Stop Cheapening Your Image

A freelancer’s guide to honing your craft and sticking to your rates

“You know, I just really loved my old content writer,” was the first thing that came out of my client’s mouth when we got on the phone for a discovery call.

What I wanted to say was “I’m sorry, are you talking about your ex right now?”

Instead, I kept moving and got down to the nitty-gritty of what the purpose of the phone call was.

What do you say to something like that?

As a freelancer, you understand that the amount work, tears, and lack of sleep that is at the core of every entrepreneur’s cold email list, shitty phone calls, and self-worth that either makes or breaks your next writing deal.

Desperate times call for desperate measures — I get it, but let’s put ourselves first this time.

Stop cheapening your image!

After wrapping up this phone call, I was startled when she had specifically told me “your 1200 word blog isn’t worth $250, I can use my money more wisely than that,” I caught myself sinking into the fearful ideology that nailing clients in hard, I’m over-charging, and like I had just left a remaining of 3 golf tees on the game at Cracker Barrel that labels me as “just plain dumb.”

I started to type a wrap-up email with links to my published works trying to prove my intellectual abilities to her despite the 6-month freelance experience, and instead of “over-charging,” I started kissing her ass which sounded a lot like — “please give this poor Tennessee girl a shot, misses, I am in desperate need of a writing opportunity here so I can stop living off of frozen Indian take-out food.”

And then I stopped myself.

Cheapening my image for someone who isn’t willing to see my worth is not my problem. I’ll say that again — if you have to cheapen your image because someone can not see your value and what you bring to the table — that is not your problem, it’s theirs.

If you’re like me, when it comes to discussing finances in any sort of situation — especially if you’re the one selling, it’s uncomfortable. It is always going to be a tad uncomfortable, but discovering what you think you are worth and making that decision to stick to whatever number comes to mind is going to play a key role in your success as a freelancer.

Saying no to deal-breaker is more respectful than disrespecting yourself

Not everyone is going to want to pay for what you are offering, but that’s the art of honing your craft and sticking to your rates.

There’s freedom in choosing who you want to work with or for.

The first zoom meeting I ever held with a potential client was nerve-racking. It was a life-changing amount of money that I could make as a freelancer that would have allowed me to quit my corporate job the next day, but in the end, I turned it down.

Here’s why —

The lady wanted at least three free writing samples for her specific business, she had made it very clear she was more interested in other copywriters and had the mentality of she was my boss versus “how are we going to do this together?”

I’m very particular about who I decide to work with, and it’s not that people with a naturally authoritative state aren’t respected or successful or worth what they are getting paid — but deciding to work for someone who was willing to take the free work and make me feel like I wasn’t on the same level as her was not an ideal situation being that most of us already struggle with impostor syndrome in this field.

It’s like I had a moment of envisioning myself in a future scenario with this client, and it looked a lot like a sweaty cartoon image holding out his hands to a big boss tweedy sheepishly asking “sir, is this good enough?”

I am not that person and you don’t deserve to be that person either.

And because I chose not to make that move forward with that client, I ended up writing a piece for a doctor who absolutely loved the piece and astounded at how timely I was as well as capturing the voice he wanted.

And the best part? My price came down a little, but I didn’t feel shorted any sort of money.

He and I gladly negotiated a very fair price because we both felt the investment and future relationship was worth it.

This was actually one of my first pieces on Medium as well. You can check it out if you’d like.

The right work is out there, and you don’t have to come down to embarrassingly low prices that won’t even allow you to enjoy what you do as a freelancer.

There’s a strong difference between pro-bono servicing and freeloading.

The failure of one will plunge success for another

You are offering something of incredible value to someone. You can take your services elsewhere and tell that manipulative client to shove it for all you care.

On reasonable, professional terms of course. A polite email explaining why you don’t think it’s a good fit for you will be just fine.

In the sea of clients and a huge pool of writers, it’s easy to feel lost in the amount of work there is that it feels like there is almost no work to be had.

If I wouldn’t have had that so-called “failure” of a call with that client, I wouldn’t be here writing about why it’s important to stick to my guns and trust that the right publication, client, editorial position is out there and won’t make me miserable.

Stick to your rates, keep cold emailing, keep being the most authentic best version of you, and you will absolutely start to see success in your life. You are worth the investment.