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.

The posted project was a press release. I figured it would be priced low – maybe $75 or $50 as opposed to several hundred. My eyes practically fell out when I saw the actual compensation – $16. To add insult to injury, the client wanted to be “blown away” and IF s/he’s blown away, then more press releases will be ordered.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I couldn’t learn enough about a company’s products/services, mission, vision, values, and angle quite fast enough to make $16 worth it for a press release. It would probably take hours to complete. The only way I can see this being worth it is if you just throw something together and the client doesn’t know enough about publicity to notice, but that’s not the kind of work I want to do.

For something requiring research, interviews, etc. I would charge my hourly rate. This started out a lot lower than it is now. (Though I’m not really freelancing now so that doesn’t matter.)

The bottom line to me is to charge what you feel comfortable with. No one else knows your situation. We don’t know your finances, we don’t know what it will take to complete your project and we don’t know what makes you happy. We don’t know if you’re trying to make a living, just want some fun money or if this is a hobby.

When quoting a rate (or figuring out whether or not to accept a particular rate) first work out what the gig will entail. Figure in research, bank or paypal fees, gas if you’ll need to drive around to research or interview and the amount of time it will take to write and tweak until you have a finished product. Also, research the client. What do you feel his budget will allow? From there figure out what your time – and this project is worth. Not what other people tell you your time is worth – but what YOU feel your time is worth.

Be happy. That’s what it’s about.

What that means is that for the last 7-10 years, I’ve been writing online, and on electronic copies (software, games, etc.) for pay. And what can I say? For most online writing jobs you’ll find posted, the pay is going to be between $10-20 per 500 words. Period. With an entire world of English speaking writers to draw from, people can get away with paying much less than they would our print counterparts.

That doesn’t mean high-paying online clients don’t exist, because I’ve worked regularly with some who pay upwards of $50 per 500 word article. But to get those going, you need to have quite a library of previous work to show. For all of my higher-paying clients, I also met them offline at conventions, trade shows, and even at job fairs.

So if you want to write online, ignore the average freelance salary you see listed on sites. Most importantly, don’t get down when you’re starting out and only making 2 cents a word, because a week or month later, you’ll have enough work to show (hopefully) that you can start increasing your price and bidding on higher paying gigs.

Basically, don’t try to climb the stairs three steps at a time just because you want to reach the top faster.

I think it’s pretty disrespectful for people to complain about your advertisers right here on the blog, and you have every right to ask them to cut it out, already!

My suggestion is to first only block those people who are commenting and causing all the trouble. If that doesn’t work, just block comments for the jobs that are listed alone (outside of the daily lists by Jodee).

As far as the “a peaceful community with only one opinion..” comment, are you kidding? This blog isn’t a political manifesto, it’s a free service for writers.

Sorry that a difference of opinion is wearing so much on your nerves Melissa.

I will never understand why some people feel they need to dictate to everyone else what acceptable rates are.

Go ahead Jodee. Delete my post but really. Scribette’s wearing my last nerve. Pick, pick, pick…

They do “appear” to be spotlighted job ads to the casual visitor.

However, Deb mentioned that she didnt want to write anything on the job ads.

Oh well! I personally think that it makes sense … but its not our site. LOL

Have a good day!

“It’s just that I think there’s some discrepancy between what’s clear for those of us who visit everyday and those who drop by and don’t know “the rules.” Perhaps there’s a way to make that clear – with a standard paragraph at the end of the ads reminding posters not to make negative comments about the job or some headline announcement.”

If the same person repeatedly makes negative comments, then banning that person may make sense (though really, how hard is it to continue to post anonymously?). It’s just that I think there’s some discrepancy between what’s clear for those of us who visit everyday and those who drop by and don’t know “the rules.” Perhaps there’s a way to make that clear – with a standard paragraph at the end of the ads reminding posters not to make negative comments about the job or some headline announcement.

@Phil: Yeah, I knew you provided most of your family’s income. I just think insurance is another place where the price we’re willing to work for matters. We pay ~$8K a year for insurance through my husband’s employer, so if I had to make an additional $8K a year, then I’d up my bottom line or work more hours to make up for it.