Customer Reviews

What to Charge: Pricing Strategies for Freelancers and Consultants

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Deciding what to charge is a basic issue freelancers struggle with constantly. As a soon-to-be freelance editor and proofreader, I found this book immensely useful AND inspiring. On a practical level, it offers a truly rational approach to setting consulting fees--no matter what field you're in. Second, and most importantly, it teaches you not to undervalue yourself and, consequently, your services.Any freelance consultant, even the most experienced, will find much of value in this book!

"Am I asking enough for this job?" "Will I lose the job if I ask for more?" "How often can I raise my rates?" If these and other pricing questions have ever bedeviled you, What to Charge will remove some of the guess work for you. Clearly, concisely, and with many examples, Laurie Lewis discusses how to develop a successful pricing strategy, analyze pricing decisions, negotiate rates with clients, and avoid pricing pitfalls. With suggestions that are simple, practical, and easy to follow, this book gives sound advice for overcoming the "How much should I charge?" dilemma and is a "must" for would-be consultants and experienced freelancers alike.

The blurb on the back of the book is right! What to Charge is one of the most practical books you'll ever read. It provides a wealth of concrete information for freelancers and consultants on how to negotiate a fair price for themselves -- and for their clients. Based on the information in the book, I accepted my first freelance writing job on a per word instead of per hour payment basis -- and ended up making three times an hour what I would have! I did not have to negotiate these rates, I simply chose the more profitable of two options offered me by the company based on information from the book about how to estimate the price of a job. It's essential reading for new and experienced freelancers.

Since I'm not a copywriter, I don't tend to read many books on the topic of "business writing." However, I made an exception for this one, and was glad that I did.

Figuring out how to set prices for our services is probably one of the greatest difficulties freelance writers face. This issue is a problem whether you write for businesses, provide editorial services, or freelance for magazines. While it can be argued that if you are a magazine freelancer, you don't have the luxury of setting your rates, the fact is that it's still important to have an understanding of how much you will actually gain from a publication's standard fees -- and whether a project is gaining you money or costing you money, based on how long it takes to complete.

The key words in the title of this particular book are "pricing strategies." This book doesn't tell you "how much to charge." It guides you through a series of strategies that enable you to determine how much you need to charge for different types of projects, based on the type of work involved, your skills, the client's expectations, the time-frame of the project, and more.

This book will also guide you in negotiating contracts and prices, dealing with difficult clients or clients who are reluctant to pay your fee, handling invoicing strategies, dealing with changes in project requirements or time-lines once the fee has been negotiated, and more. It also explains why setting your prices too low is never a good idea -- and why price is often one of the least important criteria involved in convincing a client to use your services.

What really got my attention in this book was the chapter on tracking your time and determining how much time is involved in each activity in a particular project. As Lewis points out, it's not enough to just assume that a project will require X hours from start to finish. Knowing what each aspect of the project involves -- how much time it takes to conduct an interview vs. writing up information or editing your write-up -- will help you determine how much to charge for future projects.

It's always nice to find practical applications for something I read. Shortly after I'd finished this book, an opportunity came up to take on a major project for one of our advertisers. Since "gigs" are generally not my thing, I was at a loss as to how to write up a proposal and come up with some idea of a fee. Then I remembered the book, and realized I had all the information I needed! Thanks to Lewis's strategies, I was able to develop a bid for the project -- and also able to realize that, given what was involved, it actually wasn't a project I could "afford" to take on.

Though the examples and details in this book apply primarily to business copywriters, it offers valuable tips to all types of freelance writers. Those of us who write fiction and nonfiction often don't consider the many "tasks" that go into a single writing project. Having a better grasp of what's involved in any type of writing activity will enable a freelancer to make better, more informed choices about what types of materials to write and what markets to write for.

Author Laurie Lewis has been a freelance writer and editor since 1985. Over the years she has maintained careful records of how she quotes projects and the resulting, actual fees per hour.

Based on her experience, she offers two fundamental rules for pricing:

1. Never quote a price on the spot.
2. Before quoting a fee, determine the lowest acceptable rate--and the concessions to stipulate if you have to go that low.

Lewis explains exactly how to collect data, how to analyze it and how to communicate with customers.

The book is tremendously down to earth. She takes much of the emotion out of pricing. It's as if a CPA was looking over your shoulder as you worked out the numbers.

Here are six ways this book is unique:

1. Lewis allows you to lower your prices in the course of negotiations without insisting that this is a loss of face. But she also suggests procedural brakes so you don't give up too much.
2. She has a tremendous chapter on contracts and letters of agreement. I love the sample letter of agreement and it alone is worth the book's modest price.
3. The advice applies to all types of freelancing and consulting, not just writing.
4. The second edition acknowledges two financial upheavals since the first edition was published a decade ago, as well as reflecting email and other electronic developments.
5. She recognizes the role of self-esteem in pricing decisions, but she doesn't go all hype-y and law of attraction about it.
6. She recommends consistent pricing procedures that increase your income over time without setting sky-high pricing goals that make an annual income under "six figures" seem shameful.

As a small businessperson within the areas of Office, Business, Consulting, & Editorial Services, I found this book to be extremely helpful. I recommend all VAs, home secretaries, et al. have this book for reference! Easy read and must have info!