Now, as a freelancer, if you were to say, ‘Well, $35k aint bad, so I’ll charge $18/hr too,’ you would be missing a HUGE segment of what you’re employer previously paid for you: medicare and social security. Plus, you’ll have to pay self-employment taxes, not to mention regular taxes and things like your desk and your phone and yadayada. So what does this mean? You’ll be “taking home” something like $9/hr. That’s about minimum wage in my state. And for a college grad? That’s insane! Let’s say you’re lucky and get 25 hours of billable work per week. You’ll be taking home something like $225 per week, working full time (with marketing time, etc.) Can you live off of that? I think not.

So, the best way to figure out what you’re worth is to multiply a standard hourly you’d earn at a “real” job by 2.5. So that $18/hr becomes $45. If you’re not fresh out of college and you’ve been doing this for a few years, then you can charge upwards of $60. And for pros, you can charge $75, $100 or more. Just think, agencies charge their clients $125-$200/hr.

So, what are you worth? Shouldnt you be able to eat and pay your rent and afford health care? Don’t you deserve to live when you’re working so darn hard?

I think so.

Time to make those clients show us writers more respect! Raise your rates! Take a stand! Show them you’re worth it.

OK, I guess it’s time to go write a Clairol commerical…

–Scribe

Deb gave me the Red Button and instructions on when to use it. This is one of those times. You were told that no personal attacks were allowed and they are not. I’ve removed a few comments that were offensive and I will do so again if need be.

If anyone feels the need to vent and isn’t sure whether it should be for public consumption, take it to e-mail. I read all of them and your comments will be confidential. freelancewritinggigs@gmail.com

Please keep it civil. Thank you.

I came across an ad this morning from someone wanting a writer to “trade” their services for a service from the client. If there is a mutual benefit, then I don’t have a problem with this kind of arrangement but what works the best for me is to “trade” my work for the client’s cash.

Just wanted to say also that low rates are fine when you are just starting out. (I paid my dues too – at $10 an hour I believe). That said, you deserve more money when you have more experience.

Employers need your services and they benefit financially from your talent. Don’t underestimate or undersell yourself is my point. There are places even online that do pay much more than $10-20 for 500 words.

You can and will demand more $ when you change your mindset. I realize that some of you need the $ now – as Phil said though, you should continually work on replacing low paying gigs with higher paying ones – makes sense! And in the end … who benefits? You do!

Am I being too passive in thinking that this is a wonderful place to come & see a gathering of writing gigs? If you don’t like what you see, move on. Find gigs you DO like. No one but you holds the reins of your life choices.