After writing alone weblog about how freelance writers ought to intention for making $100 an hour, I heard from many writers. Principally they needed recommendation on easy methods to obtain extra modest objectives—simply transferring up from the $8- to $15-an article degree and maybe making $30 an hour. In order that’s my subject—move-up markets.
Should you’re writing $15 or $20 articles now, try to be in search of $50-an-article shoppers who would let you slowly drop your lower-paying gigs and increase your common hourly charge.
To research move-up markets extra, I trolled on-line job advertisements for gigs that paid round $50 to $100 an article
These aren’t ordinarily advertisements I take a look at, so I used to be stunned as soon as I centered on this worth level to search out fairly a couple of listings.
Clearly, this doesn’t embrace the various, many higher-paying gigs you would discover by networking, approaching small companies in your city, utilizing social media to prospect, and in any other case aggressively advertising and marketing your corporation.
Along with those I discovered, Writers Weekly lists many roles at move-up charges…the difficulty linked right here had fairly a couple of, together with $125 to $300 from Alaska Enterprise Month-to-month, and assignments from $75 to $150 about hockey from Puck Life.
And over at All Freelance Writing, Jennifer Mattern posts job listings solely for gigs that pay over $50 a publish. What simpler means is there to display screen out the slave-wage jobs and focus on move-up markets?
Right here’s what I’ve realized—{the marketplace} won’t set wholesome pay boundaries for you. There’ll all the time be cheapskates. You must set the boundaries your self.
Should you entertain the notion of $15 articles, you find yourself writing them. Should you flip down low-paying jobs as merely under your backside asking worth and maintain wanting till you discover better-paying ones, you’ll possible find yourself being higher paid.
Why doesn’t everyone do that? As a result of switching up could cause a short-term cash-flow drawback when you get new shoppers lined up. You must overcome your worry that you just’re going to starve in the event you maintain out for higher gigs, and even spend a part of every week prospecting for higher assignments as an alternative of writing your present low-cost articles. Saying “no” to potential shoppers—or to that oh-so-easy to entry task web page on a content material mill—can really feel harsh, scary, confrontational, possibly on this financial system even slightly loopy. However that’s precisely what you need to do to maneuver up.
I’m well mannered with potential shoppers who name and provide me $20 an article, or $50, or $70. I thank them for his or her curiosity, and allow them to know they’re not in my ballpark. I provide my rewriting companies in case they uncover the content material they bought low-cost isn’t as much as snuff, and encourage them to be again in contact after they will pay skilled charges. I don’t go away mad, I simply go away, and go away the door open. Strive it—you’ll discover that valuing your time sufficient to show down lowball shoppers feels nice. It additionally leaves room in your schedule for better-paying shoppers.
What’s your move-up objective, and the way do you intend to realize it?
This publish initially appeared on the WM Freelance Author’s Connection.
