FB Copywriting fees – What to charge? (Flashback) | A copywriting podcast for copywriters

This week we’re revisiting one of our most popular pods: the one about copywriting fees and how much to charge.

Why is this topic so popular? Until you have a few copywriting projects under your belt it can feel like you’re just making up numbers in your quotes. Not many copywriters share their rates so it’s hard to see what the industry standard is.

Not us though. In this podcast we explain how we charge for copywriting, how we put together quotes, essentials tips on collecting deposits and why we’re not big fans of charging by the word.

FLASHBACK #19: Copywriting fees – What to charge? #hotcopy #copywriting

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Tune in to learn:

How to work out your hourly rate
Different ways to charge for your copywriting work
How to use retainer agreements
Our quoting formula
Why getting a deposit is so important
How to chase up later payers

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8 Comments

kayross on 10/09/2016 at 3:39 am

Thanks Belinda and Kate! Great tips. I’ll share the link with my fellow (sister) members of the Hong Kong Women in Publishing Society – we have lots of freelance writers/editors who always ask about the issues you discuss in this podcast.

Belinda Weaver on 10/09/2016 at 5:06 am

Fantastic – thanks Kay! Thanks for the tweet love too #yourock

Duncan Waldron on 21/10/2016 at 10:35 pm

Thanks for this confidence booster, ladies. After years of being picky about writing in various forms (starting in the early 90s with editing my boss’s letters—to spare both the reader and our department’s image), I have decided to dip my toe in the proverbial.

I found your podcast (via Twitter) at the right time, as I have to answer a couple of emails from potential clients, on the question of rates. I had decided that I want no less than my current full-time income—plus the generous super contribution from my employer—and that all comes in at the low end of the ‘beginner’ range that you suggest, so hooray! Then I’ll add that 25%, which should put it smack in the middle. So far, I’ve only put together a few samples for the website, so still have to get a good feel for how long a job might take, but if I reckon on 2-3 hours to polish a 600-word email, I reckon that will be about right.

A question: I believe you were referring to AUD, but note that you use USD for products on the copywriting school website; what do you quote overseas clients, AUD or USD?

Looking forward to going through your other podcasts 🙂

Kate Toon on 22/10/2016 at 6:08 am

Hey Duncan thanks for your message, so glad you found us.
Your timing sounds about right, it’s always important to include briefing time, call time, faff time and proofing time.

The change to US pricing on http://www.copywritingschool.com.au is a recent thing and one I’m still fiddling with to get the prices right!

When quoting for overseas clients I always do my quote in AU dollars but provide a conversion using http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/
- Duncan Waldron on 23/10/2016 at 1:25 pm
  
  Thanks Kate. I’m sure I’ll gradually get the pricing right all round.
  
  Re the US pricing, I’ll leave a message at TCCS.
Belinda Weaver on 22/10/2016 at 8:07 am

So happy to you have found us Duncan!

I agree with Kate – that timing sounds a bit right for your writing but for quoting there are a lot of activities that go around the writing that you should also factor into your quote.

I also quote in Australian dollars.

Enjoy the other pods. And don’t forget to leave us a rating and review — we’ll give you a shout out on the show!
- Duncan Waldron on 23/10/2016 at 1:51 pm
  
  I’ll need to check out Stitcher; haven’t heard of it before. Never really been a podcastee – rarely even listen to music on my phone – but am eyeing up some useful ones now.
  - Belinda Weaver on 25/10/2016 at 7:31 am
    
    It’s the Android tool and quite good (so I’m led to believe). Once the world of podcasts opens up to you, you won’t remember how you lived without them in your ears!

kayross on 10/09/2016 at 3:39 am

Thanks Belinda and Kate! Great tips. I’ll share the link with my fellow (sister) members of the Hong Kong Women in Publishing Society – we have lots of freelance writers/editors who always ask about the issues you discuss in this podcast.
- Belinda Weaver on 10/09/2016 at 5:06 am
  
  Fantastic – thanks Kay! Thanks for the tweet love too #yourock
Duncan Waldron on 21/10/2016 at 10:35 pm

Thanks for this confidence booster, ladies. After years of being picky about writing in various forms (starting in the early 90s with editing my boss’s letters—to spare both the reader and our department’s image), I have decided to dip my toe in the proverbial.

I found your podcast (via Twitter) at the right time, as I have to answer a couple of emails from potential clients, on the question of rates. I had decided that I want no less than my current full-time income—plus the generous super contribution from my employer—and that all comes in at the low end of the ‘beginner’ range that you suggest, so hooray! Then I’ll add that 25%, which should put it smack in the middle. So far, I’ve only put together a few samples for the website, so still have to get a good feel for how long a job might take, but if I reckon on 2-3 hours to polish a 600-word email, I reckon that will be about right.

A question: I believe you were referring to AUD, but note that you use USD for products on the copywriting school website; what do you quote overseas clients, AUD or USD?

Looking forward to going through your other podcasts 🙂
- Kate Toon on 22/10/2016 at 6:08 am
  
  Hey Duncan thanks for your message, so glad you found us.
  Your timing sounds about right, it’s always important to include briefing time, call time, faff time and proofing time.
  
  The change to US pricing on http://www.copywritingschool.com.au is a recent thing and one I’m still fiddling with to get the prices right!
  
  When quoting for overseas clients I always do my quote in AU dollars but provide a conversion using http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/
  - Duncan Waldron on 23/10/2016 at 1:25 pm
    
    Thanks Kate. I’m sure I’ll gradually get the pricing right all round.
    
    Re the US pricing, I’ll leave a message at TCCS.
- Belinda Weaver on 22/10/2016 at 8:07 am
  
  So happy to you have found us Duncan!
  
  I agree with Kate – that timing sounds a bit right for your writing but for quoting there are a lot of activities that go around the writing that you should also factor into your quote.
  
  I also quote in Australian dollars.
  
  Enjoy the other pods. And don’t forget to leave us a rating and review — we’ll give you a shout out on the show!
  - Duncan Waldron on 23/10/2016 at 1:51 pm
    
    I’ll need to check out Stitcher; haven’t heard of it before. Never really been a podcastee – rarely even listen to music on my phone – but am eyeing up some useful ones now.
    - Belinda Weaver on 25/10/2016 at 7:31 am
      
      It’s the Android tool and quite good (so I’m led to believe). Once the world of podcasts opens up to you, you won’t remember how you lived without them in your ears!