Tag Archives: freelance rates

advice, freelance money

Freelance Pay Delay

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Joe Wallace Vinyl Collector and authorby Joe Wallace

Last year I had a six-week period where none of my clients paid on time. As a result I naturally had to scramble to get my bills paid, and the fact that I had just dropped a large investment in some vinyl records to sell at an upcoming convention didn’t help matters–I was counting on getting paid to insure the rent check didn’t bounce.

Instead, I found myself hustling my vinyl very hard at that convention and managed somehow to squeak by thanks to the generosity of my record buying friends and followers online.

You read it right–my “side income” suddenly became the main event for me for nearly two months.

There was an unexpected side effect of my pay issues as a result–I feel like I have some financial stress issues that come from constantly second-guessing when that perfect storm of late paying clients might happen again. So now more than ever I’m trying to take steps to shore up my cash reserves and boost my side income activities. The more solid my non-writing side income can get, the better off I’ll be in the long run.

But really, those cash reserves are the most important part–having a cushion to fall back on is very important since it’s never clear when there might be a work slowdown or outright stop. Late payment is bad enough, but a paycheck that gets cut in half due to a lack of work is an emergency for many freelancers I know, including ME.

Some writers I know have taken side jobs in non-writing capacities, but I wasn’t smart enough to do that. My side income comes from my own business, which takes additional money to run. Last year when I had some extra money to invest in the biz, I took the initiative and bought some extra supplies and things to sell so that if times get lean here, there’s more “here and now” profit I could use to get through the hard times if they arise.

Not ideal to be sure, but let’s call it limping towards financial stability. Sooner or later, I’ll be forced to pay the piper and start socking money away for that rainy day that we all know might come tomorrow or the next day. Here’s hoping it’s next week year instead. For now, I’m putting as much aside as I can afford, but it ain’t much. Rain, rain, go away.

Joe Wallace writes about and sells vinyl records. He recently finished writing the book WTF Records: The Turntabling Guide To Weird and Wonderful Vinyl and currently seeks a publisher who is amused by awful album covers and records put out by karate-chopping preachers. Wallace runs the blog Turntabling.net and watches a lot of Italian crime movies on Netflix.

advice, editorial, freelance money

Freelancer Fee Convergence

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book and script editor for hire Joe Wallaceby Joe Wallace

One day, science will explain that curious phenomenon I like to call “freelancer fee convergence,” which is where you go ages and ages without getting paid and then suddenly all of your checks show up at once.

This seems to happen not only to me, but to nearly every freelancer I know. Checks are late being paid, getting later all the time, the rent is due, your laundry is piling up for want of a stack of quarters, and you just sent off a new round of invoices to clients you don’t expect to pay up for at least 60 days.

Then suddenly, the late clients pay up, the new clients pay early, and you’re sitting on a small fortune.

I love feeling like a wanna-be Donald Trump (a Trump-a-be?) when I go to the bank on days like that…depositing that little pot of gold that showed up in your mailbox is a great feeling. But there’s got to be a better feeling than the one you had just the day BEFORE the mail carrier flooded your mailbox with Benjamins. That sinking feeling that you’ll be painting houses for your landlord soon, or perhaps doing a first draft on your cardboard sign.

What I want to know is, how do all the clients know to stick the check in the mail on THAT DAY so they all wind up coming at once? Is it some kind of spider-sense tingly feeling they all get? Or is there some supernatural wispy thing muttering into their ears? “Sssssennd it noooowwwwwwwwww”

Whatever the case, the mood swings from financial terror to cash flow ecstasy are a little wearying, no?

Joe Wallace is a freelance editor and writer. He’s currently editing two book projects for confidential clients and accepting new projects on a limited basis. Contact him at jwallace (at) freelance-zone (dotcom).

advice

Darren Rowse Says “Make It Bite-Sized”

South-Korean-food-dak-galbi

Doesn’t that massive plate of Korean food look yummy? But there’s no way you could possibly get through all that food at once, which is why there’s a handy bowl of rice at each place setting. It helps keep the meal in perspective and forces you to eat like a civilized person–a few small bites at a time from the rice bowl.

Ingenious, eh? You recognize when you’re getting full much sooner when you’re stopping and starting as opposed to one continuous shovel-fest.

What’s all that got to do with freelance jobs, making money online and earning a living from your writing? Continue reading Darren Rowse Says “Make It Bite-Sized” →

advice, freelance money

Even More Dirty Little Freelance Secrets

dirty secrets writing freelance articles

by Joe Wallace

I love sharing dirty little secrets, especially the ones I don’t think anybody else is willing to spill (or haven’t thought to yet). For experienced freelancers, a few of these are a no-brainer, but for anybody just starting out in the game they can be gold waiting to be mined.

FREE PR

Ever wonder why Freelance-Zone writers put “by so & so” instead of having the username come up on the post or having the author assigned by WordPress instead? SEO. That inclusion of “by Joe Blow” means anytime somebody Googles “Joe Blow” or comes up with that article by Joe Blow in the search results, a little bit more free PR just happened. Repetition is the key to marketing.

A PERSONAL CONNECTION

Whenever I query a new editor, I use any advantage I can find. They live in the same state as my sainted Aunt? If I can find a way to work the personal connection in there (without being unprofessional or obviously corny) I’ll consider it. Trust is earned when you feel like you know someone.

DO A FAVOR, SAVE A FAVOR FOR LATER

One day, you will work on a project as a freelancer where you need to do the client a HUGE favor. Before you say no because it’s an unreasonable expectation or totally screwing up your other plans, think about the position it puts you in for future work and recommendations. You might want to render that big favor with the full intention of calling it in at a later date. Trust me, you’ll want to call that favor in someday. Yes you will. Those who think doing good is its own reward haven’t been in the freelance writing game long enough. Continue reading Even More Dirty Little Freelance Secrets →

advice, lifestyle

Setting Your Freelance Rates

by Catherine L. Tully

question

 

 

How do you negotiate rates? This can be a very tricky question for the writer. I’ll tell you what I usually do…I ask them for the range that they typically would pay for a given project. The key to doing this is to anticipate the discussion about money and be ready to come back quickly. Example? Sure:

Client: So what do you think you would charge for a project like this?

Writer: Well, it’s hard to say…do you have a budget that you would like to stay within?

or

Writer: Can you give me an idea of what you would typically pay?

More often than not a potential client will tell you. If not, you can go from there, but I can’t tell you how many times I would have guessed lower than the number the client gave me. It pays to put it back in their lap when you can.

A rate sheet can also help. Decide ahead of time what you think your time is worth and charge by the hour, page or project. Include any re-writes in the sheet, or clients may assume that this is included. That way, when you have the discussion about money, you are ready with some numbers.

It can be a delicate process to negotiate freelance rates, but having a plan in place will help make sure that you aren’t working for peanuts. Try to think this one through ahead of time.

Any other suggestions are most welcome…

advice, editorial

How I Set My Freelance Rates

setting-freelance-rates

One of the biggest dilemmas freelancers face in those early days is setting basic rates. It’s true that when you’re on year zero of your new self-employed status, you’re going to bid low for gigs–experience is a reward all its own. But you still need to eat and pay the rent.

There’s no benchmark for how much to charge except how much your peers are charging. As in, people in the same experience and skill level as you. Beginners are in an awkward place because they don’t feel justified charging premium rates when they aren’t sure they can deliver content that lives up to the expectations set by that high price tag.

Some experienced freelancers advise, “Don’t bother asking what Vanity Fair is paying when you can’t even make it into the National Enquirer yet.” That’s a bit harsh, but basically true. Set a figure high enough to justify working on the project, but not so high that the client expects rock star results, or worse yet, walks away because they don’t think you’re up to it at your experience level.

But once you’ve made it out of the early stages of your freelance career, how much SHOULD you charge?

There are three basic rules I use for pricing out freelance fees not pre-set by the client:

  1. How large is the project? I charge more for time-consuming, detail-heavy projects that take me away from other paying gigs.
  2. How “important” is the project? High-profile means larger budgets. I don’t see anything wrong with scaling my fees accordingly. I respect the budgetary constraints of small companies, but bigger companies not only want more, they have higher expectations of the finished product, too. Those expectations cost more money, simple as that.
  3. How badly do they want this done? A reasonable deadline equals more reasonable rates. The inverse is true for ridiculous deadlines or expectations.

Some clients try to get you to lowball yourself by trying to force you to come up with an opening offer. I say you should negotiate from a position of strength. I always ask A)What the budget for the project is, and B)What they have paid freelancers in the past for similar work. Any whiff of BS in this phase of the negotiation makes my fee go up accordingly.

Why do I do that? Two reasons–If I think I’m being played with, maybe I really don’t want to work with this company. But it’s hasty to bail on a negotiation of fees just because you have a bad feeling. But a GOOD company will try to at least haggle with you on a rate they think is getting too high. Secondly, if a company really is full of clowns, but they accept my higher fee without trying to haggle, I’ve got some compensation for putting up with their annoying behavior.

Solid people get reasonable rates and offer reasonable expectations. Dodgy, shoddy, and fast-talking types do not. If you have reasonable expectations, it is only fair to be quoted a reasonable price. What’s reasonable?

That is impossible to quantify across the board, but my rule of thumb is that it should be at least as much as I made on a similar project for a previous client. I charge an amount equitable for the work, comparable to other freelancers at my skill and experience level. If you’re an expert in your area, you deserve to be paid for that expertise. If you’re a newcomer, charge a rate that gives you some financial incentive but isn’t disproportional to what you can actually do for your new client.