Newsletter #9 – Dear Clients, I’m About To Become More Expensive
| ”If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading“ – Lao Tzu Hey everyone! I’ve been thinking a lot about mindset this week as I put together my latest article for the Mighty Freelancer site. I interviewed 8 freelance writers from countries including India, US, Mexico, Pakistan, and Hong Kong who are earning anywhere from $100,000 to $400,000 a year…just writing content. That’s zero copywriting. I’m talking straight up content writing here, and minimal/no subcontracting.Trust me, you are going to absolutely want to read this if you offer any form of content writing as a service. The strategies these writers share are going to show you exactly what’s possible. I’ll share the link to the article in next Monday’s newsletter – yep, you get to read it first, before it gets published on social 🙂 If you know any other content writers that want to grow their business—send them the sign-up link this week. In my last email, I covered 5 reasons you need to increase your prices NOW if you haven’t given yourself a raise in over a year. I know it can feel more uncomfortable than scratchy underpants to ask clients for more money, but as a business owner it’s all part of the grit and mindset you need to keep growing your business—especially with the shaky economy and creeping AI anxiety that are on our minds right now. Funnily enough, there are two fantastic books called Mindset and Grit, which I highly recommend if you haven’t read them already! The best times to put your prices up You can put your prices up whenever you feel like it, obviously. But there are certain times of year when clients are more likely to expect price changes – not just from freelancers, but from other companies they do business with. These are typically:Start of a new yearStart of each quarterMid-yearIf you can time your raises to coincide with these points in the year, your clients may be more prepared when you make the ask. Notice period Make sure you give your clients 1-2 months notice of your price increases. This gives them the time to rethink their own budgets, and you’re more likely to get positive responses to your emails. How to tell your clients you’re about to get more expensive Make sure you frame your price increases in a way that promotes the value you provide to each client.You’re not just any ol’ writer, but a writer they trust that’s given them some great results. And you (hopefully) have a solid working relationship together. Clients know that finding a replacement writer will cost them a lot in time, resources, and money if the new hire isn’t a good fit. So unless your price changes are significant, it’s typically in a client’s best interests to pay a bit more and keep you on. Remember that asking for more money is an essential skill as a freelancer. Most of us aren’t used to asking for higher rates (think about how many times you’ve sent out a proposal and put the price DOWN before you sent it out!), but negotiating regular price increases is a skill that you need to practice until it feels like a normal part of business. Your success depends on it. My email template If you’ve never emailed a client about a price increase, this is the template I use regularly. Simply tweak it for your specific needs, and hit send. Hi [client name], I’ve really enjoyed working with you over the past [length of time]. Just wanted to let you know that I’ll be raising my prices on [date 30 days / 60 days from now]. My new 2023 rates will be [$ more per blog post] so our monthly retainer agreement for 4 blog posts will be [$ new amount]. [Note: you can also include a bulleted list of your new service rates here if you provide your client with a mix of different deliverables]. Let me know if you have any questions! Best,Rachael New on the blog How to collect and use voice of customer research to write more compelling copy and get better results for clients – This was originally a collaboration with Unbounce that never made it to publication due to a lot of staff changes at the time. So it’s up on my blog now for free! Learn quick-win research tips from top copywriting and messaging experts like Joanna Wiebe, Joel Klettke, Justin Blackman, and Jen Havice. PS. If you add customer research to your copywriting services, you can charge a lot more for every project. You’re welcome! Procrastination Station Unroll.me – A free and super easy way to unsubscribe from all of those pesky email subscriptions that are cluttering up your inbox. But hopefully not this one 😉 The Measure Of Things – looking for interesting and fun ways to describe boring units of measurement in your writing? This site has you covered. Memes of the Week Thanks for reading! Anything you’re stuck on? Need some specific advice about your freelancing biz? Just hit reply to this email—I reply to everything :) P.S. If you enjoyed this newsletter and want to support it, you can: Forward this email to a friend and invite them to sign up here Buy me a coffee ☕ |
