What To Charge For Your Writing

There are many ways you can charge for your time and skills. It all depends on what works best for you and your client. The most common way to charge is either by the word or by the project. However, you can also charge by the page or by the hour. Each option has its own set of benefits and drawbacks.

For instance, charging by the word may seem like the best option until you run into the problem that many writers have of publishers only paying for each published word. So that 1000 word article you slaved over for days gets edited to 750 words and at $0.10 per word that’s a $25 difference. Enough for a week’s worth of lattes. Shameful!

The way I came up with my rates is I decided how much I wanted to make per hour and then provide a quote based on how long I thought it would take me to complete a project. While possibly the simplest and easiest method to figure out a rate scale, it really doesn’t take into account the whole picture. Other costs of doing business, such as tax obligations, the cost of healthcare and office supplies, should be factored in.

The best way to come up with rates is to first crunch all the relevant numbers so that you end up with a yearly total. For example, say you want your freelance business to replace your current job in which you are being paid a yearly salary of $36,000. Since your plan is to leave your job, any health insurance benefits you are receiving from your employer will have to come out of your pocket, so add to that total an estimation of the cost of insurance premiums for a year.

You’ve Found the Perfect Writing Job, Now What?

Finding a writing job is only half of the equation. Just like in the corporate world, you have to put forth an effort to secure the job as well. While there are many great opportunities available both online and offline, only those that are the most prepared will get the job.

To get the job

1. Research the publication

This is perhaps the most important step in the process, however, you would be surprised (or maybe not depending on your experience) at how many new writers fail to do this.

Researching the publication provides you with several important pieces of information that will help you nab that freelance job successfully. First, it will provide you with the contact information for the publication. This will allow you to personalize your query as well as make sure it gets to the right person.

Secondly, getting to know the publication will help you market to them better by understanding their reader demographics. A writing style that works for thirty-something business professionals will not transfer well to the teen market.

I Be A Writer

I did it! I did it! I did it! I did it!

*Continues screaming and jumping around for five minutes*

What did I do? I published something and will get paid for it. Yay!

Brijit is an online magazine that publishes abstracts (or reviews really) of articles from other magazines. The job entails reading the article and doing a quick write up on what it is about as well as rating whether it it worth taking time out to read. The magazine is marketed towards business professionals who what to stay abreast of what is happening in the world but don’t have time to read magazines, newspapers or watch television.

Make Billions Selling Advertising

Quite the sensationalist title, huh? But it got your attention didn’t it? Well that’s what the internet advertising model is all about. It is the process of getting the attention of web surfers and inducing them to make a purchase or, at the very least, visit another website.

Making money using the advertising model is easier now than it has ever been before. In the past, the platforms available to those wishing to make money using the advertising model were severely limited to those who had the technical know how, connections and, yes, money in which to pursue the business. The internet, however, has blown away all the barriers to entry and a budding entrepreneur can start making money online in a matter of days.

To be successful with this model, there are a few things you need to consider:

How to Maximize Your Donations

I’m not sure that the donation model can be considered a business model. After all, you are counting on being able to convince people to give you money in exchange for the warm fuzzy feeling of helping you and not a product or service. Some people, as in the case of Karyn Boznak and Jason Kottke, were very successful with it but the majority of others languish in obscurity.

The trick to maximizing your donations lies in communicating the value of helping you. People have to find your “cause” worthy enough to go through the trouble of completing a Paypal transaction. For example, I am more likely to give money to someone who needs it to feed their family over someone who needs it to pay server costs. The former prods my sympathy for my fellow human being while the latter seems to me more of a business expense that should have been accounted for.

Whatever the cause you are championing, below are a few tips to help increase the likelihood of your web visitor clicking on the donation button.