How To Ask For A Raise

If you want to make more money from your writing, you have to get paid more. So how do you ask your clients to give you a raise? You don't.

When you work for yourself, the only person you have to ask for a rate increase is you.

Ever noticed McDonald's asking you if they can increase the price of hamburgers? No, you just go there one day and the price has increased. While you probably don't have the brand power of McDonald's, the underlying concept remains - you don't have to ask your customers if it's ok to charge them more. You just charge more and let them choose whether to pay or go elsewhere.

"My clients are used to paying me $xx/word, how do I get them to pay me more?"

Let your current clients know you've decided to increase your rates. I used "due to increased demand for my services" as my reason. You can choose to make the rate increase effective immediately or you can phase in the new rate over a period of a few weeks or months.

Start quoting new clients at your higher rate. Update your rates on your online portfolio if you have them posted there.

"Won't I lose clients by increasing my rates?"

You might, or you might not. Losing a client who isn't willing to pay you what you're worth isn't really a loss at all. Actually, it'll give you more time to get clients who will pay your rates.

If you fear a setback in income, first build up a three- or four-month cushion to fall back on just in case. (You should have this anyway).

"By how much should I increase my rates?"

That's up to you. How much are other freelance writers charging? How much more money do you need to make a livable wage?

"What if no one will pay my new rates?"

Then, you have to evaluate the increase. If you find that people are saying your rates are too high, either you're targeting the wrong people or your writing skills don't justify the increase.