Lots of freelance job advertisements don’t tell writers how much they’re going to earn; instead, they ask the writer to name their own price. There’s always a fear of asking for too much and blowing the job or, asking for too little and under-selling quality work. Learn the ins and outs of putting a price on self employment, and learn how to set freelance writing rates.
Making Money With Freelance Writing
There are ways to go about making money with freelance writing without setting a specific rate, but it is a question that’s going to come up from time to time in many forms of self employment. A buyer may see a writer’s article online, for instance, and personally contact the writer about re-printing it or having a brand-new one written on the same subject matter. In these cases, the writer will likely have to quote a price. There are also many freelance writing jobs which ask for writers to set their own rates on a project.
Is having a set rate a necessity in self employment? Probably not. Many freelancers can find jobs and Web sites that will offer money for writing projects, but it’s still a good idea to know how to set a freelance writing rate…just in case.
Set Freelance Writing Rates
When it comes to setting a freelance writing rate, there’s a lot to consider. Remember, it’s not just writing that goes into every piece created for the Web. Many sites are looking for articles which have search engine optimization (SEO), for better popularity online, for instance. What else goes into freelance writing?
- Research. In most cases, the writer’s going to have to spend some time becoming familiar with a subject before they can accurately write on the topic. Time spent researching should always be considered when setting freelance writing rates. This includes time spent finding media to accompany the piece, items like YouTube videos and pictures.
- Editing. Everything’s got to be proofread, right? And that takes time! Don’t forget to think about editing time when setting freelance writing rates.
- Formatting. Every Web site has different ideas about how their articles should appear on the page. Some sites may require writers to enter their words into a special online system, or just use specific software, but in all cases some formatting rules must be followed. How much extra time is all of this going to take? Whatever the answer, don’t forget to factor it in when calculating freelance writing rates.
Putting a Price on Self Employment
So…how do freelancers set their own freelance writing rates? Sadly, there is no real standard. It’s always a combination of what the writer needs to continue their work, how much they think they can get, what the writing itself is worth and where the line is drawn. To make it easier to set rates, think about the time spent working on every written piece. A 400 word article, for instance, may take two hours.
How much is that time worth?
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