Since 1993, I’ve worked as a free-lance writer, editor, and copy editor. So, I have a lot of experience setting prices for writing and editing jobs that I do on my own. But I recently underestimated one by a lot, which cost me more than half of the money I could have made. Even if you have a lot of experience, you can still get caught in this trap if you aren’t careful.
How to Estimate or Price Freelance Writing Jobs: 3 Tips
Here are three tips for making sure you get paid the full amount you’re owed every time when estimating or pricing freelance writing and editing jobs.
I. Don’t Give a Firm Estimate: You shouldn’t give a firm estimate unless you know for sure that you can finish the job in that amount of time. A conditional estimate is what you should give when you are not sure.
Because I had worked with this client many times before, I was able to give a firm estimate. But because of some things, I didn’t think there was as much work to do as there was.
What is a conditional estimate for a freelance writing job?
FYI, this is when you sort of “hedge your bets” on a job until you know more about it, for example, until you can look at it in detail and make a more accurate estimate, which brings me to my next tip…
II. Correctly estimate the job: My mistake was that I didn’t look over the job completely before giving a firm estimate. The document was only 12 pages long, and I should have read all of them before answering the client. I looked at only the first few pages.
The problem was that the most important pages were at the end of the document.
III. Stick to your freelance rules: At my search engine optimization (SEO) writing company, we don’t start any project until at least a 50% deposit is made. Then, depending on what date this is, the editorial calendar is made.
In this case, the client missed the agreed-upon date for the deposit, which would have made the project take longer to finish. Even though he paid later, I told him we could still finish the project by the date we had originally agreed on.
This made some other projects fall behind, which wouldn’t have happened if I had followed my company’s policy and changed the deadline based on when payment was made.
Trying to figure out how many freelance writing and editing jobs there are:
It takes time to “get right” the skill of estimating and pricing freelance writing and editing jobs. I wasn’t as careful as I should have been when estimating this job. And I lost money because of it. Find out why I set the price for this freelance editing job way too low. Follow these tips to avoid making the same mistakes.
Writers who work on their own
People who offer a freelance writing service use their words to make magic. Freelance writers work for their clients on long-term or short-term contracts. They are hired because they are good at writing in a certain field. Freelancers usually charge a certain amount for their work, but they are usually willing to negotiate.
Even though freelance writers have to do a lot of research, writing, marketing, etc., they are still better off than other writers. In any field, you can find a professional freelance writing service. They write under someone else’s name for famous people, business leaders, political leaders, publishers, credited authors, scientific journals, and the list goes on. Based on the outline given by their clients, they present short stories, essays, manuscripts, and many other types of literary works. Most of the time, ghost writing is done behind the scenes. The clients take credit for writing, but they sometimes say “thank you.”
By writing memoirs, people make the memories of the past come to life. When people write autobiographies for well-known people, they have to write about the person’s life in order. It’s a good idea to hire a professional to write your memoir because they can paint a clear picture of your past experiences, memories of important events in your life, and thoughts based on what the client wants.
A freelance writing service shows off the screenwriter’s work in a big way. Most stories in movies have been told before. The original script was changed to make them. The producers make a deal with the freelance writers to rewrite the script. The writing of the script is done with the utmost care because it has to look like a new one. As a freelance writer, you have a lot of freedom to come up with stories that could be turned into movies. Even in terms of money, they have done better than most other writers.
Freelance writers write songs for well-known musicians, pop stars, and other artists because they are creative. They also work on their websites to make sure people know about them. A freelance writing service is great for all kinds of writing, including books, novels, screenplays, song lyrics, resumes, grants, comedy, ebooks, and short stories. For your writing project, you might want to hire a freelance writing service. There is no risk because you can pay in installments, look at samples, and talk to the writer. You can contact a freelance writer by phone or email today to find out more about the online writing services they offer.
