How Much Should Freelance Writers Charge for Their Work?

How much should you charge for your writing?

This is one of the most common questions from new freelance writers. Unfortunately, there’s no clear-cut answer.

The rate a freelance writer should charge depends on so many variables, and many times, one writer’s rates can change daily, weekly or even hourly if the projects are different enough!

If you’re struggling to determine what you should charge for your freelance writing work, there are a few factors you’ll want to consider.

Your Experience

How long have you been writing? More specifically, how long have you been writing the type of content your client or project requires? Generally, the more experience you can lend to a project, the higher rate you can command.

The Venue/Client

What’s the client like? Are they a small business or a big-budget corporation? Where did you find the gig? Was it on Craigslist or a job board that requires payment to post?

Try to gauge how much your client has to spend, and use that as a basis for building your rate.

The Time Required

Take a look at the project as a whole and try to determine how long it will take you to complete. Though you may not be charging the client hourly, you still want to make a profitable hourly rate once the project is complete. Be sure to add in a little cushion for editing and revisions, too. Those will probably take at least a few hours.

Your Goals

What are your career goals?

Are you wanting to make $100K a year and work 20 hours a week, or are you okay with working 40 hours a week and making only $50K?

You’ll have to charge higher rates the more you want to make and the less you want to work.

To figure out how much you should charge, determine your monthly salary goal and divide it by the number of hours a month you will work on freelance writing. Make sure to use only your billable hours in your calculations as some work you may be doing could be related to your business but it may not be actual writing. Only calculate your “writing” tasks hours when you are determining your target hourly rate.

Your Financial Situation

How much do you need to make to cover your bills and expenses?

Figure out what hourly rate you’ll need to charge to make that amount. This should be an even bigger consideration than your financial goals. After all, you have to be able to pay that Internet bill to keep on working, right?

With freelance writing, you can charge by the hour, per word or per project – whatever works best for you and your client. It is recommended to charge per hour or project since sometimes clients can balk at an hourly rate even though they would pay you the same amount of money should you quote per hour or per project. Consider all the factors before presenting your rates to make sure you’ll end up with the profitable side of the bargain. Don’t be afraid to ask for the high rate you know you deserve! There are clients out there willing to pay it.

The rate question is a complex one to answer but the Freelance Profit Academy can help you come up with exact rate figures.  To Learn more about this here: CLICK HERE