Copyright © 2023 by Jake Poinier. All rights reserved. Privacy. Fair Use of Content.
Dr. Freelance® and More Cowbell® are trademarks of Boomvang® Creative Group, LLC, and More Cowbell Books, LLC, respectively.