Why Writers Must Talk About Money With Fellow Writers
I had no idea what to say. The writer sitting next to me at the keynote of a conference had just told me that she was considering leaving a very high profile outlet that we both wrote for because the low pay of $100 a post was becoming an issue. But I was being paid $300 more by a different editor for pretty much exactly the same work. Should I tell her or keep my mouth shut? The last thing I wanted was for her to think I was bragging. But at the same time, I would want someone to tell me that I should go back to the negotiating table.
I told her. I stumbled. It was uncomfortable. But she was grateful. Instead of dropping the client like she was planning, my new friend was able to negotiate a higher rate. She continued working for the client and then a few months later her editor got a new job at a very prestigious publication and asked the writer to follow her. It turned into a huge anchor client that was a turning point in my friend’s career both in terms of finances and reputation. If I had said nothing, she would have left the original gig and missed out on a career-changing opportunity.
We’ve been raised not to talk about money. That it is not polite. That is is a taboo subject. And while I don’t go sharing my income around to my friends on Friday night at the wine bar or announce it at the Thanksgiving table, I think that we are doing a disservice to ourselves, other writers and the freelance writing profession as a whole when we don’t talk about money. I used to feel very uncomfortable about it, but now realize that by talking about it, we are helping other writers gain the knowledge and the skills they need to support their families through freelancing.
Who Pays Well, Who Pays Terribly
By sharing rate information with each other, we can help each other negotiate higher rates and find out when we are being paid lower than another writer. The scenario I described above happens a lot more than I originally thought, with writers being paid different rates because one was a better negotiator. But by being open about money, we know which clients to push harder for more money and we know which outlets to avoid because their rates are simply way too low.
About five years ago, I told a fellow freelancer that I know in real life that I was so excited to be finally earning around $40 to $50 an hour. The look on her face was pained. About an hour later she took me aside and told me that I was way under-earning and that I needed be aiming for $100 an hour. I had no idea. Her comment changed the course of my career. I dropped my low payers, made an huge marketing effort and doubled my income the next year. All because she had the courage to have a tough conversation with me and burst my bubble.
And I think that every time we talk about money to other freelancers we are helping move our profession forward by giving newer writers the knowledge that they need to turn down lower paying assignments, search for the higher paying gigs and then earn a livable wage for their geographic area of the country. By not talking about it, other writers think that low paying gigs and earnings are the normal. So they stay there and never move up.
Yes, It Possible (Very Possible) to Earn a High Income as a Freelance Writer
But more importantly when we share our earnings, we help other writers know what is possible in terms of income potential. This is the main reason we should all talk about money, especially high income earners. Many people, including freelancers, have the starving artist mentality and think that you can only earn a low to average income. But that is not true. I know many six figure freelancers and a handful that earn over $150K. And I never would have known that this level was possible if they hadn’t shared.
When I started freelancing after leaving my job at IBM to stay home with my kids, I thought I could earn $30K or so as a freelancer, if I was lucky. I assumed it would be a pay cut. Then I found Kelly James Enger’s book Six Figure Freelancing: The Guide to Making More Money as a Freelancer and realized that it was very possible to earn more than I did at IBM so I set my sights on much higher goals than I originally intended. And because of Kelly’s book and other freelancers who shared the earning possibilities as well as how they did it, I broke six figures in 2015 and made the part-time equivalent in 2016.
After much hesitation, I wrote a blog post about making six figures. I was very nervous. It was my most popular post I have ever had and was very widely shared among freelancers. And not a single person said to me or online that I was bragging. And I got so many emails and posts thanking me for sharing my earnings and how I did it. Many of them had no idea it was possible to earn six figures because they were earning 1/5, 1/4. or a 1/3 of that working the same hours (or more) as me. And the best part is that at the end of 2016, I got several emails from these same writers telling me that they dramatically increased their income in 2016 because of my openness about money.
You are in charge of your income
Earning six figures is great. Not earning six figures is great. Working 20 hours a week is great. And working 40 hours a week is great as well. There is no “one size fits all” in freelancing and that’s why most us are in this business – to build a business that is flexible enough to fit our individual strengths, interests and lifestyles.
I think that the best and most valuable part of being a freelancer is that we can change the amount we earn, how much time we spend working and the clients that we take, whenever we want without having to answer to anyone. And the best part is that we can change this very quickly as our situation changes. Very few other professions have that ability.
But we only can get the knowledge we need to accomplish our income goals (whether it is $50K, $100K or $150K) as freelancers if we are each willing to take a deep breath and openly talk about money with each other.
How have you personally benefited from other freelancers talking about money? Have other writers told you that you talking about money has helped them? What are your thoughts about freelancers talking about money?
Thanks for this candid post, Jennifer. I, too, find ‘money conversations’ of any sort difficult, but you’re right, they’re so important. As a result of such conversations, there have been times when I’ve realized that I can, and should, ask for more money, and I’ve also been able to ‘pay it forward’ and encourage other writers to ask for what they’re worth. 🙂
On to a prosperous 2017!!
I’m glad to hear you benefited from it as well as paying forward. I was nervous to post this, because, you know it’s talking about money :>) so glad to hear you liked it.
Hi Jennifer,
I think it is critical that freelancers talk to each other about money. Like you said, it, first of all, let’s us all know what is possible. Before I made the jump to freelancing, all I ever heard about how much could be made as a freelancer was that I’d be lucky to crack $20,000 a year (and I still went freelance!). I was thrilled to learn that much more was possible and that freelancers are in fact making much more.
I, too, have been in the position of talking with a fellow freelancer who was freelancing for the same client as I was and by being candid with each other about the money, she learned I was making double what she was making. She was stunned and it changed how she negotiated with clients going forward.
If we all share what we earn, it teaches new (and old) freelancers what they should be asking for and (maybe I’m being naïve/overly optimistic) it helps to set precedent so that companies will one day be less likely to shortchange freelancers.
I don’t think you are naive. I think that when we all work together and help each other that we will increase the pay overall from clients.
This is great, Jennifer! I think it’s so important to talk about it! And truthfully, not talking about it actually hurts us all.
If I hadn’t stumbled upon blogs like yours, and writing groups like Carol Tice’s Freelance Writer’s Den and Freelance Success, I probably would have left this profession ages ago – fully convinced of the “starving artist” myth.
So I vote: Yay for sharing!
I’m so glad you didn’t leave the profession!! I have to admit that it was a bit disconcerting last year when my post of six figures went viral. It kept getting tagged to my personal Facebook page and i spent three days untagging it as quick as I could so my friends and neighbors didn’t see. But it was totally worth it.
Great post, Jennifer, and very timely!
I recently lost a good blogging project for a tech company. The client told me the other freelancers had come in around $200/1000-1500+ words.
What I would give to be able to tell those writers they are leaving money on the table for themselves and negatively affecting the profession.
Every time you quote a project, you are telling the client what your services (and those of your competitors) are worth. And if you price low, you’re training those clients to expect low going forward.
I totally agree with you. I would recommend keeping in touch with the company because it is very possible that the writer will do a bad job and you can still get the gig.
I think it’s good to for freelancers to talk about money for a couple reasons.
Firstly, it lets others know what’s possible. If you’ve come from the salaried world and moved into freelancing, you’re not used to the idea that fees will be a regular conversation, and unfortunately people fall into the mindset of getting more work by being less expensive, rather than being worth more.
Secondly, their are plenty of people hiring writers that have that same idea. “Why pay $$$ when this college kid will cost $?” treats the writing craft like a commodity where the quality is ubiquitous, so why not get the cheapest available.
I’m new to full-time freelancing and am traversing many of the challenges related to that jump. One of which is my thinking I have to offer a price incentive (cost less) rather than offering a value incentive (higher quality).
At the rates I’ve been charging, the only way I could break into the six-figure-family is to clone myself and set up a typewriter bank in my basement.
Charging clients rock-bottom rates is demoralizing. ‘Passion for Writing’ is nice, but it’s hard to write if you can’t pay your power bill and are eating saltines for dinner.
I’m glad there are blogs like this one out there to show me there’s better options out there.
[…] I think it’s important for writers to talk about money honestly, I thought it might be helpful to share in detail (without client names) how I achieved this […]
[…] being paid the same for similar work as other men writing in my niche. So I’m going to revise my recommendation to talk about money to talk about money with both male and female freelancers. If you are a male freelancer, don’t be […]