How To Determine Your Pricing and Rates as a Freelancer
It feels like there’s no formula, but actually, there are many
When it comes to pricing, it can be hard to pick the “right” price because freelancer pricing is often a scale, not a definitive chart or amount.
In this article, I break down two ways to figure out your per-word rates and two ways to determine hourly rates. This article only dives into writing, as the way I determine my editing rates is different and has other considerations (word count, genre, time, type of editing needed, etc.). However, you can use the hourly breakdown for help with pricing for any freelance or consulting opportunity, regardless of what service you’re providing.
Below is a general pricing chart with averages, and then I have broken down a couple of ways for you to determine your per-word and hourly pricing as a freelance writer.
General Pricing Averages
A general guideline:
- 5–7.5 cents per word is below average, and more beginner rates
- 8–11 cents per word is a general average
- 12–15 cents per word is slightly above average for writers with more experience
- 15+ cents per word is an experienced writer (plenty of samples, client testimonials/references, not all on content mills)
Note that this chart does not even show 1–4 cents per word. In my opinion, that is far too low, and people asking for writers for that rate do not see the value in your writing or time. You will not be able to make a livable wage on two cents per word (or at least not without busting your butt at all times to churn out low-to-medium-quality articles one after the other).
Two Methods for Choosing Per-Word Rates
- Decide how much you want to make per year (example: $60K). Then break it down. $60K is $5K per month. $5K per month divided by 160 hours (four weeks of 40 hours) is $31.25 per hour. If you can bill for a full 40 hours per week, great, but that is highly unlikely, so think about multiplying by 1.5 or 2 for an hourly rate. So, let’s say you want to charge $60 per hour for your time and work. If a 1000-word article is going to take you about two hours, then $120 (two hours of work) divided by 1000 words equals 12 cents. So you’d want to charge that client about 12 cents per word to be where you want.
- Another way is to just look at per-word rates without breaking it all down from hourly. If you do ten cents per word, that is $100 for a 1000-word article, no matter how long it takes you. Some articles take longer, some take less time. So, you may want to use a flat rate, such as ten cents per word, which is a decently average to above-average rate. Charge the rate for a period of time, say two weeks or one month, then see how many hours you were able to do paid work and how much you made. This will give you a good gauge to see what you’d make doing more or fewer hours or raising your prices.
Breaking Down Hourly Rates
You may have clients who prefer an hourly rate, such as a client who wants you to do more than writing. Maybe you’re also managing their social media, editing whitepapers, or helping with marketing. Here are two ways to determine that.
1. One way is to determine your hourly rate similarly to the first example above. How much do you want to make per year? How much is that per hour? There are 2,080 hours in a year (40 hours per week for 52 weeks) in work hours, so you can take your total, let’s say $75K, and divide by 2,080 to get $36 per hour. But that’s a low hourly rate because …
Remember, a lot of your time is spent on admin, back end, and marketing for clients in your business. You will not be able to bill all of your working hours, so you want to compensate for that.
Also, consultants tend to have a higher hourly rate than traditional full-time employees. There are many reasons for this, including the fact that consultants don’t get insurance benefits or paid vacation time and can be done working with the company at any time.
If you think of yourself as a consultant instead of a freelancer, contractor, or part-timer, you’ll be able to more clearly see how your higher rate makes sense.
2. Another way is to look at your average workweek and see that you typically have about 20 billable hours. Hours you work that are being paid by a client, not admin or business stuff.
If you charge $60 per hour for 20 hours per week, you will bring in $1200 per week or $4800 per month. And you still have plenty of time each week for back-end work or additional billable work.
So, you have options for hourly rates and how to determine what you want to be making, as well as looking at how much you’re able to work for paying clients each week, which can determine your overall rates.
Pricing and Value
It’s all about valuing your time and making sure your pricing includes the time it takes to do research and backlinks, cite sources, grab a photo, and any revisions you offer.
You have to be the person who values your work and your time. Clients will never ask to pay you more or value you the way you deserve. In your business, you must be your own best advocate.
At times, it may feel frustrating because you aren’t finding clients who will pay what you deserve, but trust me—they are out there. Plenty of companies will see your value and be happy to pay your rates. Get off of Upwork or ConstantContent if they aren’t willing to pay your rates. Stop focusing and spending time on the low-paying prospects, and focus on looking for the better-paying ones. It will pay off much better in the long run.
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