My Rates Start At $5000. How Does That Hit Ya?
Yes, you read the title right.
WE ARE TALKING ABOUT RATES AND NEGOTIATION THIS WEEK
🫨🫨🫨🫨🫨🫨🫨🫨🫨
(No need to queue the internal and external panic, I promise)
Landing larger projects is totally possible
If you are anything like me,
Then you are relatively new to landing higher-value clients (like retainers or large-scale projects).
My writing background comes from Upwork, where, in most cases, I was pitching my services at an hourly rate and just billing as I went,
(I know many people hate Upwork for this exact purpose, but I I still really like the platform and have learned so much about creating a successful business from getting my start there, so I have no regrets!)
But, as I am entering into my fourth year of professional writing,
I have to reach for more while rubbing shoulders with people who have been able to scale their businesses incredibly successfully,
And I’m like, HI HELLO, I want that to be me too!
So, when I got the opportunity to speak with a super successful writer about how she runs her multi 6-figure writing business, one of the first questions to fumble out of my mouth was,
“HOW DO YOU PITCH CLIENTS ON LARGE SUM PROJECTS AND LIKE, ACTUALLY HAVE THEM PAY YOU BIG BALLER AMOUNTS??”
I wish it was more articulate than that, but honestly I was so excited to talk to her that I just word vomited that nightmare sentence out before I could stop myself.
(Remind me to add “learning how to talk like a normal human being” to my to-do list 🤦♀️)
Some helpful context:
I was going into this meeting prepared with some recent (and not successful) experience in trying to pitch clients on paying me retainer or large project rates.
Earlier that month, I had sent two proposals to two different clients:
I sent an hourly-based retainer SOW to a medical school to help with their marketing materials, starting at 5K/month
I sent a project-based retainer SOW to a medical equipment company to help with their social media and marketing, starting at 6.5K/month
(Yes, I am sharing the amounts I asked for. I am not a gatekeeper, I AM A ✨GIRL BOSS✨, and as freelancers, we need to stick together and talk about rates so we all know how to charge our worth!)
Breaking down the convo
So, after riding the absolutely horrendous nerve rollercoaster that was convincing myself that I was “worth” those rates,
I was stressing because I had not heard back from either client before the call.
Ideally, I was hoping to come to this call and be like,
“Yes, hello incredibly successful writer that I admire so deeply, I too am fully in control of my business!! I totally know what I am doing all the time!!!”
But, unfortunately, my grand plan was not to be.
So instead, as I explained to her that I hadn’t heard back from either client even though the introductory call had gone super well,
She asked me, “Did you find out the client’s budget before you sent over your proposal??”
😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬 (shit)
I’m very new to negotiating and pitching larger-sum projects,
And from the few resources I have read about it,
It is always said that freelancers shouldn’t “show their cards” too early, so I thought this meant just withholding my rates until I sent a formal proposal.
(Turns out, from personal experience, this ain’t the way to do it)
Essentially, by withholding this information as long as I did, I was blindly hoping for the best, not knowing if my rates were a good fit for the client, and IT WAS ACTIVELY MAKING ME FEEL GROSS.
So, after I vented about all of this, the writer shared the simple line she uses to offset the stress and unneeded work:
“My rates start at [$X lump sum] for this type of project. How does that hit ya?”
Honestly, just hearing this broke my whole brain — because it goes against all the negotiation advice I have been fed over the years of running my own business.
But, despite breaking a few negotiation rules, this approach comes with one very distinct advantage:
It makes the conversation about rates and pricing COLLABORATIVE.
The worst case scenario (that my past method forced me into) is dazzling a client during an intro call and then having no idea if the proposal I sent HOURS making would land because I have no idea what the client’s budget was.
By asking this question, not only do you get a feel for the client’s budget, but you also get to set the starting point for the pricing discussion yourself,
Giving you the power to advocate for the rates you want upfront rather than playing defence.
I’m still looking for more advice
So, for the time being, I plan to use this approach moving forward — and I will be sure to let you all know how this experiment goes.
But, in the meantime:
Do you have any spicy tips for landing large-scale projects?
If so, please reply and let me know — I’d love to hear about them. I am currently trying to collect as much advice as I can as I start to make moves to make my own business more sustainable.
Thanks in advance!