A freelance writer’s rate may mean the difference between a life in comfort or a life on the streets.
This may sound crazy but if your rates are too low, then you can’t make the money needed to pay the bills. Does the fear of that scenario ringing a bell for you?
Your rate may be the difference between life in comfort or life on the streets.
You’re at the point where you know your rates are too low but you’re too afraid to raise them. You know you have no choice at this point but there is one question in your mind.
How can you raise your rates without losing any of your precious clients?
What if you do raise them to a better place but your clients dump you because they think you’re too expensive? But what if they’re okay with your raised rates?
These questions are all too familiar in the day and age of freelancers. Here are some tips on how to raise your rates while keeping your clients happy.
1. Raise Them in Increments
The thought of raising your rates might seem daunting at first. In fact, it might even cause you some level of anxiety. But it doesn’t have to be that way!
By raising your prices in increments, you aren’t raising them at a huge jump. Clients are less likely to end their contract with you if the price increase is reasonable.
For example, let’s say you’re charging $75 per blog post but need to raise the price so you can make the rent this month. Why not change it to $100 or $125 for the first increase?
That way, it might not even seem to be as much of an increase to the client. You want to keep that client on your side so the last thing you want to do is scare them off with a huge rate hike.
2. Speak to Your Clients Before You Raise Your Prices
This is a huge step for any freelancer looking to raise their prices for new projects. You need to make sure the client realizes that you are raising your rates before you raise them.
You don’t want to send them an invoice with the new rates without a warning first. The last thing you’d want to do is have them growing upset over not knowing about it.
It’s always a good idea to send them an email with the rate increase discussed. You could also schedule a call with them to discuss the increase so you can know for certain that they are aware of it.
3. Have a Set Date in Mind for Raising Them
Having a set date for raising your freelance writing rates can light a fire under you. It can help you make sure to send out emails to your current clients, letting them know of the changes.
Having a deadline in mind to send out the emails makes sure that each client is aware of the rate change. Sometimes you can get so anxious about sending the email that you never send it.
Send out an email to each client, letting them know that on “xxx” date, your rate will increase from “$xxx to $xxx.” You might even want to extend a deal to them for being a great client.
The deal you offer might appease them if they appear upset over the rate increase. You could do an offer like keeping the rate the same for them for a certain time.
Make sure the date you set for the rate increase is one you can handle. There’s nothing like panic induced by a deadline you can’t handle.
4. Keep Your Budget in Mind When Deciding On New Rates
No freelance writer is worth pennies on the dollar. You are worth so much better than the clients you might find on content mills!
There are great jobs that pay you what you are truly worth. Nine times out of ten, though, the clients want to pay you $10/$15 at most for up to 1500 words.
You cannot survive on pennies that clients on these content mills want to give you. You are worth so much more than that $15 for a blog post you didn’t even enjoy writing!
Having a strong budget in mind can make it easier to decide what to charge your clients. Figure out how much money you need to make each month to meet your bills.
Then find out how much extra money you want on the side, such as for shopping or trips to the movies. Decide what to charge based on those figures.
5. Do What is Comfortable For You
Think about this: what are you most comfortable charging? What price would make you feel good and get the most out of your time as a freelancer?
We do not spend 40 hours per week, writing, though some of us might if given the chance. Charging what we are worth can mean the difference between happiness and total panic.
Being comfortable with our career as a freelance writer gives us the chance to flourish. If you are having trouble with your anxiety over raising your rates, check out this post on YFS Magazine.
The post talks about how to overcome the anxiety involved in being an entrepreneur. At the end of the day, you are a business owner and you should treat yourself as such.
Let’s See Your Rates-Raising Tips!
Which one of these tips did you end up using with your own clients? Did you use a different tactic you didn’t find here? Let’s share them in the comments below!
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