Constant Content

1. When a customer requests an article and lists a specific price such as $10., is he usually thinking of Usage or Full Rights?
If customer offers a range $10-$20, is he figuring $10. for Usage and $20 for Full?
If customer offers a range $10-$20 and you have an already approved, existing article with a license span of $25-$50, do you send the link with your original prices?

2. When customer request asks for 400 wd article and you have a 500 wd that is already pared down to where you like it, do you send a note along with the link offering to reduce the number of words? Or do you not bother to send it since if he says yes in an attempt to bring the price down, you would feel like you were butchering your work?

I realize that these questions may not have hard and fast answers, but what do successful authors usually think/do? Thanks in advance.

Hi Libby,

As you've already indicated, there are no hard and fast rules here.

In general, if a customer lists the price range between $10-$20, you can safely assume that he isn't going to pay much more than that if any. Therefore, unless you are willing to lower the price of your existing article, I doubt that he will even look at it. I am sure there are cases where a particular customer might consider a more expensive article, but if he were willing to pay as much as $50, then his price range would probably be at the $30-$40 range.

As far as usage vs full, you can always jot him a quick question on that. Long-time customers typically purchase the same type of rights when they buy, so after a while, you can usually gauge what type of rights they are looking to purchase with each request. Most customers seem to prefer full rights although there are those who are just as happy with usage rights. Personally, I go with the thought that they want full rights and make my determination from there as to whether I will write for the request.

In regard to lengthier articles, I usually just include a note that it is a bit longer than he has requested. However, you need to remain close to his price range if you hope to get the sale.

Don't take what I say as the "absolute" truth as I've been known to miss my mark every so often.

Good luck with your sales.
WG

Advice much appreciated. Thanks.

Let me add that the $10-$20 range is the *default* range listed when customers fill out the request form. Often, they are willing to pay more (perhaps just lazy not really checking the drop down for other possibilities). I wish CC would change this and make the customers pick a range rather than having the cheapest possible option listed by default.

When I see the $10-$20 requests, I keep this thought in mind. The video game request for 350 word reviews - the $10-$20 range is about right. But when I see requests for longer, more complex articles with the $10-$20 range, I think twice and carefully read the text of the request. Often, the customer will say "I'm willing to pay $XX" (and that $XX is above the stated range). If it appears obvious that the stated range is indeed the customer's budget, then I'm not likely to bother unless the topic interests me enough. If it appears that the article deserves a higher price and I think the customer just skimmed over the form's details not giving any thought to the price, then I might write an article and price it at a rate the makes sense. These have often sold.

When I see requests in any other range, I take the price range much more seriously because I know that the customer has taken the time to select a price range rather than accepting the default. When I see $30-$40, I might price usage at $30, unique at $35, full rights at $40. I go on the assumption that the customers want full rights.

More good advice. Thank you.

I assume the customer wants full rights. I'm like WG, I price the same way. I also consider the request a lot of times. There are certain industries where it's a lot of spammy material and I already know the type of articles the customer is looking for (just keywords with search engine value and no reader value). In this case, asking for full rights for $10 for 500 words is normal. I ignore those requests. If the content is something that I know and the customer is asking for $10-$20 with a reasonable word count, then I'll consider it if I'm not busy.