Ghostwriting fees? Anyone?

[Iva Ursano]

Hey gang. Most of you know I am totally new to this freelance writing biz and slightly "wet behind the ears". One thing I have absolutely no clue about is how much to charge for ghostwriting blogs. I have two possible leads right now for this and have no idea what my service as a ghostwriter is worth. Anyone? Thank you. :)

[Debra Farrimond]

Hi Iva,

I'm currently doing mostly copywriting, and wouldn't want to steer you in the wrong direction, however I do have a great link that might help you out. http://www.makealivingwriting.com/140-websites-that-pay-writers-updated-2014/
Carol Tice has a great website filled with helpful information for both writers and copywriters alike. Hope it helps!!

Debra.

[Iva Ursano]

Hey Deb thanx I'm actually subscribed to her newsletters. She does have great into on her site!

[Kathleen Krueger]

Hi, Iva. It depends on a few different factors, how many words and whether you are simply providing 'work for hire' blogs which just means you are transferring all rights to your client which may be a business or marketing company, or are you 'ghostwriting' for a specific professional individual? Those are two different things. I have done both types of writing and the pay can vary greatly. You can always ask your client what their budget is. How much research is involved is another aspect. Do you need to get quotes from professionals or provide other credible sources?

No easy answer to your question.

[Iva Ursano]

Hi Kathleen thank you for your reply. I see it's not cut and dry. I've already accepted an offer which might be a tad low but i'll know a little better moving forward. I guess I have newbie fear. Fear of pricing too high, fear of coming in too low. I learn as I go. Thank you!

[Kelly Smith]

I've been doing a lot of blog ghostwriting lately to complement income from my own sites. No, I don't make a lot per piece, but it's steady and easy to crank out a 600 word piece while drinking morning coffee. Of course it's all for Zerys site so I don't have to waste time with invoicing, pitching, etc. It's all a moving target but an important part of multiple-source income for me.

[FWPMikeyDee]

I'm with Kathleen. I'm a firm believer in asking about budgets before quoting a rate. Sometimes it can be a tricky subject to broach, but I've found straight forwardness and sincerity works wonders. For example, during negotiations I'll ask what their content budget looks like so that I can do my best to work within those constraints. A lot of times the budget is just too low for the requirements and I have to pass. Other times the budget is low but workable. 99 percent of the time the budget is below what I would normally charge but I take the job anyway with a contractual stipulation that guarantees a rate review after several months or a certain milestone has been met. In most cases, my clients have been happy to pay a bit more after they have seen results.

The reason I ask for a budget first and only quote my desired rate if I have to is because many clients have become accustomed to getting stupid low proposals of 2 or 3 cents per word or $10 for 500 words. I'd much rather ease them into the fact that I typically work for 12 cents per word and sometimes more. When they open my email and it says "12 cents per word or a per project rate of $1,200 or $42.50 per hour" some clients have came close to a mini heart attack. It's like sticker shock at a car lot. When a client tells me they have $500 to spend on blog content, I can then easily propose several different plans that gives the client what they want and NEED while ensuring that I don't work below my baseline rate. 

Your situation may be different. I've never worked as a ghostwriter per se. But in my opinion a client is a client is a client, and I typically deal with them all in a similar fashion. Granted, I have spent several years A/B experimenting with my proposals until I found something that worked for me. My approach may not work for you. Also, the rate calculator can help you find a baseline rate. Once you have the lowest rate that you can earn and still pay for life's expenses, you'll never have to worry about earning too little again. 

A quick guide for the calc:

1. Enter the lowest yearly amount that you can earn and still survive. This is bare necessity type stuff. If you'd like to make 100k but really only need 60k, put it at 60k.
   
2. Put in the average number of days you'll work a week. I work all week but I only put in 6 because Sunday is a "halfday". 
   
3. Put in the number of BILLABLE Hours you think you'll be able to work a day. This is almost never 8 or 10 hours because checking email, working on a personal blog and social networking are not billable. So try to be conservative and guesstimate how many hours on average you can devote to paying projects. My average is about 5.
   
4. Sick and Vacay days are self explanatory
   
5. Words per hour should be based on your very best writing. For example, I can write about 1200 words an hour for the content mills like Textbroker, but for private hiigher paying clients that amount falls to about 400 - 500 words per hour
   

After you fill the form calc out you'll get an hourly and per word rate. From those two figures you can negotiate any contract. Remember though, this is your bottom dollar rate. It's meant to give you a number to NEVER go under. In fact, you want to do everything you can to earn more than this figure if possible. However, if you have a client with a budget that can only cover your baseline rate, run with it and include a clause that will ensure a rate review after certain stipulations have been met. 

Ok, I'm out the park like Marky Mark.

[Kelly Smith]

I agree with all this advice with the caveat that I will work "cheaper" for non-profit organizations or local print rags that survive on selling ads. And of course all the content I post on my sites pays nothing up front but earns residual income from affiliate banners, etc. I'm just a big believer in multiple income streams ;-)
 

Regards,
Kelly Smith
KSmith Media, LLC

http://ksmithwriter.com
http://www.icanfixupmyhome.com/
http://www.the-green-frugal.com
http://www.runningacrosstexas.com

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[FWPMikeyDee]

Nice Kelly! I totally forgot that caveat. Nonprofit work can be rewarding on multiple levels beyond the monetary. I've actually volunteered a lot of my time for a local charity. I work their food bank line once a month and I am addicted to the smiles everyone has when they get a big ham and a bunch of vegetables. The organization that runs the food bank does an amazing job. About a year ago I volunteered my career skills by doing some content consultancy work for their newest site development. Besides the warm glow, those hours of free work have helped me land a dozen new clients at least. From word of month job offers to good old fashioned references, I firmly believe in the ROI potential in volunteer and pro bono work. Did I mention the warm glow? Yea it feels pretty good to do something for nothing but the betterment of others.

Multiple revenue streams=A freelancer's bread and butter

So glad you're a part of the freelancing family here, Kelly. You're advice is always on point and I benefit from your wisdom greatly. Oh, I am almost finished with an article that you might like as a guest post on one of your sites. It's about browser extensions essential for writers. I know it's been a few months since we talked about GP so let me know if you're interested. No problem if it's a bad fit or if you no longer need GPs. Ill send you a doc when it's polished up.

[Kelly Smith]

That sounds like a good fit for one of my sites where I have a topic section dedicated to entrepreneurs, investing, and freelancers; I still do guest posts to keep the sites active although more time has been taken up with clients lately. Yeah, giving back is good. I used to be really involved with my local running club (did I mention it already?) where we did race management for organizations that donated proceeds to charities. Shelters, abused women, and stuff like that. Lots of self-backpatting I know but hopefully a boatload of good karma ;-) You would not believe how much revenue a local 5K will produce. Damn I'm a nice guy ;-)

Regards,
Kelly Smith
KSmith Media, LLC

http://ksmithwriter.com
http://www.icanfixupmyhome.com/
http://www.the-green-frugal.com
http://www.runningacrosstexas.com