“What Do You Charge?” And Answers to Other Questions Clients Ask

“What do you charge?”

It’s a common question. That and “How much do you charge per hour?” are probably two of the most common ones I get. Which makes sense; there’s usually a budget alloted for the project. In fact, I’d ask it myself if my clients didn’t. Most questions clients ask are ones I’d ask them eventually. But I thought it would make sense to put all the answers to those questions in one easy place. Here’s my five most common client questions – and my answers.

“What do you charge/What’s your hourly rate?”

Depending on the project, this can have several different answers. For short items like blog posts I ask for a flat fee. White papers, case studies, and items like brochures I charge by the page. It gets a little murkier when the content doesn’t have an easily defined end (website copy fits into this category). I offer an estimate up front, but I will warn you it may change.

I don’t like to charge by the hour, because it can build up for both client and writer. And if everyone’s happy with both the price and the result, it doesn’t matter how long it took. If that is the only way the client is comfortable dealing with me, I’ll take it.

“How much time can you devote to my project?”

I typically ask the client back “How long do you think it’s going to take? When do you want to start and end?” Obviously, the quicker they want it back the more time I will have to devote to it.

In my experience, what clients are really asking is how many other clients I have and how much of a priority they will receive. I assure you that even if I have several other projects under my belt, if I have accepted your project it’s because I can spend time on it. If I can’t, I’ll simply tell you I’m too busy.

“How will we communicate with each other?”

Since my clients come from everywhere around the globe, I use email for most of my communications. It’s easiest to access during the day and can be sent at any time. Some clients want periodic calls or Zoom meetings; I can do those in addition to email, but email is still my prefered method.

When it’s time to turn in what I’ve done, I can use Google docs or attach my work to my email. (I almost always work in an offline word program so I don’t need to worry about the internet failing and losing my work, but I can easily stick that into a Google doc.)

“What’s your contract like/Do you have a contract template you use?”

I have a standard contract template that I will give to anyone who asks for it. If the client has a template they would prefer to use I’ll take a look at it. I reserve the right to reject any client contract template I feel is too unreasonable.

“What forms of payment do you take?”

My favorite payment method is direct deposit. It’s easy and painless. If the client does not do direct deposit, I’ve worked with several different payment platforms.

Have a question I didn’t answer here about working with me? Feel free to shoot me an email.