tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11223636.post-1110781652013773252005-03-13T22:25:00.000-08:002005-03-21T20:14:19.686-08:00I am new to the world of freelance writing. I have written some short articles, research papers, stories, newsletters and a small series of brochures. Nothing really big yet… but I will get there! I have taken courses on writing and editing and communications and now have my ‘Business Writing, Public Relations and Marketing Communications’ certificate. I like to think that I know what I am in for as I attempt to carve a living out of writing. I am ready to begin.<br /><br />And this is when I face what I had already suspected might be the difficult part of beginning a freelance writing career: setting fees, getting paid, and actually making money at this crazy writing thing.<br /><br />I applied for a short-term job writing website content for a small business owner. The man who advertised the position – we will call him Joe – contacted me and we talked on the phone. He asked me how much I would charge. I explained that I need to know more – make that at least something! – about the job before I could quote a fee. Joe told me he needed content for his business website. I asked what his business is, and whether he needs someone to edit or rewrite existing content, or begin from scratch and research, write and edit all of the content. He still just wanted a fee. Again I explained: I need to know more about the job before I could quote a fee!<br /><br />Joe skipped right to the point. He told me that while he could see that I am a professional and that he would really like for me to do the writing for his website, he can’t afford to pay a writer very much because after all he also has to pay for a web designer, a Flash designer, and a graphic artist. Clearly the actual words were deemed as less important and were on the bottom of the priority and funding list! I knew that this was not a job I was interested in, but for practice, I threw out a fee. I said it would be 500$ for a complete edit and rewrite, including some research, of a website. I didn’t even know how much content is included in the website. Joe reiterated that he couldn’t afford to spend much on the written content. And here I was thinking I was quoting too low!<br /><br />We acknowledged that we were not ‘right’ for each other for this work and we ended the conversation politely. No big deal.<br /><br />It’s not that I blame Joe for wanting to be economical and not spend a ton of money on his company website. But this experience – and it is not the first one like this – showed me once again that setting fees and sticking to those fees and actually getting paid those fees is perhaps trickier than the actual writing part! And I am still not sure how I should have assessed this job in order to quote a reasonable fee, or even what a reasonable fee for such a job is.<br /><br />So at least I know that this is a skill I need to focus on and learn well. Onwards!Colin842http://www.blogger.com/profile/04867047113066329395noreply@blogger.com