How Much to Charge per Article for Contract Writing Project

15 replies
I'm trying to get a sense of how much I should charge for writing blog articles on a contract basis. This would be my first time doing this on a contract basis so I could use some help.

The company is a online e-commerce site that sells pipe and fittings. Customers use these to build railing and DIY industrial pipe furniture. I currently work for the company as an intern and we've worked out that I would write for them on a contract basis when my internship ends. This would include two blog posts per week. Most blog posts are roughly 600 words. The type of articles include how to, list type, customer project overview, product benefits, and case studies.

Here's all that I'm thinking may be involved in writing and submitting the article:
  • Writing the article
  • Coding/Formatting the article in HTML
  • Uploading the article to the CMS (Content Management System)
  • Image collection. This might include searching through the customer project images we have on file or search Google/Pinterest for images that match the article I'm writing
  • Image editing
  • Creating graphics for the main image and social media
  • Research (if necessary). This might include searching the internet for relevant information to talking to customers about their project.

The project may also include:
  • Developing posts for social media involving the article
  • Developing and creating the email to sent out to the email list
  • Call to Action development

I know some of this may not be writing related but I'm trying to get a fair offer to bring to my manager. So anything you can offer will be helpful. Maybe a suggestion of what you think I should charge for just the article and/or the article plus the other services. Or maybe an idea of what you would charge for this type of project. I appreciate any help you can provide. Thanks in advance!
#article #charge #contract #project #writing
  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    Since there are so many additional tasks involved, I suggest you charge anywhere from .0075 to 2.0 cents per word. That's the 'industry average' spread for content production and the trend is towards .001 per word. No joke. Thanks to outsourcing and economies of scale, content production is a race to the bottom.

    Still, as far as your specific offer is concerned, it depends on the quality of your work and turnaround time. This amounts to $4.50 per article to $12 per article.

    In an ideal world, we'd all charge $100000 per hour. Right? Right....

    Sadly, the GLOBAL MARKET rules our everyday waking reality. The market sets the rate.

    If your client doesn't know of or have any access to the global outsourced content market place, pat yourself on the back. You'll be making money due to what economists call an INFORMATION GAP PREMIUM.

    Unfortunately, thanks to the Internet, this information gap is closing quickly.

    The bottom line: You can set whatever rates you want. Just don't forget that rates have to take into account market realities. Set your rates too high and you get bypassed.
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    • Profile picture of the author cody109
      That seems fairly low. Maybe that's just how the industry is? But I know that our manager pays a writer $150 per typical article for our sister company that sells safety equipment. So I would want to be at least around that mark. Maybe it would be better to look at it from a content marketer perspective since that's a bit part of my role at the company now.
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      • Profile picture of the author Cali16
        Cody, charge what you feel your time and the service you're providing are worth. The fee range suggested by Writeaway is absurdly low. He's basing that on the "industry standard" for low quality freelancers, many of whom can't write their way out of a paper bag. That's not the "industry standard" when you get out of the typical dime-a-dozen "freelance" realm.

        It sounds like your company is willing to pay a decent amount for quality content. However, if your job is going to involve a lot more than just writing, you need to take that into account in determining your fee.

        I'd start with a minimum of $0.10 to $0.15 per word for the content alone (that includes research). That's assuming you actually write well and have some knowledge of the industry. I think you could easily charge at least $75 to $100 per blog post, and possibly more, depending on the level of quality you can produce (and assuming basic grammatical errors like "a online e-commerce site..." wouldn't occur once you've proofread your blog posts ).

        I highly recommend that you clarify all that is involved before determining your fee. For example, creating graphics and doing social media marketing are entirely separate skills from writing content for blog posts. Research, however, is part of the job when it comes to writing.

        Good luck with whatever you decide!
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    • Profile picture of the author discrat
      Originally Posted by writeaway View Post

      Since there are so many additional tasks involved, I suggest you charge anywhere from .0075 to 2.0 cents per word. That's the 'industry average' spread for content production and the trend is towards .001 per word. No joke. Thanks to outsourcing and economies of scale, content production is a race to the bottom.

      Still, as far as your specific offer is concerned, it depends on the quality of your work and turnaround time. This amounts to $4.50 per article to $12 per article.
      I think this sounds grossly exaggerated. These kinds of sums will get these companies writers who can hardly construct a complete sentence.

      It's just hard to believe that these are standards.


      I am inclined to listen and take note of what Kay and Cali are saying here


      - Robert Andrew
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  • Profile picture of the author kk075
    As far as what to charge, I would expect for you to be in the $25-50 range for the writing. Most employers expect the formatting, posting and image selection for free, while others will offer to pay $5-10 for it. I personally have a programmable keyboard so all my <a href= kinds of stuff is just hitting one key and it's done. Also, charge $2-5 per photo...because that's a standard amount to buy photos from Dreamstime and other sites.

    So that bumps you to around $40-65 for everything IF your employer will pay for the extras. I'd personally ask around the office though to see what other freelancers get paid....I'm sure someone knows. In my experience, secretaries are the best for that...they know everything and love to gossip.

    Anyway, good luck!
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      I wrote blog posts for a year for two large manufacturer's product lines. It was in a field that I'm well acquainted with - nothing technical or specialized about it. I was paid $26 for a 200 word post - $52 for 400 words. None of the extras you'll be doing.

      I would not ask 'around the office' - that says "I don't know what I'm doing".

      You decide what YOUR time is worth....that is the most important factor.

      Do the WORK (testing) to see how long it takes you to complete the posts and other tasks on a monthly basis. Take that # hours and multiply by $$ per hours you've decided on. Now - add 15%-20% as a cushion and there's your price. The cushion covers those times when everything takes longer to do - and also gives you a bit of negotiating space if the buyer wants a 'better deal'.

      New freelancers often make one of two mistakes:

      1. They set a low price and then resent having to work for "not enough money"

      2. They get greedy and try to squeeze as much money out as they can....and they either don't get the job or can't keep it.

      All that counts is what YOU think your time is worth. You can always negotiate down a bit if you need to - you can't negotiate up.

      Most of the responses you'll get here will be based on "IM freelancing" and that's not what you are asking about. Companies and manufacturers pay very well for outsourced work. Based your prices on YOUR $$/hr - that's what the buyer would expect you to do.
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  • Profile picture of the author kk075
    The reason why I said to ask around is because he doesn't know what he's worth yet, but at the same time the employer probably has a pretty good idea of what he's willing to pay. I can't tell you how many times early on I'd spend hours a day writing custom proposals to what I though would be a great client...only to see them hire someone with no experience for $10 articles.

    You have to remember though- he's an intern, so he's almost definitely going to get low-balled. If he asks for too much then he will not get the account, so I would personally ask a few others.

    Now, I wouldn't say, "How much do you think I'm worth as a writer?" Instead, I'd ask, "Do you know what kind of money the other freelance writers are making here?" I don't think that sounds amateur-ish, but that's just my opinion.
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    • Profile picture of the author Cali16
      Originally Posted by kk075 View Post


      You have to remember though- he's an intern,
      Good point, kk075. I wasn't thinking about his intern status when I replied.
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  • Profile picture of the author James Druman
    It really depends on how well you've presented yourself and your level of experience, but I'd say $100 - $200 per article here. Maybe more depending on how long the other stuff takes you and the possible size of their audience, ability to drive traffic, etc.

    Note that I don't mean that in an opportunistic kind of way - I just mean that if they have the right resources, there is budget and time for you to focus more hours on the work and really make it good.

    If you venture into social media, definitely more - this kind of campaign can become a signficant time investment, assuming they want to do it properly.

    Also, remember that a business posting two times a week is out for quality posts and probably (not necessarily) knows that they need to pay to get it.

    You may just want to talk about hourly rates. Yeah, it's not in your best interest, and it's not the best positioning. But it's flexible and will provide you with a standard you can use to calculate rates in the future.

    You're asking about this stuff in the wrong place, though. There are other far more relevant forums for this type of thing. The Offline Marketing subforum might be able to help a little, I suppose, but I haven't lurked over there for a while.
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  • Profile picture of the author beiter
    I would say $5 for a 1,000 word article
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  • Profile picture of the author TJShipnite
    The standard rate for a 500 word article these days is roughly $5.00

    More words than that would accompany a slight reduction in price. Say, $9.00 for 1000 words and $12.00 - $13.00 for 1500 words.

    I myself would be willing to pay $15.00 or more for a 1500 word article IF the quality was top notch.
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    • Profile picture of the author kk075
      Originally Posted by TJShipnite View Post

      The standard rate for a 500 word article these days is roughly $5.00
      Oh my goodness...please do not pay any attention to these types of comments. The standard rate for a brand new writer with no contacts, very little skill and no determination to become a professional is $5 a page...and you've clearly shown that you're already a step or two above that so far.

      If you think for a moment that thousands of reporters, journalists and bloggers are scurrying around the country to average $2-3/hr for their efforts, then you're daydreaming about 1945. Today's wage is quite a bit more if you have the skills to impress readers.
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    • Originally Posted by TJShipnite View Post

      The standard rate for a 500 word article these days is roughly $5.00

      More words than that would accompany a slight reduction in price. Say, $9.00 for 1000 words and $12.00 - $13.00 for 1500 words.

      I myself would be willing to pay $15.00 or more for a 1500 word article IF the quality was top notch.
      NO NO NO. This is not the standard. This is what people charge for TERRIBLE quality content (or more often, spun content).

      For what you've listed, and your experience in the industry, I'd recommend you ask for $100 per article. They can then 'negotiate' you down to $75 or so, which seems to be a fair price to me.

      Whenever freelancing for someone you need to figure out how much time and resources it will take to complete the task, then get paid based on that. I have been freelance writing for years. Some clients pay me a fairly low 'per word' rate, but it is easy writing so the dollars per hour is good. Others pay me higher 'per word' rates, but it takes longer. I try to keep my hourly rate right around $50-75 when everything is factored in.

      God Bless

      Michael
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    • Profile picture of the author Jennifer Hutson
      Originally Posted by writeaway View Post

      Since there are so many additional tasks involved, I suggest you charge anywhere from .0075 to 2.0 cents per word. That's the 'industry average' spread for content production and the trend is towards .001 per word. No joke. Thanks to outsourcing and economies of scale, content production is a race to the bottom.

      Still, as far as your specific offer is concerned, it depends on the quality of your work and turnaround time. This amounts to $4.50 per article to $12 per article.
      Feel free to cite sources you're pulling these numbers from. And remember, he's quoting a company he works for. This isn't some random client online looking to outsource to the cheapest third worlder.

      Originally Posted by TJShipnite View Post

      The standard rate for a 500 word article these days is
      roughly $5.00

      More words than that would accompany a slight reduction in price. Say, $9.00 for 1000 words and $12.00 - $13.00 for 1500 words.

      I myself would be willing to pay $15.00 or more for a 1500 word article IF the quality was top notch.
      Again, these rates are way off the mark. There are so many factors involved in pricing and the vast majority of $5 article writers are non-natives. $15 for a "top-notch" 1500-word article is a joke. If you're not in the writing industry, please stick to what you know and not what you can guess at.

      Originally Posted by kk075 View Post

      You have to remember though- he's an intern, so he's almost definitely going to get low-balled. If he asks for too much then he will not get the account, so I would personally ask a few others.

      Now, I wouldn't say, "How much do you think I'm worth as a writer?" Instead, I'd ask, "Do you know what kind of money the other freelance writers are making here?" I don't think that sounds amateur-ish, but that's just my opinion.
      I agree with Keith. This is probably your best bet, since you've been interning and don't want to blow your chances by asking for too much. Definitely ask around.

      Before you do anything though, you should ask yourself what your bottom line is. What amount would you feel good about getting paid per article? What would make you happy? Figure that number out and try to make it happen.
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      • Profile picture of the author cody109
        I don't think that I would be low balled in the offer. My manager wants me to be happy with the price I set and overall the company has been fair to me up to this point.

        There's no way that I would do the work for $5, $10, $15 an article. It would definitely not be worth it. I can only the imagine the quality of writing that kind of pay gets.

        Mostly, I'm just trying to get a better idea of what others are charging and make from this type of work. I just don't want to leave money on the table when I could have gotten more and end up regretting it later.

        It might be worth noting that the internship is paid and I make $15 an hour right now. I'm guessing that if I would have stayed with the company full-time that my newly negotiated salary would have probably been around $40,000 - $43,000 a year.
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