I have a question, Anne. Should a freelance writer put their prices on their website?
RJ_Medak via twitter
Hi Bob,
First question I’ve had via twitter – thanks!
This is really a matter of personal taste and experience. I tend to post my prices or at least ranges of prices on the website about my writing services, www.annewayman.com. I’ve got two reasons:
- It absolutely drives me nuts when find a product or service on the web and can’t determine the price without asking. And this is also true of advertising in any form. For example, I watch real estate ads and the lack of a price makes me wonder what the broker is trying to conceal. I know their goal is to get the phone to ring, but I avoid folks like that so they miss my call.
- I also post prices to weed out the folks who think I ought to be willing to ghostwrite their book for free or on spec because they have such a great story. I post my coaching prices as well, for the same reasons.
lol, since I’m telling you I don’t like it when people don’t post their prices I guess I’d better post mine. My fees are generally based on around $125 an hour.
What do you do about posting your prices?
[askanne]
Write well and often,
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Thank you for this. I have been mulling over this decision for 2mos now and I think I’m going to bite the bullet and post them.
Happy writing,
Senobia
let us know how it works, Senobia
I put indicative prices on my company website mainly to fend off people who want me to do things free or at a very low price. I try to give the reader a rule of thumb so that they can cost the job they want done before contacting me. I think most people use my website after they have met me as part of their research and due diligence. At this stage, I would say it is essential to be clear about prices.
Jakob Neilsen’s advice is similar: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/prices.html. I highly recommend this website.
Matthew Stibbe’s last blog post..Writing tools: DropBox
Matthew, as usual your comments are helpful… and the link is invaluable… I need to start a category of stuff like that…
Btw, most of my clients come to me through my website first. I guess mileage varies as is so often true. Maybe it’s because the US is such a huge country.