\u201cHow can I make more money?\u201d<\/p>\n
This question is probably asked by people in every industry and experience level every day whether they work for themselves or are an employee. What if I told you that you have a surprisingly easy way to get more money as a freelance writer?<\/p>\n
In this article, I’m going to show you exactly how I repeatedly got more money from my clients \u2013\u2013 including the exact email I used to get a 30% raise from one of my clients.<\/p>\n
If you remember me from last time, I talked all about how dream gigs show up in my inbox thanks to the power of positioning<\/a>. And positioning is incredibly important! If you don\u2019t feel like reading the entire thing, the 5 Second Movie<\/i> version is that positioning works like this: Pretty Branding\/Packaging + Searchable Proof of Your Accomplishments = quality work starts coming to you without having to look for it.<\/b><\/p>\n Having strong positioning will certainly help you get paid more out of the gate when accepting new clients and exploring opportunities elsewhere. It helps sieve out the riff-raff who will do obnoxious things like whine, \u201cBut so-and-so on Textbroker will do it for 2 cents a word! Why should *I* deign to pay YOU 10 CPW?!\u201d Unlike the talk about positioning though, I\u2019m going to focus a little less on getting new clients- which is what positioning largely helps with- and more on your existing clients and the places where you find work.<\/p>\n Because let\u2019s say that things are picking up because of your great positioning now. You haven\u2019t had to look for work in a while because it\u2019s coming to you, and your current client roster is keeping you busy. You\u2019re at the point where you have to start turning down work, and also thinking about if you should fire clients or not. But despite all that, it seems like the numbers in your bank account are hardly going up. Now what?<\/p>\n Ready for that shocking way to get more money? ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?<\/p>\n Ask.<\/p>\n For.<\/p>\n It.<\/p>\n You read that right. Ask for more money.<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cGee, Captain Obvious,\u201d you\u2019re probably thinking as you just read that. \u201cIf it were THAT simple, freelance writers would make more money than those parasitic investment bankers who got a bailout. What the hell do you mean, just ask for more money? I can\u2019t do that!\u201d<\/p>\n Oh ye of little faith. Runaway capitalism and American labor discourse has crushed your spirit and thus ability to ask for more. I mean, look at these scaremongering articles<\/a> that litter the internet. Yeah, there\u2019s some truth in there but THIS stuck out and is one of the things that inspired me to write this: \u201cCouldn\u2019t get your boss to give you a raise? Try negotiating several times a month, for each new job you take on.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n I did a Professor Farnsworth-esque \u201cWhaaaa?\u201d and shook my head when I got to that sentence. How is this a BAD thing? Whoever thinks that\u2019s bad didn\u2019t give themselves a raise 4 times<\/b> this year like I did. FROM THE SAME CLIENT. That doesn\u2019t count the numerous other raises I got from other clients in addition to raising my rates on my own website. You\u2019re lucky to get just one raise a year if you\u2019re someone\u2019s employee.<\/p>\n I know that asking for more sounds difficult. And scary.<\/p>\n Is it because you\u2019re afraid the client will stop working with you?<\/p>\n That fear can be paralyzing. Chances are if they\u2019ve stuck with you and have been good to work with, then you might not want to lose them. But you need to ask if you\u2019re fine with losing that client or not. When you start getting really busy, it could be time to give this client the axe if they\u2019re just not going to pay what you\u2019re asking and they haven\u2019t sent earth-shattering opportunities your way that you were super excited about.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re stuck in that content mill mentality where you have to practically beg for what you\u2019re worth, you need to change your attitude about this. DON\u2019T BE AFRAID. That\u2019s a client to toss anyway as you\u2019re attracting more higher-paying clients who are easier to work with on account of your great positioning. Sometimes, you need to just stop deliberating and take a leap: your landlord doesn\u2019t hesitate to raise your rent over time, stores don\u2019t hesitate to charge you more for the same product, so you shouldn\u2019t hem and haw about raising your prices either as your circumstances change.<\/p>\n When you work with a client directly, you have more control over the pricing and thus more wherewithal to just ask for more money. But don\u2019t let working through a content service stop you– with some caveats.<\/p>\n Case in point, I put up the following disclaimer in my WriterAccess profile:<\/p>\n \u201cDue to her client roster and level of professional recognition, Rachel only accepts new clients who will work with her at Level 6 pay and higher with a preferred starting rate of 13 CPW (17 CPW after the house’s cut.) Higher rates result in even more research and going the extra mile! Please contact your account manager for more details.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n This served two purposes: it ensured only new clients with deep pockets would come my way and weeded out the people who only wanted to pay bare minimum L6 rates. Since it\u2019s the clients who routinely drop more money into their marketing efforts who also have account managers on this platform, that means I\u2019m targeting the people who definitely have the money to pay those rates. And for those who don\u2019t have account managers, it still means \u201cPay this or go elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n But it also inadvertently resulted in several new Love Lists and contacts who actually found themselves clamoring to hire me.<\/i> I know that some of them will be people who just put me on a wishlist the same way one does for a pair of designer boots they hope to afford someday. Or are waiting to go out of season. Except these rates will probably go up, not down, by then. But there\u2019s others who contacted me out of the blue, like this client (emphasis mine):<\/p>\n Rachel,<\/p>\n I am looking for someone to write a couple articles\/blog posts a month for me on a variety of topics in the tax\/accounting\/finance\/small business area (choice would mostly be yours). I don’t have a deadline and can be done all at once or as needed.<\/b> I would say 2 articles\/month to start is fair.<\/p>\n Each article would require at least 500 words and I would like a link to a primary source (such as IRS publication, regulation, court case, etc) in each one. I appreciate your background and would be willing to pay your full rate of $0.13\/word if it works out.<\/b> In an ideal world, I would also have you post directly to my website’s blog after the first batch of articles have been approved.<\/p>\n If you wanted to submit topics you could or if you want me to give you topics let me know about that too. I’m very flexible on everything but quality writing.<\/p>\n When you get back let me know your availability.<\/p>\n Sincerely,<\/p>\n Client<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n That, friends, is what happened when I didn\u2019t hesitate to ask for the new minimum I\u2019d accept. I not only got what I asked and without having to do anything to get it (this client came right to me), but how often do you see the phrase \u201cI don\u2019t have a deadline\u201d in the writing for hire world? Especially on content sites? Usually they want it fast, fast, fast and for the lowest rate they can squeeze out of talent management!<\/p>\n For context, default L6 pay on WriterAccess is 7 CPW to the writer. This was the start of a great new professional relationship, but how to get my existing clients up to that level?<\/p>\n If there\u2019s one thing that asking for more money as a freelancer has in common with asking for a raise as an employee, it\u2019s that you need some kind of tractable proof to justify that raise.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t think about how much of your income this client comprises, where do you<\/i> fit in with their goals? If you\u2019ve been doing quality work for a long time and the client has expressed great satisfaction for it, even going on to say things like \u201cThat blog post got us so much traffic!\u201d or \u201cWe had so many leads convert from that great e-book you wrote\u201d that\u2019s your cue to ask for a raise.<\/b><\/p>\n But when <\/i>do you do it? And how long do you need to have been working for them? That\u2019s the tricky part when you freelance. There\u2019s no magic bullet one-size-fits-all answer to this question. Because when you\u2019re an employee, you have that annual performance evaluation. Or if a smaller company, the holiday season when the boss is more likely to be in a giving mood once you remind them of how much value they derive from your labor. You also likely don\u2019t ask for a raise six months into the job.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s totally okay to ask for a raise from a writing client after six months of work, depending on how much work it was and how much they disclose of their overall performance to you. Once the client has told you how much benefit your work has brought them? USE IT. And don\u2019t be afraid to.<\/p>\n Next, look at the client\u2019s behaviors. Have they typically given you bonuses without your asking for them? If on a content platform, elected to pay you for the whole word count if you were under the specified amount (or paid for overages if you went over)?<\/p>\n I have a client who just randomly hurls money at me. That\u2019s who gave me a raise four times this year. Dude has access to a seemingly bottomless expense account and because I have a skillset that\u2019s very hard to replace, he will keep giving me virtually whatever I ask. Hence my diplomatically asking for more money last week since I knew he\u2019d deliver:<\/p>\n \u201cHey Client, I have to do a ton of research for this set of orders. I also did topic research for new posts and whatnot which I think merits extra pay. Since you\u2019ve been a fantastic client and great to work with, I had you grandfathered in at the old base rate of 10 CPW once I got promoted to L6. But I\u2019m getting so busy that I dumped most of my old clients who wouldn\u2019t go up since I\u2019m getting all these new ones who will pay far more and I\u2019d still love to keep working with you. Can you bump the pay up to 13 CPW? Thanks!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I still get random money hits in addition to 13 CPW now. Specifically, I got another $56 for this set of orders. That adds up fast over many sets of orders.<\/p>\n So, being a good writer isn\u2019t enough: pay attention to your relationship with each client. Some content writing relationships are very passive where you just do the assignment with little to no communication. The more active relationships are going to play a major role in successfully getting raises, let alone negotiating them several times a year.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve taken any business law courses in your post-secondary education, you may remember principal-agent issues. They\u2019re something you should research on your own through legal sites and talking to attorneys because principal-agent matters are very important to anyone who freelances or participates in the gig economy.<\/p>\n Especially writers: we often work through smokescreens like content sites.<\/p>\nBut What\u2019s Stopping You From Blatantly Asking for More Money?<\/h2>\n
What is the Context of Your Professional Relationship?<\/h2>\n
Who is the Principal or Agent?<\/h2>\n