Freelance content writing—prices and charges

Writing services included in my fixed-fee content pricing

All of the following services are included in my freelance writing fees listed above.

Pricing includes understanding your needs and requirements

• Learning about your business, audience, approach, brand, products, and services.

• Receiving and reviewing content briefing notes that you send me—I can provide fillable briefing notes if you need them.

• Asking questions by email to clarify what you need from the content.

• Following any reasonable instructions, style guides, or other details that you provide.

Pricing includes SEO-optimized content

• Creating unique, original freelance writing content to the length you specify.

• Including your keywords and related semantic keywords in a natural way.

• Following freelance writing SEO best practice to help your content rank.

• Linking to other resources on your website or non-competitive external websites.

Pricing includes research and writing expertise

• Carrying out online research so I can write with authority.

• Using my expertise across business, finance, and technology.

• Including citations, quotes, statistics, and links to provide additional context where needed.

• Taking advantage of my 15+ years as a writer and communicator.

Pricing includes writing engaging content to build trust

• Using a friendly and professional approach to engage with your readers.

• Writing to your audience needs and values, explaining your services, and solving their problems.

• Formatting content with descriptive headings, white space, lists, and short paragraphs so it’s a pleasure to scan and read.

• Demonstrating insight into a topic that shares knowledge and helpful information.

Pricing includes communication, collaboration, and feedback

• Proactively communicating with you via email.

• Completing up to two rounds of reasonable reviews and amendments.

• Collaborating with you through email and via Google Docs.

• Asking and answering questions and providing information as needed.

Pricing includes internal project management

• Tracking all of your instructions and deadlines in my project management tool so I deliver to the quality and timescale you expect.

• Using your content management and project management tools to provide status updates on work.

• Slotting into your content management process.

• Emailing you to confirm receipt of work, to return completed work to you, and at other points on request.

Hourly charges not included in my fixed-fee content writing

Some types of specialized writing and associated services are not included in my fixed content rates. I have summarized these below, together with the charges for these services.

Using products or services so that I can write about them (hourly charge)

If you need me to use your, or a competitor’s, products or services I will charge an hourly rate for any time spent to become familiar with the product or service. For example, if I need to review your SaaS platform and you need me to log into each part to test it out and write a comparison.

Being involved in audio or video meetings after my initial consultation (hourly charge)

I provide an initial consultation for free. If you need me to attend audio or video meetings after that, I will charge an hourly rate, for example Zoom meetings, Skype meetings, phone calls, or anything similar. Please note that communication and collaboration via email or Google Docs are not subject to any additional fee.

Undergoing specialized training or other instruction (hourly charge)

If I need to complete any kind of ongoing course, training, or extensive instruction from you, I will charge an hourly rate. Please note that standard instructions, briefing note instructions, and email instructions are included in my fixed-fee pricing.

Reviewing video or audio content to write a piece (hourly charge)

If I need to review audio or video files so that I can write content, I will charge an hourly rate. Please note that this fee will not apply if you are able to provide me with a written transcript and I do not have to do any audio or video revision.

Uploading to a content management system (hourly charge)

If you need me to upload my written content to a content management system, like WordPress, I will charge an hourly rate.

My hourly rate for the services listed above is $180. This is charged in $45 increments for each 15 minutes I need to spend on these tasks.

Other charges not included in my fixed-fee content writing

I provide several other freelance services for a small, additional fee.

Increasing the word count of the article on your instruction (pro rata fee increase)

Occasionally, clients will ask me to write about particular areas in more depth or to expand on certain points after I have delivered the article. If that’s the case, I charge for adding additional words on a pro-rata basis. I will notify you ahead of time of any new charges as a result of a word count increase.

Extra requests for revision beyond the first two (percentage of original price)

The first two rounds of reasonable revisions are included in my fixed-fee pricing. If you require additional revisions, or I believe that your revisions are “unreasonable” (at my discretion, for example if your intent for the work was not clear and I have to rewrite major portions), then I will charge a fee for each revision at 15% of the original price.

Providing images or other screenshots (fixed fee)

I can also source images or take screenshots as needed. I charged a fixed fee for each of these as follows:

• Sourcing stock images from fee-paying websites like ShutterStock, Getty Images, 123RF, etc: $30 per image, plus the cost of purchasing the image.

• Sourcing stock images from free websites like Pixabay, Unsplash, Morguefile, etc: $30 per image.

• Creating simple, unannotated screenshots of websites, products, etc: $20 per image.

• Creating annotated or altered screenshots, by using a simple screenshot and adding notes, comments, or instructions to it: $50 per image.

Completing professional copy editing or proofreading services (fee based on number of words)

Although I take care to return easy-to-read, error-free content, I am not a professional or qualified proofreader or editor. If you need to be absolutely sure that your content has no typos, spelling, grammatical, or punctuation errors, I recommend a separate, professional proofread or copy edit. I recommend Freelance Editorial Services, and you can get an instant quote for copy editing and proofreading here.

Invoicing and paying for my freelance writing services

Here’s what you need to know about invoicing and payment:

• Invoices are issued from my business, Freelance Editorial Services, LLC.

• Each piece of work is separately itemized on the invoice.

• I invoice at the end of each month for any work completed in that month.

• I will send invoices to any required email address, direct to you or to your accounts payable department.

• I request payment on 30-day terms, so you will have until the end of the month following my invoice to pay.

• The first few times we work together, or for particularly large pieces of work, I may require a deposit or prepayment.

• You can pay invoices through debit card or credit card, with a direct bank transfer, or by check in the U.S.

• I can also submit invoices through a supplier management system.

Freelance writing rates for different types of content

I included all of my freelance writing rates above, and I’m happy to expand on what’s included in each type of content.

My prices for blog and article writing includes any standard content that you want to publish on your website blog or as a guest post. I write articles and blog posts in many formats including explainers, questions and answers, overviews, subject matter writing, and more. Around 40% to 50% of all the content I write is priced as an article or blog post.

Prices for writing B2B articles and blog posts

Prices for writing guides, knowledge bases, tutorials, and support articles

My prices for guide, review, and knowledge base writing includes content like tutorials, training, support guides, FAQs, step-by-step instructions, detailed reviews, comparisons, and the like. Around 30% to 40% of the writing I do is priced as a guide or review.

Prices for writing white papers and ebooks

My white paper and ebook writing rates cover content that requires deep research combined with an expert viewpoint, with ongoing collaboration and revisions for the life of the project. Around 10% to 20% of the content I write is priced as white paper content.