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Topic: How much would you charge?
| Author | Message |
| lanado | Posted – 5/25/2006 4:38:19 PM | show profile Someone contacted me through a referral asking me to do a 125-page informational booklet for advisors to give to their clients. It would be about 480 words a page. He said that other freelancers have charged in the ?very low four figure amounts.? I am not sure what that means. How much should I ask for this job. It is supposed to take two weeks to complete. Thanks for your wisdom! |
| Lotus665 | Posted – 5/25/2006 5:38:42 PM | show profile Think about this for a minute. How are you supposed to research and write well a 60,000 word booklet in two weeks? Even it they provide you wit all the information that's absurd. A good guideline in general is: -Good -Fast -Cheap Pick 2. If it's good and fast they want, it's not going to be done very cheap. If it's to be good and cheap, it's not going to be done very fast. And, if they want fast and cheap, then it's not going be very good. |
| overthehillwriter | Posted – 5/25/2006 8:12:19 PM | show profile | email poster Yup, the good,fast,cheap rule applies to every area in life. I wonder about the project, though -- is this editing or writing? It might be editing, in which case, it might well be doable. It's book length, but it's informational, to go from advisor to client. I wonder about the materials you'll be provided with. If it's just sharpening those up and organizing them, that's something else -- however, the good,fast,cheap rule still applies. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 5/25/2006 8:19:02 PM | show profile That would be a huge amount of copy to produce in two weeks. My response would be, "If you can find someone to produce 65,000 satisfactoy words in two weeks for less than $5,000, hire them immediately. I would charge at least $25,000." < |
| Lotus665 | Posted – 5/25/2006 8:39:06 PM | show profile I now have to believe this is an editing job, in which case 2 weeks is possible, unless the material is a disaster and needs a lot of work. The low four figures for two weeks of full time work editing would be OK, I guess. But if it's writing I'd tell the company ever so nicely that they are out of their minds. |
| lanado | Posted – 5/26/2006 12:40:10 PM | show profile How much would you charge? Thanks for the advice. It is actually a writing job. He said it had taken other writers one to two weeks to complete a 125-page booklet! I know that I can't do that. I thought that I was just slow, so thanks for the perspective. The timeline is a little more flexible than I mentioned. He needs two booklets done by August. |
| activeverb | Posted – 5/26/2006 3:58:35 PM | show profile I am always skeptical when someone says, "Another writer did such and such." If that's the case, why isn't he going back to that writer? < |
| overthehillwriter | Posted – 5/26/2006 4:47:37 PM | show profile | email poster Lanado, making your decision means asking if there's an easier way to make $5,000 in the same time period. I'm guessing there might be. Depends on your experience. Here's an approach I have used when someone bluffed with me using a lowball number. It's like bargaining on the street for a rolex knockoff, the one where you're prepared to walk away. You don't insult the seller -- but you're ready to walk. In a very innocent, supportive voice, I say "Well, that's certainly a remarkable price for great work. You should snap that up!" and amiably act as if I'm moving on. At that point, the lowballer remembers with a gulp either 1) the total crap they got last time they paid someone such crappy money or 2) that they were bluffing, and a knowledgeable person who knows enough not to bite is about to elude their grasp. It's like the butterfly thing (and the guy thing, in the dating world) -- if it comes back to you, it's yours -- if not, you wouldn't want it anyway. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 5/28/2006 1:55:14 AM | show profile It really comes down to deciding on what your price is and having a walk-away price. As a general rule, it's best to stay away from projects where price is the overriding factor unless you want to turn yourself into a low-price provider. < |
