Freelance
Writers' Series
Career & Business
Development Help
Advice for Freelance SEO Writers:
How to Negotiate Rates When Clients Want You to Go Lower with the Promise of
More Work
Last week, I received the following email
from a freelance writer who bought my
ebook on SEO writing, was landing clients at
one rate (after only a couple of weeks of marketing), and wondered if she
should go lower for this one client who promised steady work.
She wrote:
Hi Yuwanda, I received the following response to one of my marketing emails from an SEO company. I thought I was pretty bargain basement at $20 when I have no experience. I've been marketing for a couple of weeks, and I've already gotten a couple of clients so far (emphasis added) so I'm not willing to work for these rates; I don't think I need to. But I'm wondering how I should respond to him at this point? Could he be just testing to see if I'll bite? Thanks BL POTENTIAL CLIENT'S EMAIL TO BL Hello BL, Read here how I routinely make $250+/day as an SEO writer – and you can too! MY RESPONSEBL: If you don't feel like you need to lower your rates, then don't. Sometimes I do for volume, but it has to be what I call "easy, breezy articles." These can usually be turned out in 15-35 or 40 minutes. Regarding his offer, if you can do 2 articles an hour at the $10/article rate he's offering, then that's $20/hour (about 40K/year). And if they're offering you volume, then that might be something you want to look at. In general, I think every freelancer should have a bar they don't go beneath. But, that's just my personal opinion. In the end, it's up to you. You know your financial situation; just don't get sucked into forever low-paying gigs. If you find yourself having a hard time landing gigs but don’t want to lower rates, you might consider targeting another niche and/or specializing in an area where there’s not a lot of competition (eg, science, medicine, legal, financial, etc.). In conclusion, the only way to really make a living in this industry is to price your services fairly (which is very subjective), and then go after clients who won't quibble about your rate. There’s a market for every price point. Hope this helps, and continued success to you. SECOND PART OF MY RESPONSE (I forget to fully answer her question in the first email):
And, no, I don't think he's testing you. I'm sure
that's what he's paying. As for how to respond, something to the effect of: That should do it.
Sincerely,
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