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When you first start freelancing, it’s important to set your price according to what you are worth and how much you want to pay yourself.
Do not accept work that will make you break the bank, unless you are willing to share the profits with your clients.
Your price should be high enough that people will seek you out as a contractor, but low enough that you can live off of them and give them good value.
Marketer Glen Lovic wrote a great article on pricing requirements for freelance marketers. He says there are two types of prices–the purchase price and the acquisition cost.
The purchase price is how much someone pays before they ask if they like what they see and experience its benefits. The acquisition cost is the money they spend after trying to find out whether or not they like what they see.
You need to set your pricing so you only take on projects that return what you put into them. This means any project that does not provide an income equal to or greater than your time spent on the project must have additional revenue sources built in to compensate for this.
Previews are usually composed of 20% or less of the content you’re providing someone. They can be included with other services, such as blogging posts or email newsletters.
When composing these ads, focus on making them catchy and interesting while still being professional. The first impression made by your subject matter is formed when people read the preview.
It is also important to provide detailed information about who will be receiving this service. Will they be required to pay any amount for writing copy? What kind of experience do they have writing professionally? These are all questions one should ask themselves before hiring anyone to write freelance copy.
Also remember that marketing yourself goes beyond offering good quality work; it also involves charging an appropriate price for your work. A prospective client must feel comfortable asking how much your service is worth.
That said, don’t worry about selling yourself short. Most consumers aren’t quite aware of what “market rate” means so neither should you.
Whatever you charge should be a fair market value.
More than likely, you’ll find that copywriting is done at some degree of customization. If you can easily write an article and just provide one rate, you should do so for any piece that falls into this category.
However, there are also many instances where customizations will cost more. If you are writing about a specific event or trend, look for specialized sources to help you with that.
That way, your audience will pay for information they know you have searched for years to find it.
Consider dropping hints in your articles to get people interested. For example, if you already have stats and images, include helpful ones in your articles to make them worth reading longer.
Letting your readers know what to expect has always worked for you, and it will help them feel like they're getting something special when they read your article.
Even before you write one sentence, start pricing your work out per word. You will be doing this manually with a pen and paper or using an app that counts words.
There are thousands of copywriting apps online that count words. One popular app is called Grammarly.
You can also use a special editing program found in Adobe Acrobat Reader which allows you to add a markup code for each word. By adding codes for things like “common typos” you have now created a list of what words should cost money.
Another option is to take a look at how much other freelancers who do copywriting charge per hour. If they rate their services hourly, multiply these numbers and think about whether your service warrants that price.
If you're not familiar with the range people demand for good copywriting skills, go to websites such as Specify Your Fee so we know where to find you.
There are many ways to ask about other freelance rates. You can contact several businesses and find out their rate cards in person, or you can use online tools to request price lists.
Getting feedback is another way to learn about pricing. By seeing what others with your target market have done, you’ll know whether they’re asking for too high a fee or if it’s still within your budget.
Here are some average cost analysis resources that can help you get started :[title] Analyze the work of professional writers
These types of reviews let you see how much different authors bill per hour, as well as take account of additional costs such as research time. Read through these to understand how long each part of your writing job takes.
Next, choose an area where you feel comfortable and practical about charging. If you don’t feel comfortable putting a number on everything, then you should probably leave something off your rate sheet.
Don’t worry about being super-specific; people usually need things like extra editing time or multiple social media shares when they hire someone. It’s also easier to manage tasks that aren’t urgent.
More and more businesses are turning to the use of plastic as a method to pay customers. This can be an especially profitable way to spend your time if you have a gift or knack for writing.
However, it is also a relatively new technique that many people may not know about. By accepting credit cards on your business, you might expose yourself to some risk, but there are benefits too.
Most locally owned companies under 50 employees can accept credit cards. If you work with a small group (under 10 people), they can write their own cash receipts.
Anyone with an internet presence can process card payments online using a payment app. Or, most places can request checks written by mailing in a form along with a signature.
By providing all these options, you make it easy for customers to choose how they want to pay you.
You will get paid faster than if you only take money via check, and you don’t have to worry about remembering billing details like expiration dates.
If things seem a little complicated at first, just remember to save your bills so you know where to find them later. Then once you start getting used to making payments this way, you can focus on becoming a better customer.
Beyond providing contact information, online businesses should have a homepage that is tied to their brand. Most companies claim to offer freelance writers when in reality they might just have someone copyediting words from another company’s contract.
While it can be tempting to charge more than you are worth, this strategy can really hurt yourself long-term. If readers get excited about your content and go away feeling good about having made a purchase, that’s happiness.
If they don’t feel like buying anything but want to give you money, that’s misery. It’s better to take a hit now than to lose traffic later because you aren’t delivering quality content.
Put effort into making your writing exceptional, and sell it at a premium price. Over time, people will learn to love your work and will expect to pay a premium for it.
Even if you have skills in other areas, there are few reasons to be able about writing alone. For one thing, marketing is built around advertising sales goals, and writers are crucial to this process.
Furthermore, many companies want someone familiar with their brand before hiring them. When you write content for social media platforms, blogs, and posts, you build trust which leads to more work.
In fact, all of your written communication should reflect both your personality and what they see in you as a person. The better you write, the more likely others will take you seriously.
If you need extra income, start by targeting local businesses that may use your services. Submitting articles can bring in traffic and possible clients.
Consider joining a group or team within your industry. This helps connect you with other professionals and gives you ways to network. You can also learn how to market products online via blogging or vlogging (video recording blog comments using Snapchat or YouTube).
Put up flyers asking for questions and testimonials from previous customers, then put up posters and advertisements promoting your business. People are more likely to buy when they like what you offer and believe it will make them happy.
More clients are searching for qualified freelance copywriters than ever before. If you’re producing quality work, customers will hire you.
If you keep your rates low enough that more people can afford them, you’ll increase your sales dramatically.
Your first step is to review previous projects and collections of content that you have written. Take some time to reflect upon what worked well in marketing pitches or other writing assignments.
That way you can produce higher-quality work this time around. Your future self will appreciate it.
In addition to being paid fairly, you also need to feel confident in your skills and believe in yourself and your ability as a writer. If you don’t believe in yourself, no one will pay money for your words.
Consider investing in premium transcripts to help you learn more about how to pitch stories. They’re free and open source, but if there’s demand, they’ll start charging.
