Hello all, I could really benefit from your expertise here. I've been contacted by a company that is very interested in me bidding on an extensive, large web content job that will take me 2-3 weeks on a part time basis to finish. We had a great consultutation on the phone this morning and it sounds like an interesting project. I'm trying to figure out how to charge them fairly and still make it worth my while. I've been getting $60.00 per hour for MUCH smaller projects like press releases, business letters, single page web content writing, etc... but am thinking that for a project this large most people probably reduce their rates somewhat or offer some sort of discount considering how much the customer will be spending. They have said they have future writing opportunities that I'd be very interested in, so I'd really like them to land them and could definitely use the job now! But it does sound like hard work and I don't want to bid too low and regret it later. Thanks so much in advance! All responses appreciated!!! Thanks, Audrey
Sounds like you’ve thought about this. I’m a newb to the board and have only been freelancing a year, but part of what I like about working for myself is that, pretty much, I can charge or accept whatever I want. Try to figure what you think is fair for you as well as your client. Hopefully they’ll be in the same ballpark and you can negotiate something. I think it’s helpful to have an “I’m willing to work with you†attitude. To digress, when my grandparents passed away we had to have an estate sale. People would ask, “What do you want for this?†and I’d say, “What do you think,†and more often than not we were thinking the same thing. Good luck.
Some kind of discount would be fine if it's a really huge volume of content, but don't offer a price that's too low just because there might be more writing opportunities later. Sometimes, clients use the "if this goes well, there will lots of work in the future" line to get content at a lower price. It doesn't necessarily mean that there will be loads of work in the days ahead. Just use your best judgment. Whatever works for you is fine!
I would charge less, it is far better to be working 8 hours a day than working for 5 and spending 3 looking for work, the problem is once you reduce your rates it is very hard to go back up with the same client. I might go with telling them you are happy to have been given the opertunity and will do the work at a reduced rate because they are giving you a try and you understand their 'rick' and the faith they have in you , therefor giving you the bast chance of raising it again if they are not pulling your leg about the other work.
Hi! Thanks so much for your help! It really helps! I'm not very good yet at estimating how long it will take me to complete a project, so I'm leery of giving them a set price for the whole job before hand. I quoted them my usual hourly rate plus a 10% discount for the large project. I told them how many hours I think it will take, but that it really depends on the complexity of the project once I get more into it. Thanks! Audrey
Hi Chilove. I've been at this copywriting thing 20+ years (8 years in web copy) and I have never loved the estimating part. Anyway, I often charge a per page rate. For the first 15-20 pages you can charge a higher rate, then apply a lower rate to remaining pages for a quantity discount. But it depends on the site and what you are doing. For example, I've done sites that were over 300 pages and I had to interview the department heads and then there was a human resources section that took immense coordination with both the HR director, the programmer and the web design team. Then there are sites where they want me to upload the html, design the site or plan the navigation, in addition to writing focused content. So make sure you find out what they expect of you. I am going to assume you mean a site that needs content--a great front page that speaks to a target audience and then pages with headlines and subheads. In that case, a per page rate would work and that way when they start adding pages (and they will), you have in place something that covers you. Also, put it in writing! Get them to sign off so that both parties understand. For example, specify the rounds of changes. If they say one thing and completely change their minds causing you to rewrite all the time, they need to understand that this will incur additional cost. So say that you will do one round of changes then a round of minor changes. Let them know when they are about to cross the line. The most important thing to remember is that most clients will try and get you to continue forever so DEFINE AN ENDING to the project. Otherwise, it can go on forever with "can you change this and that?" I know you want to make a good impression and you appreciate the opportunity, but don't sell yourself short.
I only charge a lower rate for large projects if it's going to be less work/take less time. If you're charging hourly, try to estimate how many hours it's going to take to complete the project. Multiply that by your hourly rate and you have your quote. So, if the project's going to take 10 hours you should be getting paid $600. There's no reason why you should get paid less for a big project than you would working on 10 smaller projects.
Bigger projects usually mean more work on your part, even if the company says that you can do it part-time. In my opinion, charge a little higher than your usual rate (so there's room for negotiation) and let them shoulder all other costs that may come up in the middle of the project - like overtime, transportation and lodging if you need to personally go to them, etc.