The moment she said this, my heart sank...

For the first several years of my freelance writing career, I lived in a bubble where it never even occurred to me that other writers were building their careers at the same time.

This was in the early 20-teens. I’d landed my first copyediting job for a local fiction writers’ group from Craigslist, then primarily got work through Upwork (which was called O-desk back then!).

Then a few things happened to broaden my awareness and change my business…

In which Lauren leaves her house and meets other writers

Somehow I stumbled upon a Facebook group about blogging in the personal finance space and heard about FinCon. By this point it was 2019 and the conference was being held just a few hours away in Washington, DC. So I went! And there were so many people! Writers! YouTubers! Business owners! Content creators!

There was even a freelancer marketplace where you could meet brands looking to hire writers.

During this event, I met another writer and we shared rates. When I proudly (smugly?) said my top rate came out to about 17-cents / word, she kindly quoted her upper end at 30-cents.

And my stomach sank.

Even before this, I had a feeling I was not charging market rates for my level of experience. On one call with an agency I quoted 10-cents per word and the manager was like, “Uh, are you sure?” (And I said, yes I was! 🤦🏻‍♀️)

Building a safe space doesn’t mean show-boating your rates

I know there’s a lot of flack going on these days about freelancers who share their income numbers. But this information can be worth gold if it helps you realize there is a new type of client level you can reach.

I frequently read about writers who earn more than I do (whether per piece or annually or whatever), and I let it CONFIRM my belief that I’m in a good field with income growth potential in my future.

It doesn’t mean burn down your business and throw down some rate hike mandates to your existing clients. But it does mean you can strive for one better-paying client at a time, and build up your business in a healthy, sustainable way.

There are so many different types of writing and freelance models, it’s smart to learn other ways to structure the way you do business.

Don’t compare yourself, simply use other people’s income details to inform you of what you could aspire to (or maybe that you’re already on the right track!).

Happy freelancing,

Lauren