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9 Ways Freelance Writers Are Leaving Money on the Table

August 28, 2018 By Marcie Hill 56 Comments

Freelance writers, how much money are you leaving on the table?

9 Ways Freelance Writers Are Leaving Money on the Table

When completing writing projects, you tend to charge for writing, editing and revising only. You don’t fully consider all aspects of completing a project. Unfortunately, you are leaving a lot of money on table – literally and figuratively.

Also, when you are hired for writing services, you are not just writers. You uncover and collect information through research and interviews to provide a comprehensive story.

You are artists who bring thoughts and ideas to life. You are geniuses who connect concepts to make them relatable. You are also editors who organize information to ensure that the final draft is easy to read and easy to understand.

You are consultants, business partners and experts that should be charging for your time, knowledge and expertise.

If you are not charging for all of the services you provide in a project, you are leaving money on the table. How much you’re losing is unknown, but you’ll have an idea after reading about the nine services you should be charging for.

Table of Contents

  • Ways Freelance Writers Leave Money on the Table
    • 1. Brainstorming & Conceptualizing
    • 2. Background reading
    • 3. Research
    • 4. Interviews
    • 5. Additional Revisions & Edits
    • 6. Related Expenses
    • 7. Additional Meetings & Consultations
    • 8. Aggravation
    • 9. Promotion
    • Your Turn
      • Marcie Hill
      • Latest posts by Marcie Hill (see all)

Ways Freelance Writers Leave Money on the Table

1. Brainstorming & Conceptualizing

Brainstorming is the process of generating ideas, selecting different angles for your articles, and developing outlines. You should allocate at least an hour to this activity, even if the project seems relatively simple.

You just never know where your creativity will take you.

2. Background reading

When starting new assignments, you have to read previously published information for two reasons:

1) to learn more about the company you’re serving and 2) to determine if the data is relevant to the current project. Annual reports, website content, newsletters and other company reports are just a few documents you can read to gather information you need.

The reading time will vary depending on your reading speed; the simplicity or complexity of the documents you’re reading; and the number of pages included in the documents.

3. Research

You will almost always conduct research in your projects, even if you’re just confirming dates, times and places. It is a time-consuming, but necessary aspect of writing.

In addition to charging for the actual time you use to conduct research, you should also charge for reading, organizing, and summarizing your findings.

One task writers tend to overlook and not charge for is searching for free photos, videos, and other multimedia to accompany articles. Expect to spend at least 15 minutes doing this.

4. Interviews

Like research, conducting interviews is very time consuming. First, you have to schedule the interview which could take time due to busy schedules.

You also have to compose relevant questions to ensure that you’re capturing the essence of the message.

Then, you have to conduct the actual interview and transcribe the notes from the interview. Lastly, you have to creatively weave content from the interview into the story.

5. Additional Revisions & Edits

I have seen writers include up to two revisions in their contracts for no extra charge. However, that should cover only minor changes.

If the clients want to make major changes after the approved completion of the project or if they want to change directions mid-project, you need to charge accordingly and revise the contract to reflect the changes.

6. Related Expenses

Related expenses include charges for e-mail and internet services, paper and ink, and all other charges incurred during the completion of the project.

Internet and e-mail services are used to communicate with clients. Paper and ink are used to print the project. You may even have to use envelopes and postage.

7. Additional Meetings & Consultations

You will have one meeting with the client to determine the direction and expectations of the project. However, if multiple meetings are required, you can bill clients for your time only or for time and travel.

Be sure to document this in the contract. Lastly, conversations exceeding 10 minutes are consultations, so be sure to charge for them.

8. Aggravation

 One writer charges extra for aggravation “just because”. He doesn’t wait for something to happen; he charges automatically based on previous experiences.

The aggravation could be caused by the client or unexpected glitches that occur during the course of the project.

9. Promotion

Many times, clients may ask you to promote blogs posts, press releases and newsletters. Yes, you will do it…for an additional fee. Writing and promotion are two different services and you should charge the client for the value of each one.

For example, you may charge $300 to write press releases and $1,000 to send it to media outlets. Or, you can charge $250 for a blog post and another $150 to promote it.

Are you charging for writing, editing, and revisions only when quoting rates for your writing services? If so, you are leaving money on the table. Now is a good time to review your rates for services, sweep that money off the table, and take it to the bank.

Your Turn

Which of the above services are you not charging for now but can boost your boost your line? Let us know in the comment section below.

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Marcie Hill

Marcie Hill, M.S., is a freelance writer, serial blogger, self-published author of 7 books and speaker who enjoys enlightening others about unknown and little known facts. Follow her on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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  • 9 Ways Freelance Writers Are Leaving Money on the Table - August 28, 2018
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Filed Under: Freelancing, Outsourcing, Work From Home Tagged With: freelance writers, freelance writing

Comments

  1. Akshay Negi says

    May 18, 2019 at 1:08 am

    Can you please suggest me whether I am a good freelancer writer or not I wrote articles as freelancing and earn a short of money by my work but I want to increase my income so how can I go for it.
    Akshay Negi would love you to read ..Why Everyone Is So Crazy About Bali? And You Should Too!My Profile

    Reply
    • Gail Gardner says

      May 18, 2019 at 5:15 pm

      Hello Akshay,

      I would recommend that you either write in your native language or find someone who is native to the country of the sites you want to contribute on to edit content for you. As content gets more competitive, only the very best writers with almost perfect English will be able to consistently make a living as a writer — at least on larger sites.
      Gail Gardner would love you to read ..Importance of Technical SEO 2019 and Beyond [Infographic + Video]My Profile

      Reply
  2. Shawn Fredrick says

    February 1, 2019 at 12:19 am

    Great knowledge! Thank you for sharing and keep posting more.

    Reply
  3. Kurt Buss says

    December 15, 2018 at 11:54 am

    What a great list of things to remember to charge for and not just give as a handout. I especially like the exact examples in #9 of what you could charge for blog posts and press releases. I think there is a fine line between giving a lot of value and giving away your services. Great article!

    Reply
  4. Shawn Fredrick says

    November 19, 2018 at 7:59 am

    Awesome post! Really informative for freelancers out there. I recently hired a group of freelance blog writers and they are doing a quite satisfying job for my blog. Will share this post with them for knowledge. Keep posting!

    Reply
  5. nirmal says

    November 1, 2018 at 2:41 am

    Hello Marcie,

    Awesome post, I’ve been a freelancer for 5 years and these tips are gold. I guess I’m just gonna bookmark this post.

    i realy apply this techniques in my blogging site thanks once again

    Reply
  6. sarthak says

    October 23, 2018 at 6:26 am

    Nice to read this article thanks for your kind information that you have given to us about why freelance leave money on the table. The things that you have mentioned in your article are very important in the point of view of creativity.

    Reply
  7. Manuel Gonzalez says

    October 16, 2018 at 2:15 pm

    Such an eye opening article. I Think i should take seriously in life on this article but i am doing in wrong way .

    Reply
  8. LoladaTuga says

    October 15, 2018 at 12:46 pm

    Thanks for sharing you knowledged! Keep doing it!

    Awesome tips for freelance writers

    Today, you win one more reader!

    Reply
  9. Sunday Ugwu says

    October 12, 2018 at 12:35 pm

    This is a nice post i never know that one can make huge money from freelancing job am happy to have read this Article.
    Thanks

    Reply
  10. Shaurya Singh says

    October 12, 2018 at 10:18 am

    I just stepped in freelance writing as a content writer and now i have a brief idea about how can i add few extra bucks . I did a few projects . They asked me promote but i denied as it wasn’t my job . Now i regret i missed some easy money . Silly me . Thanks for the heads up .

    Reply
  11. Rama Krishna says

    October 11, 2018 at 2:17 am

    Hi,
    This is nice post for ways freelance writes are leaving money on table and having right articles to see you here and thanks a lot for sharing with us.

    Reply
  12. Karen Ching says

    October 10, 2018 at 10:15 pm

    I didn’t know freelancers could be earning much much more than they do! Thanks for sharing these tips and pointing out which part of the job people could possibly be missing out on.
    Karen Ching would love you to read ..Economic Benefits of Using an Office Space for Lease in ParanaqueMy Profile

    Reply
  13. Mike says

    October 10, 2018 at 1:18 pm

    I don’t do a lot of freelance writing, but this was still very… elucidating. I’m definitely guilty of giving my clients too many revisions for free. I know they want things to be perfect, but… geez. My time ain’t free! 😉
    Mike would love you to read ..7 Innovative Approaches To Improve Your Pay-Per-Click CampaignsMy Profile

    Reply
  14. John says

    October 5, 2018 at 2:16 am

    This is very informative and beneficial for me. Indeed promotion of articles must be charged extra but most of the writers just do it for free. Its benefit for me
    John would love you to read ..Pay Stub | Understand Your Pay StubMy Profile

    Reply
  15. shaheen says

    September 30, 2018 at 9:22 am

    Awesome !! All the points of your article are useful but these days people believe that without research they can write the article by copying posts and using a spinner. Real SEO articles need proper research and hard work.

    Thanks for the great information.

    Reply
  16. David Leonhardt says

    September 29, 2018 at 7:54 am

    Revisions is always a toughie.

    For huge contracts, like novels, we take it one chapter at a time. There are often lots of revisions in the first chapter, until we get tone and style down pat, then minor revisions along the way. We factor that into our price.

    For smaller projects, such as a best man speech or a blog article, I usually tell them reasonable tweaks are covered, so make sure to get your instructions right from the start. Yeah, no coddling passive aggressive clients who say, “I don’t like it. Do it again differently” – I’ve seen a few of those.

    For research, again it depends of the nature of a project. Confirming dates pr how to spell niche words (let’s say when writing on cardiology or on horticulture) is a given, and factored into the price. But for any complex research, we charge extra and by the hour.

    If an individual client (not a big company) has a lot of research to do, we generally recommend doing it themselves or hiring a student. It can get expensive to hire a pro at pro rates to do 100 hours of research that a student could do just as well.

    Reply
    • Marcie says

      September 29, 2018 at 8:23 am

      David, thanks for breaking revisions down according to project type. And I’m with you on research. People do not understand the amount of work required.
      Marcie would love you to read ..Fiverr: My Review & RecommendationsMy Profile

      Reply
  17. kunal verma says

    September 26, 2018 at 1:47 pm

    Hey Mercie, your Tips are so amazing and helpful for freelance writers. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience with us.

    Reply
  18. Shweta Reddy says

    September 26, 2018 at 5:18 am

    This is an interesting read. The writers have a lot of opportunities to earn money apart from writing the content. I am a blogger and these suggestions can add up good value to my career. Article writing involves a lot of intense work and these tips can be certainly helpful.

    Reply
  19. james mike says

    September 24, 2018 at 6:50 am

    nice and awesome article , i really need this post , now please write about shopify online store , i am not getting success there , thanks

    Reply
  20. Rama Krishna says

    September 24, 2018 at 4:24 am

    Hi,

    This is nice post for freelancers writers are leaving money on the table and having right articles to see you here and thanks a lot for sharing with us.

    Reply
  21. Ashmita Rathore says

    September 20, 2018 at 3:13 am

    Thanks for providing such an informative blog. I like your Press release point, actually, I would a little bit confused to tell the amount of press release to my clients but your point helps me out.
    Ashmita Rathore would love you to read ..Bigg Boss12: From Anup Jalota-Jasleen Matharu to Deepak Thakur here is all the updates.My Profile

    Reply
  22. coral says

    September 19, 2018 at 7:17 am

    Hello Marcie,
    I have also started new free freelancing your article very helpful for me.
    your 7th and 8th point very informative.

    Reply
  23. Abhishek Jaiswal says

    September 17, 2018 at 5:03 am

    hello
    thank you for sharing this article it was really helpful and after reaching this site my thoughts are really cleared and im really thank full of you

    Reply
  24. senthil says

    September 14, 2018 at 2:39 am

    Thanks for sharing its very useful for me and others also. Its an great article so far. thanks a lot and its an great thing

    Reply
  25. Muhammad Asif says

    September 13, 2018 at 1:11 pm

    Hi Thanks for this great article.
    Good analysis generates desired results. Different Information Post.
    Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  26. Jurgen says

    September 13, 2018 at 3:17 am

    Great post for freelance writer, thanks for sharing. I used to think about freelancing after reading your post.

    Reply
  27. Anna Martinez says

    September 13, 2018 at 2:55 am

    Hello Marcie,

    Firstly I would love to appreciate your article/blog.

    From an SEO perspective, I would love to say content should be unique and clear. If content would be unique and clear user will get attracted more to a website and will grow business in a more better way.

    Marcie, please share me some more information in regards how to get more traffic more on a website?

    Reply
    • Marcie says

      September 13, 2018 at 5:39 am

      Hi Anna,

      This article was written with content creators in mind, not necessarily SEO writers, although they can use this information to grow their bottom lines. I’m not expert in getting more traffic on a website so I can’t help with this.
      Marcie would love you to read ..Connecting With Your Readers: The First Rule Of Successful BloggingMy Profile

      Reply
  28. Prakash Adhikari says

    September 12, 2018 at 7:14 am

    great and informative post. the easy explanation helps me a lot for understanding to write a great article. thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  29. Stella says

    September 12, 2018 at 2:12 am

    Hey Marcie, im glad that iv’e started my day with an awesome article. keep posting..
    Love from India.

    Reply
  30. Wajahath Ali says

    September 10, 2018 at 6:49 pm

    Writing is a tough profession which many don’t realise.

    If the writer can become famous then the going gets easy and it is a lot of hard work at first just like any other business.

    Thanks for all the tips.

    Great Post Marcie.
    Wajahath Ali would love you to read ..4 Evergreen Affiliate Programs To PromoteMy Profile

    Reply
    • Marcie says

      September 21, 2018 at 6:33 am

      Wajahath, I don’t think the writer has to be famous. I think writers need to have enough confidence in their work and themselves to ask for what they want. Their portfolio and testimonials will speak for them.
      Marcie would love you to read ..Reminder: 3 Online Marketing Tools All Businesses Should Use – September 22, 2018My Profile

      Reply
  31. Sam says

    September 10, 2018 at 4:12 pm

    As someone who has spent over $1M hiring freelance writers, I can honestly say there are even more ways they are leaving money on the table than this. They only see themselves as people who write rather than someone who can solve an ongoing problem. Its a shame really.
    Sam would love you to read ..How To Become A Life CoachMy Profile

    Reply
    • Marcie says

      September 21, 2018 at 6:37 am

      Hey Sam, in what other ways are they leaving money on the table? This would be helpful to the people who have left comments here.
      Marcie would love you to read ..Reminder: 3 Online Marketing Tools All Businesses Should Use – September 22, 2018My Profile

      Reply
  32. Kelye says

    September 10, 2018 at 10:57 am

    Hi Marcie
    Great post , i really appreciate you because you have nicely done everything on one post. i did freelancing before 4 years but your tips really awesome for me, hope so you will write new things soon
    Thank you for sharing
    Kelye would love you to read ..Picking the Right Agency for Buying Online VotesMy Profile

    Reply
    • Marcie says

      September 29, 2018 at 8:26 am

      Kelye, I hope these tips help increase your pay. You should get paid for your time, talent and the services you provide.
      Marcie would love you to read ..Fiverr: My Review & RecommendationsMy Profile

      Reply
  33. Samiur Rahman says

    September 10, 2018 at 7:26 am

    Hey Marcie, I’m a newbie freelancer and these tips are very valuable to me. Thanks for this amazing post! Have a nice day, Marcie!!
    Samiur Rahman would love you to read ..Blogging Beginners Guide | Start a Perfect Online BlogMy Profile

    Reply
  34. Harry says

    September 9, 2018 at 10:01 pm

    Great Information, all the points are useful for real article writer but these days people believe that without research they can write the article by copy paste and spinner. Real seo article needs proper research and hard work.

    Reply
  35. Jina says

    September 8, 2018 at 4:47 am

    very important and worth article you wrote for all freelancer users. I also share this post to my freelancer friends who always does same when they have time to earn unlimited money through his / her skills. Thanks for sharing good post.

    Reply
  36. Sam Richard says

    September 7, 2018 at 4:13 pm

    Hello Marcie,

    I am a new comer who wants to grow as much as possible in this field i read your post it nice as new comer i want to thank you for tell us something about online earning and i love to say please keep sharing

    thanks & Regards

    Sam Richard
    Sam Richard would love you to read ..10 Major Issues of Kindle Fire with their SolutionMy Profile

    Reply
  37. Tarique Amir says

    September 7, 2018 at 1:32 am

    Hi Marcie,

    Good post! Your post is very informative and you have done well to explain things. These 9 ways are worth thinking about because at the end of the day if freelance writers are paid well, then their quality of work is bound to raise. This in return helps both the client and the freelancer.

    Thank you for this lovely post. have a good day. 🙂
    Tarique Amir would love you to read ..Computers in our daily lifeMy Profile

    Reply
  38. Naseem Ansari says

    September 6, 2018 at 6:23 am

    thank you for the information for earn the money. your article such a very nice. Thank you so much.

    Reply
  39. Rajesh Deepak says

    September 5, 2018 at 7:17 am

    Hi,
    Nice post for a freelancer. They should be charged properly. Given 9 steps are very important to define the right way for a freelance writer. Best content.

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Marcie says

      September 10, 2018 at 8:44 am

      Rajesh, these are the only nine things I can think of. If you know of any others, let me know.

      Reply
  40. Holly Hanna says

    September 4, 2018 at 9:29 am

    I love these extras that writers can add on to their services! And you should be charging for any time that you put into a written piece.

    But, I think the aggravation fee is a little much.
    Holly Hanna would love you to read ..Secrets Of Six-Figure Bloggers: How To Make Money From Your BlogMy Profile

    Reply
    • Marcie says

      September 4, 2018 at 9:51 pm

      Holly, I used to feel the same way about the aggravation fee until I worked with a couple of clients that made me understand. They are the exception.
      Marcie would love you to read ..3 Online Marketing Tools All Businesses Should Use – September 22, 2018My Profile

      Reply
  41. Nikksa says

    September 3, 2018 at 8:01 am

    Great information, All the points are useful for real article writer but these days people believe that without research they can write the article by copy pest and spinner. Real SEO article needs proper research and hard work. Thanks for the great information.

    Reply
    • Marcie says

      September 10, 2018 at 8:43 am

      That’s a good point about researching for SEO. This info can help writers expand their service offerings.
      Marcie would love you to read ..Connecting With Your Readers: The First Rule Of Successful BloggingMy Profile

      Reply
  42. rakshit joshi says

    September 2, 2018 at 7:17 am

    Hello,

    Awesome post,

    I’ve been a freelancer for and these tips are very valuable. I am gonna save this post.

    Thanks
    rakshit joshi would love you to read ..How to Get Google AdSense Account Approval?My Profile

    Reply
    • Marcie says

      September 2, 2018 at 6:03 pm

      Hey Rakshit, you are sure to increase your income by charging clients separately for the services you provide. Good luck to you.
      Marcie would love you to read ..5 Must-Have Branding Tools for BloggersMy Profile

      Reply
  43. Fassih Fayyaz says

    September 2, 2018 at 3:49 am

    Hello Marcie,

    Interesting post, I am new to freelancing and these tips are amazing. Nice article thanks for writing this post.

    Thanks and have a good day

    Reply
    • Marcie says

      September 2, 2018 at 5:58 pm

      Glad these tips helped, Fassih. There is money to be made and you are ready to earn as much as possible.
      Marcie would love you to read ..5 Must-Have Branding Tools for BloggersMy Profile

      Reply
  44. Venu says

    September 1, 2018 at 11:50 am

    Hello Marcie,

    Awesome post, I’ve been a freelancer for 5 years and these tips are gold. I guess I’m just gonna bookmark this post.

    Indeed promotion of articles must be charged extra but most of the writers just do it for free.

    Thanks
    Venu would love you to read ..How to Download Instagram for Windows PC and Mac for FreeMy Profile

    Reply
    • Marcie says

      September 1, 2018 at 1:19 pm

      And free is what we have to stop doing. Writers have to charge for our time, talent and the value we provide to clients.

      Reply

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