Today’s freelance writing clients are looking for a lot more bang for their buck, especially those looking for web writing. Many aren’t looking for a mere writer, they want someone who uses SEO, builds traffic, moderates and responds to comments and more. Before accepting a project and setting a rate, always find out what the job entails and set a freelance writing rate equal to the task.
Straight writing is one thing, but if your client is adding bells and whistles, make it clear the rates are going up. We all know interviews, research, mileage and expenses are often added into rates. However, there are other considerations as well:
- SEO: Are you expected to research keywords, use them a certain amount of times in an article, and, in general, write an entire article around keywords or phrases? This is extra work and should be figured into your rate.
- Promotion: Are you expected to create a social media presence and visit blogs and forums to promote your blog or website and bring in traffic? If so, this adds additional time to the project and should be included in your rate quote.
- Community: Are you expected to moderate and respond to a community? If so, this is additional work and should be negotiated into your contract.
The above-referenced items are all things that will add more time to each project. Your time is worth money and it’s up to you to make sure you’re adequately compensated.
What are some of the extra items that your clients tack on to a project? Do you raise your rates to reflect the increase in work?
Tip: Use the Freelance Switch Hourly Rate Calculator to help determine a rate for your project.