What Makes a $125-an-Hour Writer?
I got an email recently from a woman, understandably excited about the lucrative opportunity offered up by commercial freelancing. Referencing an oft-quoted fee range for the field of “$50-125 an hour,” she asked, “What makes a $125-an-hour writer?” Good question. Let’s start with a reality check…
To earn $125+ an hour in this field requires more than simply the ability to put a decent sentence together. It takes either exceptional talent, a good grasp of marketing, specialized expertise, or ideally, some combination of the above. One at a time…
Talent: Some writers just have a innate gift, a sixth sense that allows them to effortlessly and unerringly craft just the right turn of phrase with the ideal words for the job, and with an engaging, genuine voice that draws readers in and keeps their attention. If you’re one of those “naturals,” that truly is half the battle.
Marketing Savvy: Solid writing skills coupled with a good marketing sense is a potent combination. Developing that marketing sense - which just isn’t that difficult - simply requires the ability to think strategically about a business. Translation? Being able to intelligently discuss with clients issues like strategic objectives; audience and that audience’s hot buttons; features and benefits; and USP (Unique Selling Proposition) - what sets your product/service apart in the marketplace. And then being able to leverage that information into benefits-oriented copy (about what’s important to the customer vs. features-oriented copy about the company and what they’re selling).
Sure, some people have a natural sense of marketing, but if you’re just sure you’re not one of The Anointed, don’t get gloomy. Just ask the right questions, listen to the answers, and apply what you’ve learned when you start writing. And read books to learn more.
Specialized Expertise: Many are experts in a specific field. Many are decent writers. Few are both. If you’re uncommonly well versed in a specific body of knowledge by virtue of education, training and/or career experience - especially high-tech arenas - and can write about it with ease and clarity, you’re rare. And rare individuals get paid more. Examples of “leverageable” fields: high-tech, healthcare, science, engineering, marketing, software, telecomm, law, financial services, and many more.
(Bonus Attribute) Speed: I did several projects recently for a product I’d written about previously. My quotes were competitive for projects like these, but because I was “up to speed,” they took me about half the time a “newbie” would’ve taken. My effective hourly rate? Over $200 an hour. This is when the business gets really fun.
If you’re a quick study and write fast, you can likely boost your hourly rate by whipping through projects - even in unfamiliar subjects - faster than someone else might. A most valuable secret weapon - and great “$125-an-hour” building block.
Peter Bowerman, a freelance copywriter, speaker and business coach, is the author of the award-winning Well-Fed Writer titles - how-to “standards” on lucrative freelancing for businesses. Sign up for his acclaimed ezine and blog at www.wellfedwriter.com.
Jon McCulloch says:
July 1st, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Spot on Peter.
Although I think one thing you didn’t mention — and something very few freelancers really “get” is our primary business is not “freelance copywriter”: it’s really “the MARKETER of a freelance copywriting business”.
If we don’t market ourselves, we don’t have clients; if wee don’t have clients, we don’t have a business, no matter what our hourly rate.
The second point I’d make here is we’re NOT (or shouldn’t be) selling “copy”. No one wants “copy”. If they did, they’d write it themselves.
What they want is the RESULTS of the copy we write. If we focus on selling those we differentiate ourselves from all our competitors and make it possible (even easy) to charge much higher fees.
– Jon
Peter Bowerman says:
July 2nd, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Thanks Jon,
And as usual, you are that MOST welcome reminder angel sitting on ALL of our shoulders, making sure we don’t forget the important stuff - who we are, what we’re REALLY up to, and what we’re REALLY selling. And I for one, appreciate it…
PB
Eileen Coale says:
July 9th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
One thing many newbies don’t realize is that the $125/hour refers to billable hours, not all hours worked. When you’re marketing, invoicing, or doing any kind of administrative work, you’re not earning that hourly rate. So it’s important to get a feel for what your own personal ratio is of billable to non-billable time so you can plan your time and personal finances accurately.
Also, I’m of the opinion that rarely, if ever, should you quote a client an hourly rate. A lot of them get sticker shock if you quote them, say, $125 an hour for an estimated ten hours to write a brochure, but won’t blink if you quote a flat fee of $1250. They get it into their heads that they shouldn’t be paying a writer more than, say, $30 (this seems to be a figure I hear a lot from naive business owners). I can’t remember the last time I quoted an hourly rate.
Client Success Story - The Wealthy Freelancer says:
July 17th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
[...] For content-based conversion, the quality of the writing and the articles speak for themselves. These guys are all top-notch copywriters, and their contributors are well-known and respected, too, such as Peter Bowerman (also a client of mine), who wrote the launch day post: What Makes a $125-an-Hour Writer? [...]
Reese says:
August 5th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
In my experience, talent and speed are much less important than marketing savvy and specialized knowledge. I always relied on talent and speed, but didn’t start making real inroads on that $125-per-hour mark until I could sport serious marketing chops, too. I highly recommend the Personal MBA - or at least the marketing books - to anyone who’s serious about making money as a freelancer.