October 2009 Get out of a Price Rut Challenge - Who's In?

[Antonia]

Hey Debbi,
I was thinking yesterday about your question and decided to write an article on the topic of writing quality articles in an hour or less...well, the article turned out to take 2.5 hours and is currently around 2000 words. Go figure.

Anyway, I did figure out in the process of writing that article: one of the main things that helps me write fast is to start with good research. I use AccessMyLibrary.com for a lot of my sources. I start with a general topic but my main point usually develops from the supporting material. I've found this to be much quicker than coming up with a a specific idea and THEN searching for supporting material. For example, I might type in "emergency management interview" and that brings up several interesting interviews with professionals...as soon as I see a common thread or topic (for example, resources for minimizing earthquake damage), I zero in on it, that's my specific article topic...then I jot down the main idea, make a quick outline of the ideas I want to include, and plug in my supporting material--quotes, statistics etc. Once I have the skeleton, with all the supporting material already included, it's easy to write the original content. That's a bit of a simplification, but it's generally how I approach any articles that require research.

The other thing I do is keep track of when I start writing and when I stop--including taking breaks. I used to think one article took me a lot longer than it actually does, because I didn't notice things like answering the phone, having a snack, etc...

I hope this helps a bit. I was surprised at how much I had to think, to figure out my own process and nail down exactly what helps me write fast. I guess our own approach to writing always seems "normal"...

[Debbi]

Going back to the subject of dropping prices for usage articles once they sell, I had an ariticle that sold immediately for usage at $10 (way too low, right?). I thought, hey, it might be popular, so I raised the price to $15. It sold within a week at the higher price so I thought, why not try a higher price still? I put $25 for usage and a month later it sold for more than twice my original usage price.

II'm not going to raise or lower the price on that one any more. $25 seems fine and I wish I would have started there, but it's still available and can be sold again. So, there is hard evidence that lowering your usage price isn't necessary. I might add "Best Offer" to it, but I doubt it. Even if it never sells again, I made the same amount on those 3 usage sales as if it had sold for the fullrights I originally set.

Debbi

[Debbi]

Antonia,

Thanks for all the great advice! I will check out AccessMyLibrary.com for sure.

I also get distracted by phone calls, emails, chat requests, and doggie demands for frisbee-tossing, door-opening, and ear-scratching, so I'm sure it doesn't really take as long as I think it does to write an article. Maybe I just need to concentrate on the articles that have sold best for me (mostly entrepreneurship topics) and quit working on dog articles that seem to get stolen more than sold. That's hard because I love to write about dogs and can think of zillions of things to write about them.

Maybe you should make your article into an e-book and sell it to newbies

Debbi

[eek]

Celeste - Thanks for the confirmation. I made a decision last night, but it's nice to know I wasn't necessarily going out on a limb.

After giving it a lot of thought, I took the plunge and approached the client, and he was indeed flexible. Usually I don't mind asking for a better price from a private requester if the offer is much, much lower than I would normally set on non-requested articles. To be clear, the price offered was fair on a per-word basis, but a glossary is sort of a different animal. Each term has to be researched and then finely honed to be brief, yet clear. So I made estimates on how much I would make per hour for different prices per term. And since I would make less per hour the longer it takes to complete the project, I made liberal, conservative and moderate estimates for the number of hours. That helped me come up with what I hope is a fair price to both me and the client - or at least, what I could be happy with. There aren't really any industry standards, that I know of, because freelancers have different levels of expertise, and that's what makes pricing so subjective and difficult.

It's a little nerve-wracking though, to approach a client and ask for more money. Because essentially, he's handing you a sure thing. I don't think It's a bad strategy to work for a little less than you think you deserve if it leads to consistent work. That's the attitude I've had, but is it a good one? A writer might feel a little more confident if her plate is full, but what if private requests are few and far between? I've been in both scenarios, but I'm sorry to say I still haven't figured it out. This private request angle is a worthy discussion for this topic of getting out of a price rut, and I hope a few of you lucky enough to be in that position will have the time to chime in.

[Celeste Stewart]

Glad it worked out. I find it easier with private clients because of the relationship that has developed over time. The client knows your work, knows that you provide consistent quality at reasonable prices, and understands that some projects will require additional work. As long as your offer is fair and reasonable, most clients are understanding and willing to compensate you.

[nichewriter]

Yay! I sold an article for $60 (on home business) today, plus a couple at my usual price I usually price my articles in the 20-, 30-, and 40-dollar range. Granted this one was longer than my usual articles (1,000 words), but it was a quick and easy article for me to write -- spent about 5 minutes outlining it then about half an hour filling up the blanks. I let it sit for a week before submitting, though. Thanks for this challenge, Celeste! I feel like a new woman

[Debbi]

Congrats, niche!

I am also jumping for joy about this challenge. I sold on e of my biz articles today in a series I've sold 5 articles in. I started out asking only $35 for full rights, but this last time asked $75. . I think it was totally worth it and I had been undervaluing my previous articles. You know, social psych research has shown that women tend to ask too little for their efforts while men tend to ask for appropriate to excessive amounts (which they often get).. I know about this tendency and I still give in to it every time. No more!

Thanks, Celeste, for dragging us kicking and screaming out of our pricing ruts!

[Celeste Stewart]

That is awesome news for both of you! I agree that women do tend to undervalue our worth and I'm glad that this challenge has led to some real progress and some extra dollars in your bank accounts.

Edited to add:
Niche, according to my calculations, at roughly a half hour's work and after CC's cut, you made about $78 per hour. How does THAT feel?

[Debbi]

Yay! My first $100 sale today And I had a request for 10 dog breed aticles in one batch! My wishes did come true Hooray for CC and for Celeste's kick in the butt about pricing.

Debbi

[Celeste Stewart]

I saw that $100 sale and knew it was yours! It went fast too! Wishes can come true if we actively pursue them instead of waiting for them to come our way. Good job!

[canywriter]

Great work, Debbi!

I'm so thrilled for you - I also saw that $100 sale! And a private request for dog articles - two wishes rolled into one and coming true!!! I agree with Celeste - want it badly enough and work hard enough and things happen!

Best
Cany

[Antonia]

Congrats Debbi! Doesn't it feel good to see your hard work paying off...plus you get to write about a topic you're passionate about. Good for you!

[Lisa-Anne Sanderson]

Tip:

Do your thinking about the topic throughout the day while you're doing other tasks. Jot down your thoughts in the form of notes. When you're ready to write, you have part of the preparation already complete. It also helps if you have a printer, so you can print out sources and take them with you if you'll be out and about.

This will be a great help. I lead a rather peripatetic life so I really should start doing this. Thank you!

Lisa

[nichewriter]

Congratulations, Debbi! It's great to hear of your sale. (Mine was the $40 one on business competitors - which I wrote in about 20 minutes.)

Niche, according to my calculations, at roughly a half hour's work and after CC's cut, you made about $78 per hour. How does THAT feel?

It feels great, Celeste. I've got about a couple dozen home business articles in outline form right now. I love outlining because it has helped me cut down my actual writing time to 30 minutes or less. Plus it helps to work on one niche topic at a time because I save a lot on research. For instance, for every hour I spend researching, I'm able to create 12 to 15 different articles.

~Sherry

[eek]

I'm sitting here agonizing over setting a price for a private requester who asked me to give him pricing info on two articles I haven't written yet. Because of what Debbi & Celeste said earlier, I'm also beating myself up for feeling bad about charging what I think is a decent price.

You know, social psych research has shown that women tend to ask too little for their efforts while men tend to ask for appropriate to excessive amounts (which they often get)..

Would someone please just tell me it's okay to charge .10/word?? Should I charge less if the requester okays a longer article (say, 1200+ words)? Just fyi, he is an ongoing client who has paid me .10/word for very short articles (150). The content is average - not quick writing, but it won't require tons of research either. One article will be based largely on experience. Would .09/word be closer to "fair?"

Emma