So How Much CAN You Charge Your Client?

January 10, 2008

Got an email today from a copywriter asking my opinion on setting a fee for a particular project.

The question basically was, “Look at this… can I charge $XX for this?”

I don’t think there’s a good answer to that question. Because something important is missing:

CONTEXT

And without context you can’t figure out value… And value is all your client cares about.

It’s not about the price. You’re not selling the price.

You’re selling the VALUE.

Always, always, always look at the deal from the point of view of your client.

So here was my reply (with some details removed to protect confidentiality.)

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Always look at things from the eyes of your clients.

Some people will say, sure you could charge $4,000-$5,000 or more for a letter like that.

But let’s think deeper and farther ahead into your future.

My question is, do you want clients or do you want to write letters?

Because quite a few copywriters I know are on an endless run of having to find new clients. All they see is a letter and the money they get for the letter.

They sell their services at a particular level (probably higher than they should) and then the promo doesn’t do as well as originally thought. The client loses money. Sometimes a lot of money.

When that happens, they don’t see you as a good value.

You probably lose the client. Maybe. Either way, the second sale will be harder.

That can be a catch 22 for a copywriter. After all, we don’t control whether the market likes their product, their offer, their company…

But that’s just the way it is. So how do we use it to our advantage?

If you want clients (meaning they come back again and again) then you need to look at things from their point of view.

The client wants to make money. This promo is for a $19 ebook.

So here are some things you’d want to know as you price a job like this:

1. What’s the purpose of the promo? (moneymaker, lead generator, etc. Knowing this will give you a clue about the EXPECTATIONS of your client)

2. How big is the list you’re promoting to? If the list is big enough, then of course there’s a chance your client will recoup your fee fairly easily.

3. Where does this product fit into your client’s funnel? If this is lead gen, what else is he/she selling and how quickly? How quickly could they expect to make money if they lose money on this initial promo (which includes your fee).

Otherwise, the potential just isn’t there for the client to recoup his/her investment and make profit on top of it.

I’d take all of these things into account when you’re pricing a job. The bottom line is, it can take a while to get a client. So you want to make sure everything is in place so that they can recoup your fee as quickly as possible and more.

This means you will get kind of choosy when selecting new clients.

Remember, it’s all about perceived value from the point of view of your client. THAT’S what they’re buying.

It’s not so much about the quality of your copy. Of course you have to have some level of competence, but hopefully my point is clear.

Structuring your deals so that you give yourself the highest possible chance of delivering a huge amount of value to your clients will make your life a whole lot easier and profitable.


Posted by Jason | Filed Under Blog 

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