Writer's Worth Week Guest Post:

What Are You Worth?

By Lori Widmer

The news a few weeks back about the writers who worked for free suing Huffington Post’s Arianna Huffington for $105 million of the $350 million she received when AOL bought HuffPo was shocking. Yet it wasn’t because the writers were suing – I think anyone could have predicted that given the amount of money involved. It was shocking because these writers were demanding fairness after the fact.

It’s issues like this that inspired me to start Writers Worth Week, my annual awareness campaign where hopefully another writer will be motivated to understand their market value. If one more writer makes one more smart business decision, then the movement is worth it.

But it’s not easy changing our business behavior. We get entrenched in doing things the same way because we’re getting by. But wouldn’t you like to do more than that?

You can, you know. You can shift your thinking right now and start seeing the results almost immediately. I did. It was the best thing I’ve ever done.

So writers, make today the day you change one thing about your business. If you need me to require it, let’s call it your homework.

Your homework: Start thinking of your writing as a business. It is. Changing your mindset to business mode makes it easier for you to stand firm in your rates and conduct business as a professional. Take control of your business. You're no longer apologizing for wanting to charge for doing something you love. Baseball players charge for doing what they love – why shouldn't you?

Okay, that was a pretty cake assignment, so you're getting two.

Second one:

Just for today, turn down one offer that doesn't meet with your income goals. Drop a low-paying client or renegotiate your current pay rate. Do something that says, "Thank you, but I'm worth more."

Second part of the assignment: this week, identify at least three more potential clients who will pay your rate without question.

Do you think of your writing as a business?

When was the last time you sought out higher-paying work?

Lori Widmer is a veteran writer and editor who is worth every penny her clients pay. She blogs about all things writing-related at Words on the Page.

In Honor of Writer's Worth Day

Have you noticed the lovely, little logo to the left with the caption that reads, "Talent is Priceless?" Well, Lori Widmer, a writer I admire, has officially declared today Writers Appreciation Day. Today is a day for us to take a moment to consider everything that we put into writing for our clients. Whether you write articles, whitepapers, brochures or expertly crafted sales letters and landing pages, the process you go through to create the final product has worth.

The low rate writing cycle

I started freelancing online back in September of 2007. I knew very little about web writing, so I went from writer's forum to writer's forum learning as much as I could about which projects were in demand, getting clients and figuring out what to charge.

While I didn't start off writing $5 articles, I was certainly guilty of accepting low pay gigs. I was spending much more of my time networking with other writers who considered those rates typical. As I did my research, I discovered I wasn't even charging average industry rates on many projects. It took me some time to realize that I really had two problems: not charging enough and a clientele that expected low rates.

Setting goals

It's not easy to raise rates on existing clients. I learned that the key to getting better rates was finding clients that knew the value of the service I provided and were willing to pay well. This meant I needed to focus on a completely different target market. I also tried to learn as much as possible from veteran writers, like Lori, who were already doing what I wanted to do.

Why low rate writers are bad for business

A lot of writers are becoming frustrated at the number of potential clients out there seeking writing services for peanuts. At first it was easy to ignore. You figured that if another writer wanted to write a 500 word article for $2.50 so be it. But in the end it really does affect us all.

It may seem like a good idea to charge clients bargain basement prices in this economy, but when things recover where can you really go from there? You'll have a tough time raising rates if you start low. You'll eventually burn out trying to get enough low pay work to pay the bills. A writer deserves to at least make more than minimum wage.

Figuring out what to charge

Setting rates can be tricky when you're first getting started, but there are a lot of pricing guides out there to help you get started. Try this one and this one. Sure, you might start out on the low end when you get started, but your value increases as you get more experience. Take the time to find clients that appreciate what you do and will pay accordingly.