Rate Per Word: How Low Is Too Low?
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
When Charles Dickens wrote this, he certainly didn’t have freelance writers on his mind.
Mainly because this job role didn’t exist in 1859, the year he wrote this exquisite novel.
However, he couldn’t be more right about the future.
We live at times when technology is blooming and yet there’s something terrifying about it.
And no, I’m not talking about addiction to screen time, which is a real thing.
I’m talking about the never-ending options this modern time has created for many freelance writers and yet, somehow, this is one hard battleship.
And the main reason for it — we accept the industry standards we think we deserve.
Yes, I stole that line from The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
Let’s check some facts before starting to point out fingers at anyone.
The Stats Everyone Should Know About Freelance Writers
The minute I decided to write this blog post I knew that I needed to take some time and find the right stats.
Not just any stats.
A lady that did all the work by herself last year and gave us excellent insights, I think.
She created a blog just so she can help struggling writers.
In 2019, she collected 1400 freelance writers to participate in a survey to reveal as much as they can about the freelance world.
Because the survey it’s super big, I’m going to put the link here: Pay Survey 2019: What 1,400+ Freelancers Get Paid to Write.
But I’m going to focus on a few points down the road.
First, the average hourly rate.
Image Source: Pay Survey 2019: What 1,400+ Freelancers Get Paid to Write
As you can see, around 10% of all the participants charge a decent rate per hour — from $76 to $100 per hour.
But, there’s also the other side of the story — nearly a third of them work with under $10 per hour, which, as the author claims, is not a living wage.
Someone may say ‘these are rates for someone who’s been freelancing for more than a year or two.’
But according to this survey, the grass is pretty green even for the newbies.
Image Source: Pay Survey 2019: What 1,400+ Freelancers Get Paid to Write
A significant amount of new freelance writers earns pretty satisfying rates, up to $20 per 750 words blog post.
This seems like a decent pay for a freelance writer, right?
And, if the numbers are this way with the new freelancers, what did this report say about the more experienced writers?
The ones who’ve been in the industry for more than 2 years?
Here’s what more experienced writers charge for a blog post of 500–750 words.
Image Source: Pay Survey 2019: What 1,400+ Freelancers Get Paid to Write
Well, those numbers are cut in half.
If previously a third of the writers were earning up to $20 per 700 words, now that number is only 16%.
So what seems to be the problem?
Long-form content, or blog posts or articles that have more than 1000 words.
This is where most of the exploration happens for new freelance writers.
Image Source: Pay Survey 2019: What 1,400+ Freelancers Get Paid to Write
The survey showed that almost 44% of the participants were paid less than $100 for long-form content.
And I’m talking here only about content writing, not copywriting, which is an entirely different skill set.
When I read these stats, I was surprised, but I wasn’t shocked.
I kept thinking about one thing, though — why is this still happening?
So I did my research on that too.
Dissatisfied Professionalists: Why Many Freelancers Still Work With Low Rate Per Word?
Since we’re talking about it, one might ask what is a low rate per word then?
And I can tell you — there’s no universal answer to that question.
However, there are a lot of factors that have an impact on the final answer.
1. Worldwide Increase Of The Freelance Writing Market
This is one of the most underestimated factors out there, but it has a major influence on the industry standards.
For example, 74% of the American freelance workforce has started freelancing in the last 5 years.
In Europe, freelancers are becoming the fastest-growing group with a 45% increase overall.
People choose to enter this market for different reasons.
For some, it’s the additional paycheck at the end of the month. For others, it’s complete freedom that freelancing may give to them. And for some, it’s about building a brand.
This means that more people are adopting this way of work and lifestyle which, ultimately means — bigger competition.
Bigger competition means that there’s always someone else available to do the job.
For every job you turn down, regardless of the reasons, there’s always someone who will say yes.
And why is that?
Well…
2. Relevant Writing Experience
Experience has everything to do with how you approach the freelance writing market.
And this is where things start to get all blurry and the jobs you rejected come in.
When you’re new in the industry, you may accept low paying jobs just to get the ball rolling. And, you think to yourself that you’re in no position to negotiate since you don’t have any relevant experience. Plus, you will probably do a quite good job with the content since you want your employer to be satisfied and leave you positive feedback.
While all this may be true, there’s a fine line between being a newbie and being exploited.
I’ve found many opinions on this matter too, but one stuck with me.
Image Source: What is a reasonable rate (per word or 100 words) for a freelance writer?
Nebojsha has some quality points here.
As content writers, we need to:
- Do thorough research on the topic, regardless if it’s a blog post, article, white paper, ebook, etc.
- Write an SEO optimized content that provides value to the reader
- Create a unique, 100% plagiarism free, grammatically correct content
- Make sure we follow the writing style (B2B, B2C)
And although he says that we shouldn’t worry too much about the pay, I’m glad that he put an accent on the actual worth of writers and how much we include in the final pay.
Of course, some freelance writers are about neither of these things, it’s about building an online brand.
But that can have issues of its own.
3. Building a Personal Brand Through Freelance Writing
I completely support this idea. If you have an idea for a blog or you have a preferred niche that you would want to specialize, feel free to do it.
By no means, you’ll have something to show for yourself.
However, this might be a bit challenging once you start working with clients.
This is what Alice Genes says in her article about the saturated freelance market and negotiating with clients.
Almost all writing you’re going to do is going to be ghostwriting — meaning your name won’t be mentioned anywhere.
This means, sadly, no one will know about that awesome content you wrote and you have no proof of writing it.
Building a personal brand this way might be harder than what you’ve expected, that’s all I’m saying.
All of these elements affect the price we set as freelance writers.
But How Low Is Too Low?
I know what you might think, all this information and nothing concrete on the question — how low is too low when it comes to the rate per word for freelance writers?
And I can tell you — I’m no one to tell you that.
Every writer has its own set of rules, principles, and bills to pay.
When you’re a newbie, you gotta take one for the team.
And the team is once again, you.
Because remember, when you’re a freelance writer, you are everything — the project manager, the accountant, the writer, the entrepreneur, the brand — everything.
But, there is enough information here to clarify some things and raise awareness about industry standards.
And for each writer to see for himself/herself where they fit in this picture.