Angela’s Note: Julie Roads stepped in last-minute to speak at a Problogging panel at Type-A-Mom Blog Conference with me last year, and in the process I discovered a kindred spirit. We both have very clear ideas about valuing ourselves as writers so I immediately thought of her to share with you. She ghostwrites, blogs for companies, speaks, consults and “thrives on helping you find your authentic voice & personal brand, and KEEP THEM, while you grow your business online and off.” Her company, Writing Roads, is a writing and marketing company that specializes in web content, blogs, social media and real relationship marketing.
Because it’s your job to do so, not anyone else’s
This is a tough one. Why? Because there are some things you need to pack for the trip to remembering-your-value-ville: Self-esteem, self-preservation and good old-fashioned self-respect. When you remember your value and ask others to recognize it, you are sticking up for yourself – to the nth degree. So fill your bag…and let’s go.
If you don’t place value on your work, other people will pick up on that. When you state your fee, don’t cower, don’t play small! Pull your shoulders down, puff out your chest a bit, let your voice be strong. “This is what I charge!!!”
Negotiations and Saying it Out Loud
Time and again, I’m asked to reduce my prices. And the asker is, essentially, telling me that he doesn’t think I’m worth what I originally asked him for, what I think I’m worth. But, I have to be honest – for a myriad of reasons, I will, in fact, lower my prices. When:
- Work is slow (really slow)
- I really like the client
- The topic is important to me
- The project is a new medium that I haven’t worked in previously and I want the experience and the line item on my resume
- The possibilities for ongoing work with this client are high and vast (be careful here and be clear that you will lower your price only this once!)
But, I know people that will not reduce their fees no matter what. It’s a matter of worth and value – whether you lower them or whether you don’t. It’s your choice.
Here’s my rule of thumb to judge the value factor: When someone asks me to write a website for, say, $1000, I do two things:
- I go stand in front of the mirror and I say, ‘I just got a job to write a website for $1,000.’
- I call someone whose opinion (of me) matters and I say, again, ‘I just got a job to write a website for $1,000.’
And I watch my reaction in both cases. Am I proud? Am I embarrassed? Do I make excuses (about why it’s okay to except so little or to except so much)? Does my voice get quiet or loud? How do I feel about myself when I say it out loud?
It’s a check-in system. And it’s fairly foolproof. There is no avoiding that internal cringe system when you know that you are being devalued! When you know that you are devaluing yourself!
How do you know how valuable you are?
As a marketing copywriter, I do not charge by the hour, I charge by the project. This is because one of my mentors once told me, “I work twice as fast and charge three times as much as I did three years ago.” She believes in her value. Why should she take a hit in her fees because she’s fast and fantastic at what she does? Why should the fact that she’s three years better and three years faster lower her value? It shouldn’t! That makes no sense. Her value has undeniably increased!
You are valuable. Seriously, you’ve got it going on. It’s easy to see if you break it down.
Finding your value
To find your value, you need to sort through your history and add things up. Like a tab at a restaurant. List the following (literally on paper – do this for yourself):
- Education (both formal and informal)
- Experience (both formal and informal)
- People you know
- Resources you have at your finger tips
- Skills
- Personality traits (people person, creative, funny, patient, etc…)
- That je ne sais quoi that only you have
Write it all down. All of these things make up your worth…and I bet your list is long.
Julie is one of my mentors, so this is a disclaimer. But I’ve never read this material from her before today, so it’s a genuine comment. The whole idea of not reducing your fees is a revelation. When you think about it, just because you become faster or more proficient at something is not a reason to reduce your financial value. If anything, it would make sense to increase the hourly fee. But charging by the task seems to make more sense. Thanks for a great concept.
Really great advice! Valuing yourself is important not only in a career but in personal relationships as well.
Great article. Well said.
Jed – it’s great to meet you! Welcome to my blog and the Ten Habits of success. I too charge per-piece or per-project and find that it makes life MUCH easier. For me, as a mother of three being constantly interrupted, a per-hour price would be impossible to figure out. Plus I find most businesses like being able to budget a true-cost amount vs a per-hour-but-I-might-need-more-time amount.
Lorie – Julie always writes great articles – that’s why she charges what she does! 😉
This post is an affirmation for me because I, too have encouraged others to charge what they feel they are worth (and of course bring the goods!). It wasn’t about writing, but rather a different at-home business. She grumbled constantly about how clients took advantage of her until I asked her why she was letting them. I told her that if she charged what she was worth (the same price everyone else was charging, by the way) that she may not feel so angry at he clients.
I agree with your list and the only other time I take less is when I’m trying to build platform and the experience is what I need.
Interesting: As someone who hires freelancers, I never pay by the hour either, and that seems to surprise some people who respond to my RFPs.
A great designer friend taught me how to bill projects: estimate the time, double it, then add 40% and charge your base rate. Somehow, this usually made me the middle estimate, and the middle estimate almost always gets picked.