Know-How Exchange : Other

You charge based on the value to the client of your work.
Work on proving that your total effort (7hours (x $20/hr) + 30min (x $20/hr)) is worth $150, no matter if your competition is charging $70.
The client doesn't care how many hours it takes you – it only matters how great the value is to them.

Jay is exactly right. The fee should be whatever the client thinks it's worth. Your challenge is to make it worth enough to justify the fee you want to charge.

There are copywriters who earn $1,000 per hour. There are others who struggle to earn $20/hour. The difference is NOT how much time they spend on the project. It IS how valuable their deliverable is to the client.

Next point: Your fee should not be based on the time you spend. You should bid a project with a fixed fee stated up-front. Figure out what will be required and what it's worth to the client. When you charge based on time spent, you are motivated to work slowly and inefficiently. Copywriters who do good work fast are not being fair to themselves if they are billing for time spent.


P.S. Good press releases don't take longer to write than bad ones. The quality of a press release is a result of the EFFECTIVENESS of the creative. Period. Don't focus on time spent.

Thanks for the advice.This is true-The fee should be whatever the client thinks it's worth. Your challenge is to make it worth enough to justify the fee you want to charge.
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Personally, I prefer ongoing long-term relationships with clients. This way you can invest more time understanding your client and their offering and their market. What about trying an ongoing subscription, charging one price for individual press releases, and a lower price for a series of press releases, so many per month?