As a freelance copywriter, you’ll often find yourself questioned about the price of your services. Is 1 pound per page a reasonable price for rewriting an article? How about 500 words for £20? What is a reasonable rate for a few hours of copywriting work?
These are all legitimate questions, and it’s a good idea to establish a price range for your skills before you start getting busy. After all, you can’t charge what you haven’t got!
But how much should you actually charge?
That’s the million-dollar question, and it’s something that you’ll have to figure out for yourself. Fortunately, I’ve got you covered on this front. In this article, you’re going to learn about some of the factors that you need to keep in mind when setting your prices.
Know Your Worth
As a copywriter, you’re obviously not value-added reseller (V.A.R.) of content. You’re adding value by creating original content that is of high quality and that people are willing to pay for.
V.A.R. stands for value-added reseller, and it’s a role that you may play in your copywriting business. Essentially, you’ll be selling a product or service — such as an ebook — to a customer while adding value through your unique expertise. For example, an ebook copywriter might create an eBook that is designed to teach people how to write better headlines for SEO purposes. In this case, the reseller adds value by providing tips and tools to help the customer become a better journalist.
When you’re V.A.R., you should always be considering your own personal worth. It’s not about what you could charge, but what you’re worth based on your expertise and the value that you provide. When you know your worth, then you can confidently set a price that is in line with your industry and your unique skills. This brings me to my next point…
Set Your Prices Based On Your Skills
There are four elements that you need to consider when setting your prices:
- Your expertise
- Your production value
- Your market value
- The value that you provide
Let’s take a closer look at each of these elements.
Your Expertise
It’s no secret that experience counts. As you gain more and more experience as a copywriter, you’ll find that you are able to charge higher and higher prices. When you factor in your experience level, you’re setting yourself a market value based on a combination of your expertise and your time. In a nutshell, your expertise will determine your price. It’s as simple as that.
The experience factor is just one of the elements that you need to consider. To charge higher prices, you’ll also need to consider your production value — that is, the quality of your work. As a general rule of thumb, you should aim to produce content of at least professional quality. After all, if you want to charge higher prices, then you’re better off investing in a higher-quality product.
Your Production Value
When you’re producing content for commercial purposes, then you need to consider your production value. Simply put, production value refers to the amount of effort that you put in to create the content. It’s all about the quality and amount of work that you produce. If you’re producing content for money, then you need to consider your production value.
You might produce a lot of content for little or no money. If that’s the case, then it’s up to you to decide whether you want to invest in a high-quality product (i.e., one that costs more to buy) or simply produce low-quality work for less money. The choice is entirely up to you. For example, a lot of content producers choose to spend a small amount on a basic manuscript printer in order to produce more content faster. Even though it might not be the most professional-looking piece of content, it’s all that they need in order to get the job done. Smart marketers are already taking advantage of this practice by printing out low-quality versions of their content and using them as placebos in order to fool the reader into thinking that the content is of high quality when it’s not.
Your Market Value
Your market value is based on how much “you’re worth” to your target audience. In other words, you need to consider what other businesses are paying you and your peers for your services. Your market value is simply your expertise multiplied by how often you can provide that expertise and how much you’re worth to your target audience. For example, a business writer might look at other business writers’ prices and their own expertise and figure out what they’re worth to their target audience. Once they know their market value, they can set their price accordingly.
As a general rule of thumb, you should be looking to charge four to five times your annual income as a freelance copywriter. For instance, if you’re making £20,000 per year as a freelance copywriter, then you should be charging £40,000 to £50,000 per year. Keep in mind that this is just a general guideline and that there will be exceptions. For example, if you have specific expertise in a certain area, then you might be able to find work at a lower rate. But, as a general rule, you should be aiming for the high end of that range.
The Value That You Provide
The final element that you need to consider when setting your prices is the value that you provide. How much value do you provide to your target audience? When you’re creating content for commercial purposes, then you need to consider how much the target audience is willing to pay for your services. That’s what you provide, and it’s a question of what you should be charging.
There are many different variables that you need to consider when setting your prices. But, as a general rule of thumb, you should be aiming to charge higher prices for more complex tasks and tasks that are of a higher quality. If you want to become a high-quality content producer, then you need to consider investing in a higher-quality computer, software, and equipment.