Negotiating Rates

Figuring out rates for a service like mine isn’t easy. It’s hard to play fair, no matter how much I want to. One project may take me 40 minutes to write because it’s a simple topic, I’m feeling rested and inspired, and the words just flow. Another project of the same length may take me five tortured hours and involve much moaning and many short walks to stretch. Should I bill accordingly? Nope.

Billing per word is another ineffective method, because length doesn’t always equal effort. Ask me to write a 1,500-word article and, given the proper information, I might knock it out in two hours. Hire me for a 50-word mini press release, and it may very well also take me two hours, one of which is spent whittling it down from 150 while attempting to save the piece’s integrity.

At one point I considered charging set fees for individual “products”, and to some extent that is the strategy I currently use. Say, you want a one-page press release? I know that on average that’ll take me two hours, unless I have to attend multiple meetings and do research. For newsletters I state “newsletter article 250-500 words” and give a price in my estimates for that, and a different price for “filler, 100-150 words.” But that’s problematic as well, because every project is different.

That is why I can’t put together a rate sheet, unless it offers a range, which is nearly as useless as no rate sheet at all.

There’s also the issue of meetings and revisions to consider. Do I charge for them?

Initially, I offer one face-to-face consultation meeting (if local) and two revisions. If clients want to chat via phone or e-mail as the project progresses, I don’t charge for that contact. But if they want me to get in my car and drive somewhere, after the first meeting, I have to tack on a charge. Why? Gas. Childcare. Inconvenience. Time I could spend working on another client’s project. Fair? I think so. I’ve been generous, though, and have only been charging for the time I’m actually in the meeting. And as for the revisions, well, I figure that two rounds is plenty to decide if I’m entirely off track or if there are just a few words that need tweaking.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m in it for the money. But it’s skill, not greed, which ultimately makes it happen. My estimates are 100% guilt free, and so they shall remain.