Copywriting rates - how to charge?

H

hannah89

New Member
Hi guys, I've done various different job roles involving copywriting but recently I have been offered an opportunity to do some additional freelance work on top of my day job. Just wondering if anyone has any input on how to charge? Ie, do you think an hourly rate would be better, or a per page rate (its going to mostly be online copywriting for the web), or do people expect a fixed price for the whole job?

Any help/advise you can offer would be great! Thanks muchly :icon_smile:
 
I've done a bit of copywriting and I've tended to charge per page - which often works out per hour! It can depend if you are also having to research a subject or if it's something you have knowledge of. I would think you are going to be charging between £25- 35 ph (or per page).
 
It's a good read Paul thank-you, it's really strange I feel quite comfortable giving other people/freelancers advise on how to charge and its relatively easy creating estimates at my day job, but when it comes to valuing my own work it suddenly seems completely different! This article has some key tips though and definitely important to not undervalue the work being done. I think I'm leaning towards per page too Kate, it will naturally correlate with hours in a way and then helps me to break each part of the job down for the client. Plus the all important contingency time! Thanks guys :icon_biggrin:
 
I get the neatness of charging per page but the amount of copy on a page can vary considerably, no? In view of that, I think I'd opt for an hourly rate and, if required, perhaps offer a broad - very broad - indication of how that might translate as an average per-page price.
 
Thanks Dave, yes I do agree, a page can vary considerably and depending on the purpose of the page, require more attention/research than other pages. I suppose I will have to factor that in when I am putting together the estmate, I should have a full list of pages required before I give them a quote, so will try to account for extra contingency on the more complicated/longer ones. I think the key point that I took from the article above (link posted by Paul), is that clients seem to be more accepting of a total price rather than an hourly price, and that once you've given a total price it is your responsibility to get the best hourly rate out of it. It says its a good way to improve productivity; I don't know about anyone else, but I can definitely do with a bit of help to avoid procrastinating! :icon_blushing:
 
hannah89 said:
I think the key point that I took from the article above (link posted by Paul), is that clients seem to be more accepting of a total price rather than an hourly price, and that once you've given a total price it is your responsibility to get the best hourly rate out of it. It says its a good way to improve productivity; I don't know about anyone else, but I can definitely do with a bit of help to avoid procrastinating! :icon_blushing:
Click to expand...

Snap! Now what should I be doing....?
 
hannah89 said:
Thanks Dave, yes I do agree, a page can vary considerably and depending on the purpose of the page, require more attention/research than other pages. I suppose I will have to factor that in when I am putting together the estmate, I should have a full list of pages required before I give them a quote, so will try to account for extra contingency on the more complicated/longer ones. I think the key point that I took from the article above (link posted by Paul), is that clients seem to be more accepting of a total price rather than an hourly price, and that once you've given a total price it is your responsibility to get the best hourly rate out of it. It says its a good way to improve productivity; I don't know about anyone else, but I can definitely do with a bit of help to avoid procrastinating! :icon_blushing:
Click to expand...

It's a good point: hourly rates can suggest an open-ended arrangement. I've been asked to work out prices for unseen jobs on a per-page basis before and have tried to work out an average (i.e. some pages being fairly simple, others less so), added a bit for contingency, and tied-up the estimate with a maximum price for the job and an undertaking to keep an accurate record of my time. It's not my preference as I'm committed to the principle that I should be paid for the hours I work but some people can be twitchy about that for the reason described.
 
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