7 FAQs About Writing Rates, Project Pricing and Income
A realistic guide regarding consistent work, pricing and how writers can successfully justify their desired rates to clients.
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Here is a round up of questions our students ask about rates and income.
If you haven’t already, check out our free writer’s training video. We talk about how to land steady work you love – without starting at cheap rates – and without working full-time.
One of the most searched pages on the Ambitious Writer Society website is our “How to Price Your Writing Services” blog post. And, once a student enrolls, questions about pricing your writing projects, increasing your rates and other income-related questions are some of the most common.
So, in this post, we will answer several of the most common writer questions pertaining to rates, pricing and income.
Whether you’re completely new to writing – or you’ve been working a little while (likely at rates you’re not happy with) – we will give you a deep dive into how it all works, how to price and more.
FAQs About Writing Rates, Project Pricing and Steady Income
This section will be a “dump” of questions, so make sure you skim over everything! Feel free to jump to any FAQ of interest.
For more information about how to price your projects and whether to charge hourly or by project, check out this article: How to Price Your Freelance Writing Rates
FAQ #1: How Often Should Freelance Writers Adjust Their Rates?
Luckily, you have a lot of options when it comes to adjusting your rates and pricing. However, with this flexibility, you may also be really unsure.
So, let’s break down several options and scenarios surrounding rate adjustments so you have a better idea about which may be right for you.
How and When to Adjust Your Writing Rates
In Regular Increments: This is very common for freelancers, even outside of the writing world. A writer may have set rate increases every 3-12 months (with every 6 or 12 months being more common).
The pros? Regular increments can mimic annual raises of a “regular” (W2) position. It can also be a set guideline you follow, so you don’t hesitate and shy away from actually increasing your rates.
The cons? You’ll likely need to have the (somewhat) awkward conversation about increasing your rates with current clients. Some may honor it, and some may decide to seek services elsewhere. The best option is to lay out rate increases in your initial contract so your clients are aware from the start.
After an Initial “Discounted” Project: Say you’re really motivated to work with a particular client, but their rates are lower than what you were hoping for. One of the options you have is to agree to those lower rates – for one project only. You complete the project at the lower rate, but tell them that this discounted price is a one-time thing. Make sure this is all laid out in the initial contract before you start any work.
The pros? You work (initially) at the rate the client wants, and you get to work for the client. That means you get some income and can start building a relationship with this client. And, ideally, they’ll love working with you so much that they’ll agree to higher rates next time.
The cons? Many clients want a long-term writer they can call upon whenever. If a client knows that only the initial project will be priced at a lower rate, it may not be worth it for them to work with you. They simply may not accept higher rates.
Project by Project: Every new project is a new opportunity to readjust your writing rates – even with existing clients. This is especially true if project scope changes and there are tight turnaround times.
The pros? You can slowly increase your rates over time without talking about it with your client. If they are approving every individual project quote, they’re approving your new rate. Plus, you’re never stuck at a certain rate.
In this scenario, you’d have to be pricing projects by scope, rather than by the hour (at least, from what your client sees). For example: Instead of pricing a 1500-word blog post by your hourly rate, you’d have to price it just based on 1500 words. That way, your client isn’t trying to calculate the hourly rate of the project.
The cons? You can’t really send over a standard pricing sheet, and you’d have to calculate every new project manually. Sure, you can reuse old quotes, but it complicates things if a client asks for a pricing sheet upfront.
FAQ #2: Is It Better to Lower Rates or Expand Service Offerings during Slow Periods?
This can be such a balancing act, especially if you’re in a dry spell and really need some money coming in! Let’s work through two different scenarios and see what the pros and cons are.
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Most writers hesitate to lower their rates, especially if they’ve already landed work at higher rates. Completely understandable!
However, when weeks or months go by without enough work, sometimes you have to consider taking on clients at lower rates. You may find yourself with a string of prospects who are not your ideal clients, and you have to decide if you’ll work with them or pass them up.
If you have a chunk of clients and steady work, there should be no reason for you to take on lower-paying clients, unless you really want to work with them and add that experience to your portfolio.
In general, when you lower your rates, you tend to get needier clients, and you may not enjoy the work as much.
Will you always be working for your ideal, absolutely perfect clients? No way. And any writer that tells you they’ve only ever taken on high-paid, passion projects is lying to you.
What about if you quote a project at a higher rate, and then backtrack to a lower rate when the client pushes back?
Be really careful when instantly backing down on your rates. It may signal to the client that your rates were pulled out of thin air, you’re an amateur or you simply don’t know how to price your freelance projects.
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Another option is to work at your existing rates and expand what is offered in the service.
Say you normally write a 1500-word blog post for $650. You could still price the project at $650 but also offer multiple versions of headlines for testing or add in a title tag and meta description.
You’d be doing a little more work but still making your existing rate.
FAQ #3: Can Reducing Rates Temporarily Be a Strategic Move?
Yes! If you’re struggling and need work, reducing your rates temporarily can make you a little more attractive to some clients.
Do you have to stick with these rates forever? No. Will you not make as much money that month? Yeah. Sometimes these things can happen.
You still have much more rate flexibility than if you worked a regular employment (W2) job. So in a few months, you can find higher paying clients or increase your rates with existing clients.
Remember: Many people get into freelance writing because of the flexibility, and that flexibility gets wrapped up in your rates too.
FAQ #4: How Can Freelance Writers Find New Markets for Their Work?
You may find yourself in a situation where you want to expand into new industries. It may be related to project rates and pricing, or, it may simply be to have more potential clients to contact (often due to a dry spell). Maybe you want to write in a new industry.
Regardless of the reason, here are some ways to expand into new markets:
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Many writers get stuck in choosing a niche. But one of the easiest ways to pick a new niche is to look at what you’ve done or enjoyed in the past. Even if you’re young, you may be surprised about how much valuable experience you have!
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Cutting to the chase, you can read this post: 10 Hot Industries in Desperate Need of Writers
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If you’re suffering from a dry spell, it may sound counterintuitive to pay for a writing course or workshop. However, continuous learning can expand your skills and expand the paid work you can do.
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If you’re not totally sure that you’d like to write for a certain industry, dip your toes into industry or niche-specific groups. These could be writer groups or groups where potential clients might be hanging out.
FAQ #5: How Do You Justify Your Rates to Clients?
It can be nerve-wracking to give out your writing rates, especially to clients whom you really want to work with.
You fear that if you price too high, the client will completely reject you forever. You’ll lose that job and any other opportunity they may have for you. Whereas if you price too low, you’ll be stuck in a low-paying job.
And to make matters worse: The lowest paying clients are the most needy and difficult to work with.
Unfortunately, it’s not only about how you price your writing services, but more than half the battle is how you justify working at the rates you want. This piece is a performance-based skill, since you often have to justify rates in real-time – even on a live call.
How you answer a client’s pricing questions is a key determinant if you will get the job. If you’re nervous or unsure, it’s a dead giveaway that you don’t believe the rates you set. And if you sound overconfident, the client may think you’re conceited.
This delicate balance about how to justify your rates is very tricky, and that’s why it’s included in our SEO Career Accelerator course, which is one of the biggest courses in our Complete SEO Writer Roadmap program.
FAQ #6: What Are Red Flags to Watch Out for When Lowering Rates?
Aside from not making as much money on your writing projects, there are a few more issues that can pop up if you decide to lower your rates, especially when you’re first starting out and/or you're stuck in a dry spell, including:
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By you and/or your clients. There are plenty of writers willing to work for pennies, and they’re used like workhorses to pump out content for content mills. Dropping your rates significantly can make it seem like your work is in the same playing field as theirs.
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Like we mentioned before, you can increase your prices over time. However, when you begin at really low rates with a client, it can take several years before you are working at the rates you want with them – if you ever achieve the rates you want with them.
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From inflated urgency to a high volume of content to constant messaging at all hours of the day, your lowest paying clients will be your most needy. As you increase your rates, you start to experience a different caliber of clients, ones that are far more reasonable, respectful and who pay you well.
FAQ #7: How Can Freelance Writers Maintain a Steady Income without Compromising on Rates?
That’s the goal right?! We actually cover this concept more in depth in our free writing training video, so sign up and watch!
However, let’s list out a few additional tips that can help you achieve a steady income – without having to work at cheap rates.
How to Maintain a Steady Income without Compromising Writing Rates
Offer a Wide Range of Writing Services: If you need to expand your writing skills, taking courses and workshops can expedite your success in learning these new skills. Expanding your services can help you bring more value to your clients while maintaining or increasing your rates.
But let us note: You do not have to offer design work, admin work, management work or web coding work along with your writing services – only unless you want to offer those things. You can absolutely offer solely writing services and have a great career.
Develop a Marketing Plan for Yourself: Many writers get nervous about how they’ll promote their writing business. Paying for ads or attending networking events can be scary, but luckily, they’re not required to have a successful career!
Things like cold pitching, optimizing your writer’s portfolio site for SEO and learning how to close deals are free or low-cost options with a good chance of success.
Give Your Absolute Best Work: The work you create for clients (and your reputation) will dictate whether or not you’ll be able to continue working with a client and future referrals. Even if the project is not your ideal rate, subject or scope, try to give your best work. This extra effort will pay off in the long run.
What Other Questions Do You Have About Writing Rates and Pricing Projects?
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