I wish every work day went as smoothly as yesterday. I sat down in the morning and in two hours, I had a finished article. One down, two more to go (well, three if you count the new one due in September).
I credit my pre-planning. Knowing the time crunch, I did all my interviews for three different articles last week before I left. Also, I started two of the articles – one I managed 600 words of before I left (it was a 1,200-word story). I’d also left myself a note pasted to my written interview notes – which interview went with what article. Since I’d conducted nine interviews in five days, that was sort of essential. So when I opened the first file yesterday, all I had to do was locate the interview recording and find the appropriate quotes. Let’s hope article number two goes just as well today. I did get almost 500 words of that one down, but it’s a bit longer (2,200 words) and a little more technical.
I had enough time for a trip to the salon to fix a hair tragedy (never try coloring your hair at home if it’s long and you have no idea what you’re doing – I’m just saying) and talk to a writer chum. We discussed our various projects in the works, and the topic of payment came up, as it always tends to do. He was relating an instance where he accepted a lower rate from a client that was struggling with budget issues. I get it because I too did something similar last month.
Sometimes, you just have to in order to preserve the relationship. And if it’s a relationship worth preserving, you want to. In his case, it was a newer client that had paid him a sizable amount on the past projects. In my case, it was a magazine that was running low on funds. In both cases, there was what I think was embarrassment from both clients over the financial aspect of the relationship. As a result, there were long gaps between projects.
That’s where we can help. I don’t think writers should generally lower rates just because a client isn’t calling. Far from it, in fact. I think if price is the reason they’re not calling, they simply can’t afford you.
So when is it okay to lower your rates?
When it’s a long-time client. I have had a number of cases where clients have budgeted so much for a project only to have odd circumstances blow the budget to smithereens. Because I valued the relationship, I agreed to the original rate. Sure it was more work for the same pay, but by being flexible, I gained trust and loyalty. I still work with two clients I gave breaks like that to years ago.
When they’ve earned your trust. If you needed a crowbar in the past to extract payment from them, they haven’t bothered to build a trust relationship with you. How are you to know if they intend to ever go back to that original rate? You don’t. Tread carefully.
When the reduced rate still works for you. I’ve gone from $1 a word to 75 cents a word. Why? Because the work was light enough and word count was enough that I could still earn something decent. However, if you’re facing a client who has just dropped the rate from $1 a word to 50 cents a word or less, that’s probably too little to justify, especially if it’s a technical project or something that requires a number of interviews or edits.
When you’re okay with the consequences of saying no. I don’t mean you’re okay with going without a project – I mean you’re okay with the client maybe moving on to another writer and not looking back. By no means should you feel obligated to maintain the relationship at great financial cost to you, but do consider that this long-time client may not come back later or may not understand your reluctance to do them a favor.
When do you find it possible to compromise and negotiate with clients?
When we have built a solid relationship. If someone starts nickel-and-diming me right off the bat, I have no reason to think it will ever be any different. If we've had a good relationship and this is a temporary setback, I'll roll with it.
I do think it's important to make it clear that the reduction is TEMPORARY, and not the new permanent rate with this client.
By the way, I've got a couple of freelance anecdotes on my blog this morning that I was saving until you got back. One is about subcontracting, and goes back to some conversations we all had here and on one of the other blogs last year.
Totally agree, Devon. Breaks at the outset indicate a pattern in my book, too.
Can't wait to read them. 🙂
Of course I come down on the side of being ok with saying 'no.' The nature of most of my projects is that they are flat fees paid monthly or so – not as much wiggle room there I think.
I always try to be flexible with my top two or three clients, and they usually reciprocate.
A couple years ago, one my favorite editors apologized for not being able to pay as much as she wanted to; their editorial budget had been slashed and she needed to stretch the remaining funds over multiple issues. Everyone was offered a bit less per article. She did her best to divvy up the budget among longtime writers by reducing the number and length of features and breaking that "recovered" word count into several shorter pieces so we'd all have some work.
It was a great way of showing that we were all in it together. Thankfully everything is back to normal there now.
Anne, I'm okay with saying no, as well. If the budget changes are temporary, fine. If not, I need to be okay with it for the duration. That's not always possible. It's a business decision.
Paula, same here. And when they apologize, it makes me feel a bit better. That's a signal that they value the work I do for them. Obviously, your client feels the same way about you.
Lori, are you alluding to a trend you're seeing? I just read a post over at Carol Tice about paid blog posts drying up. I believe all business is about relationships. If the relationship is solid then negotiating can work. I'm with Devon if they nickel and dime at the beginning then they always will.
I recently had a case where this came up with a long-time client. It's true. They come back regularly (you like them, they like you), so what else are you going to do? If it becomes a habit and gets to the point where you feel you are being taken advantage of, that's another story, I suppose.
Welcome back, LW. Sounds like a great trip!
I've only had one client in recent memory do that (a newspaper with a host of custom pubs that I write for). They've had financial troubles, resulting in a ton of layoffs and lower rates for some (not all) freelance articles than they were back in '06-'07.
I'm OK with it for the reasons you cite in #3: It's steady work, and generally pretty light stuff. (The articles have also produced leads with local businesses.) If they drop any further, though, I might have to pull the plug–they're right at the margin.
There's also a converse: One of my clients ALWAYS voluntarily gives me a 50-cent/word bonus when something's on a short deadline or requires an extraordinary number of interviews. That's the best kind of non-negotiation for me!
Wade, I wouldn't call it a trend necessarily. I would say it happens that toward the end of summer and into fall/winter, budgets do dry up, on magazines in particular. I'm aware of a few regular clients who try to stretch the budget to keep the freelance work coming in. I've not seen the same trend Carol refers to. I've lost one blog gig, but I have others that are still going strong. I guess it's all in the perspective. 🙂
EP, great insight. I agree – if it becomes a regular thing, then it may not be worth it anymore.
Thanks, JP! Glad to be back. You mentioned exactly why it's okay to cut rate in certain situations – the residual work that may come from the gig. I'm with you, though. If it's too low, it's not worth it no matter what fringe benefits are involved.
And damn! Nice client! Can you clone that one and pass him around?