Summary

The article emphasizes the importance of freelance writers recognizing their worth and setting boundaries to secure higher income and better work conditions.

Abstract

The article discusses the challenges freelance writers face in valuing their work and setting appropriate boundaries with clients. It highlights the transition from accepting any work to understanding one's worth and the necessity of overcoming a scarcity mentality. The author advises freelancers to move beyond low-paying jobs that undervalue their time and skills, suggesting that this practice not only leads to financial loss but also sends a message of undervaluing oneself. The article encourages freelancers to assess their skills, improve where necessary, and confidently ask for fair compensation. It also addresses the difficulty of raising rates with long-term clients and the importance of letting go of those who do not recognize one's value. Furthermore, the author stresses the need for self-care and maintaining a work-life balance to prevent burnout and enhance the quality of work.

Opinions

Freelancers often struggle with a scarcity mentality, leading to acceptance of low-paying work.
Saying yes to underpaid work can prevent freelancers from pursuing higher-paying opportunities.
Accepting low rates may affirm a belief that one's time and skills are worth less than they are.
Freelancers should regularly evaluate their skills and worth, and adjust their rates accordingly.
Clients who value a freelancer's work will be willing to pay higher rates.
It is important to let go of clients who do not appreciate one's worth.
Freelancers must set boundaries with themselves to avoid overworking and burnout.
Taking time off and enforcing a work-life balance can lead to better health, relationships, and work quality.
Saying no to offers that do not meet one's standards can be empowering and lead to better opportunities.

Saying No To Work Will Raise Your Income As A Freelance Writer

I learned this important lesson the hard way so you don’t have to.

Freelancing is scary. Many people will remind you of that when they find out you’re a freelancer and respond with the classic response:

“Oh wow, that must be tough. I could never deal with the stress of not having a regular paycheck.”

Being a freelancer comes with a lot of responsibilities, including doing your own bookkeeping, keeping track of income for tax purposes, and finding clients. These are the most obvious struggles, but the biggest challenges go deeper.

The Two Biggest Downfalls of Freelancers

The most difficult aspects of being a freelancer are much more subtle than all the things I just mentioned. They lie beneath the surface and are only conquered by self-awareness and inner work. Every freelancer I’ve talked to over the years struggles with the following two things.

Knowing Your Worth and Setting Boundaries

These two simple concepts are the hardest to overcome, whether you’re a no matter which industry you’re a freelancer in. They’re unavoidable challenges of life, especially in the life of a freelancer.

How to Measure Your Worth

When I started my journey as a freelancer, I said yes to any and all work. I was desperate to get clients under my belt and to build a portfolio. While it is a good idea to take on some lower-paying jobs at the very beginning of your career as a freelancer, you shouldn’t use this method for long.

Breaking Out of a Scarcity Mentality

It took me a long time to get myself out of what I call a scarcity mentality. This mentality is the constant state of anxiety that one will not have enough work to get by. When making the transition from a full-time employee to a freelancer, it can be hard to get past the fact that you will no longer have regular paychecks that arrive predictably.

For a long time, I underestimated the value of my time. If a client low-balled me, I would continue to work for them anyway. I would spend hours researching, writing, and editing content for jobs that only paid $50. Ouch.

The biggest issue with this is that while I’m spending 3 hours working on a job that pays $50, higher-paying jobs are passing me by. I mean this both literally and figuratively.

Literally, those 3 hours I spent writing for a low-ball client could have been spent researching higher-paying publications, pitching to prospective publishers, improving my personal website, and tailoring my portfolio.

Figuratively, I believe that accepting work that isn’t paying enough sends the message to the universe that you don’t believe you’re worth getting paid a fair amount. This can be a little woo-woo if you’re not into metaphysical stuff, but hear me out. If a client low-balls you and you say yes anyway, you're affirming the fact that your time, energy, creativity, and talent are worth less than the industry standard.

How to Figure Out What You Deserve

I challenge you to take a look at yourself and your skills. Are you proud of your work? Have you grown in your trade since you started on this journey? Do you think your time is worth more than the industry standard, not less?

If you answered yes, then it’s time to start asking for what you deserve. If a client doesn’t want to pay that, say the following:

“Okay, thank you for your transparency. Please feel free to reach back out if you have room in your budget to work together in the future.”

If you said no, and you don’t think your work is worth more than the industry standard rates, then consider taking some time to improve your work as a freelancer. Take classes that teach you new skills so you can offer more to prospective clients. Self-publish or do volunteer work to gain some experience.

Setting Boundaries with Clients

As you grow as a freelancer, you’ll get used to client interactions. If you’re good at what you do, you will retain clients over the course of years. Somewhere along the line, you will decide that your experience and skills are of a higher caliber than when you started, and your rates will go up.

It can be hard to tell long-term clients that you’re raising your rates, and you may be tempted to continue to work for them for less. Don’t do this. Let me tell you why.

If a client values you and your work, they will pay the higher rate.

If they say no, they’re not a client you want to work with anyway, because they don’t value you and what you bring to the table. This goes back to the earlier section of this article about deciding your worth. Evaluate your work, experience, education, and creativity. Are you worth more than you were a few years ago? If the answer is yes, it’s time to let clients go if they don’t want to pay you what you’re worth, as hard as that may be.

Again, if the answer is no, then it’s time to take some classes, gain more experience, and grow as a freelancer before you start to ask for higher rates.

Setting Boundaries with Yourself

This can be even harder than setting boundaries with a client. As you grow as a freelancer, you’ll realize that there are an unlimited amount of tasks that you could be doing at any time. You will need to learn to manage your time. If you don’t, it will be at the expense of your health, your relationships, and your sanity.

It will be tempting to overwork yourself to the point of burnout, I’ve done this countless times myself. It wasn’t until I reached a breaking point after overworking myself so much when I developed an actual physical illness. It forced me to slow down and examine the habits that had gotten me to that point.

After that, I forced myself to keep a schedule of work time. Once that time was up, I could not continue to work. I spent more time with my partner, improved the quality and quantity of my sleep, exercised more, and did stuff that made me happy, like reading for fun and learning French.

It became undeniable that when I took time off and enforced a schedule to avoid burnout, not only was I a happier and healthier person, but my work was better. I’m now able to deliver the best work possible to my clients. It’s helped me maintain client relationships and get more higher-paying clients by saying no to myself and my tendency to overwork myself.

Learn to Say No

It’s going to be hard at first, but soon, saying no to low-ball offers will become liberating. It will enforce the fact that as creative freelancers, we are valuable. It’s uncomfortable to set boundaries, but I guarantee you will see results the more you define your worth and demand fair pay as a freelancer.