As many of you know, I’ve been running a series on setting freelance fees. In the way of synchronicity, one of the best small business advisors in the world has just written an illuminating article on the topic.
Mark Silver, who teaches people how to run their businesses with heart and without selling out has published an article called When You Charge More Than You Yourself Can Pay.
The article makes three points that I just love:
- First: The Price is Not About You
- Second: The Price is Only About You
- Money is Not Special
Go read the article (bookmark it for the future if you like it even half as much as I do. (By the way, you may want to poke around his site – he’s got lots of free resources that work well for writers.)
Come back and tell us what you thought of it and why, even if you think both Mark and I are nuts.
By the way, the setting fee series starts here.
Write well and often,
Image from http://www.sxc.hu
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I need to look at your Setting Fees series. I keep getting all this advice about “don’t charge too much or sell yourself short,” but I don’t know WHAT to charge. It can’t be much since I haven’t done anything yet really.
.-= Elizabeth West´s last blog ..A Little Naughty… =-.
Might be more than you expect… go read the series and come back and tell us what you decide.
These ideas sound fine on paper, but do they work? I deal (on a daily basis) with the question: If people don’t want to pay me, or won’t pay me enough, how do I continue to do what I do (as a service), and why should I do it for “free” ? That service is computer apps training and troubleshooting, not shoeshines…
Deb, you shouldn’t do it for free… I don’t know where you are but there is a rate range there and you can start in the middle and move up. The article you made the comment on has links at the bottom to other articles on pay and we have a whole category called Dealing With Money. Keep us posted
Anne,
Thanks for the reply and the tip about the links. I am just getting started in freelance again (new area – different market), and will definitely let you know my results. I learn so much from the experience of writers such as yourself, and the others who comment on your site, and am happy if my experience will help your other readers who are starting out!
Glad the site is working for you!
True, but not a lot of new concepts there. The first point is that it’s not about “you,” it’s about what the willing buyer will pay you. The word “you” in the second point is “your services.” The two apparently “contradictory ideas” are really one: “price is determined by what a willing buyer will pay a willing seller for goods or services.” Sound familiar? It should.
The third point is also true. I interpret it as: “Don’t focus on the money; focus on what you do.” As Richard J. Barker said, “The secret of success in life is to find out what you like to do, and do it. And then find a way to get somebody to pay you to do it.”
.-= jorgekafkazar´s last blog ..Tenirax, Ch V =-.
lol, you’re right, I don’t need to pay for my services either… hadn’t thought of it that way.
It’s interesting. I like the idea that the pricing is both important and not that important. But I dunno, I wouldn’t pay my price because I wouldn’t need my service, so that’s weird to think about.
Isaac’s last blog post..Writing Rules by You
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