I respectfully beg to point out that I didn’t say charging a daily rate makes you a cheapskate (though you’re welcome for my part to repudiate the notion) but that someone who buys only on price is a cheapskate (and that’s something I stand by). In other words, my question was, did you find you lost clients who were only interested in getting work as cheaply as possible?

Anyway, your notion of charging according to your client’s “appetite for quality” (I like the way you’ve put it) is really interesting. It certainly applies well to a piece of work I’m currently involved with, where the client didn’t initially want to pay for much in the way of quality but in which the research was absolutely necessary.

Hope you’re doing well…

Nick

Thank you.

Rich

Charging a daily rate doesn’t make you a cheapskate — far from it. I strongly repudiate what you’re implying.

Charging a daily rate enables me to work according to my client’s appetite for quality. If they’re on a low budget, I’ll do what I can for them in a day. It’s usually pretty basic work. If they have more money, the project takes longer, but is better thought out, better researched, edited more times, and the work is of a better quality.

I suppose in this sense my prices are variable — but the hourly / day rate remains the same for all clients. They choose how much time they want me to put into a project.

Regards,

Alastaire

I’d be interested to know how you fared after changing your pricing structure. The received wisdom in business circles is that you’ll struggle to sell quality to clients you’ve acquired on price. Once a cheapskate, always a cheapskate, in other words. Equally, many pricing strategies are actually the opposite of the one you outline above, in that they rely on the so-called “Goldilocks effect” – clients go for the middle option as an acceptable compromise between quality and price.

Both of those theories sound reasonable enough. But evidence trumps theory – what has your experience been?

To remain on topic, I charge an hourly rate and this works fine for me. As a freelance virtual assistant (in the Netherlands), I can’t charge too much. I don’t overcharge, but I don’t undercharge either. I do make sure to record all my time spent on the job per client {and this includes time communicating via e-mail, phone etc. :} and bill them accordingly at the end of the month. Fortunately, I have several regular clients with whom I have a great working relationship and who appreciate my services and quality of work.

On a side note, one thing I find very unfortunate is that there are so many freelancers out there who undercharge their clients for their services, thus ruining the market for others. I myself can’t find work outside the Netherlands, mainly because there are many virtual assistants out there, in India for example, who charge two euro’s an hour. Now, how can I (we) compete with that?

When I switched from journalism / sub-editing to full-time copywriting we were in the middle of financial meltdown and I needed to undercut everyone to guarantee enough work.

Over the last year, I have generally charged £150-£200 per day.

After listening to your thoughts, I’ve decided to set a standard rate of £200 per day (still £100 less than an agency copywriter).

I’m still open to negotiation, and any freelancer who says he’s not is lying — but from now on I’ll only be offering discounts on large projects or as rewards to loyal customers who pass me a lot of work.

I’m still undercutting my competitors and providing a comprehensive service. But I’m taking myself out of the bargain bucket.

Some things are ‘reassuringly expensive’ for a reason. I feel my new pricing structure combines competitiveness with a confident attitude about my work.

I’m good. My clients get an excellent ROI from my work — and I deserve appropriate remuneration for my skills.

Thanks for all your comments.

I would, if I was buying your service, see how you have worded your fee page and try to get you to your absolute bottom line.

They say you should never be the first to suggest a number in a deal and there is a lot of merit to that but it’s one of those things that is entirely dependent on the parties negotiating.

If you want to retain your smaller clients, cut them great rates but don’t undersell yourself in the wider market.

There’s a fascinating series of posts going on at ABC copywriting at the moment about the “copy mill” copify where they hook “writers” up with people looking for content and pay the writers between 2p and 4p a word.

Anyone can see that’s not enough to live on and I’m a definite believer in market economics. Put simpler, if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. A good copywriter might manage a thousand good words a day = £40. If you’re not paying a living wage, you’re not getting a professional copywriter.

I’ve never worked out my cost per word before, but I’ve had a look at recent jobs and it’s tended to be between .10 and .20 a word, or £100 – £200 a day. It’s better, but it’s still not much.

I’m worried my prices might be signaling that I’m a mediocre copywriter, even though my clients will tell you that I’m actually very good!

However! I am well aware that I charge far less than I should. I suppose the reason is because I started out on my own a few years ago, and felt like I just wanted to break into the business. And I’m still in that mindset. Your blog inspires me, though – I think I’m gonna put my rates up. It’s only fair!

t