Why you're worth every penny as a freelance writer
Image via Karolina Grabowska
This post answers the question every copywriter will inevitably be asked. Usually, the ‘asker’ is the kind of person who looks at a billboard and never considers where ‘the words’ come from.
“How can you charge for a job that basically anyone can do?”
Because everyone can write, can’t they? We all went to school. We all had to do GCSE English (language and literature). We know how to write words…we all do it every day!
But nah, mate.
Naaaaaah.
The average Joe doesn’t write as we writers do.
If you’re having difficulty justifying the rates you charge, this post is here to mercilessly deliver some home truths right into your solar plexus with the ferocity of Rowdy Roddy Piper.
Because not long ago, I accepted a large freelance job that really showed me my own worth. And it showed me again and again, each day until the project was done.
Shit I’ve known for years and took for granted. Maybe you are, too?
Here’s why you’re worth every penny…
1) Wicked-mad English language skills
Next time you ask yourself how you’ve got the gall to charge people for a task almost anyone can do, I urge you to open any email from any executive in a non-writing related role.
I’m confident you’ll be met with carnage.
Your eyes may bleed.
Although most professionals like to think they’ve got an excellent grasp of written English, in my experience, they really haven’t.
We’re talking simple shit like using introductory commas or knowing the difference between a hyphen, en dash, and em dash.
We writers take these skills for granted because we’ve always had them, and we always use them.
And that’s why we get paid the big bucks!
2) Smart strategy
I think we underestimate how much of a skill it is to:
A) Capture someone’s attention in a world where LITERALLY EVERYTHING is trying to do the same.
B) Pull someone in with a genuinely intriguing hook.
C) Keep them engaged while you deliver your message, which will be clear, clever, and concise.
D) Prompt them to take the action you want them to take.
That shit is a science. A literal science.
We do all this in a clever and engaging way. If we do it well, the reader won’t even notice they’ve been persuaded.
That’s some Derren Brown shit, right there.
3) The professional touch
Depending on what I’m writing, I run my copy through three different pieces of software, as well as headline and subject line analysers. Then, if the copy isn’t strong enough or clear enough, I run another round of edits until the work is fan-bloody-tastic.
When I’m writing for clients, I bend over backwards to make sure the SEO is seamless and undetectable but ruthlessly targeted.
As you know, that shit ain’t easy.
Who else but a writer has time for this? Who else but a writer gives a damn about whether or not a sentence case headline is wrong for company brand style?
We’re paid to consider all these things because other people don’t have the time or the know-how.
4) External expertise (a.k.a. the voice of reason)
Customers are only interested in themselves — how a product can improve their lives and how it’ll make them feel when they use it. Clients are interested in themselves and how great their product is.
Someone needs to meet them in the middle, and that person is you.
It’s our job to take a sales pitch and reverse engineer it so customers will give a damn. It’s also our job to ask some of the questions the client might not have considered. We’re not in their professional bubble, so we’re ideally placed to cut through the bullshit and deliver an external perspective.
At the end of the day, excellent writing can make or break a brand. You’re literally the company's voice, so don’t feel shy about your rate. Get in there!