Can You Do It Any Cheaper? – The Write Direction

In my previous blog post, I discussed the average cost of a freelance copywriter in the UK.

Clearly, my hourly rate of £20 is significantly lower than the national average (Why is this?)

With this in mind, why am I still regularly asked to justify or lower my rates?

Would you ask the same of your plumber, lawyer, or hairdresser?

Imagine walking into a salon and asking the stylist:

“Can you charge 20% less and cut my hair in half the time?”

Umm… no.

Yet copywriters are regularly asked to negotiate on both cost AND time.

Or we’ll be asked to justify our rates:

“Your hourly rate seems a little high…”

“I’ve had much cheaper proposals from other freelancers…”

“According to Google, it should only take you one hour”

Even worse, we’ll sometimes be asked to write FOR FREE (Usually for “exposure” or the vague chance of future work).

I can only assume this is because writing is perceived to be “something anyone can do”, so the value of a copywriter is often underestimated.

To be frank, if a client is only willing to pay a copywriter minimum wage (or less) they have already valued it as an unskilled job.

The Triangle of Compromise

Let’s discuss the Triangle of Compromise: Speed, Cost & Quality.

Always remember – you cannot have all three! At least one must be sacrificed.

This concept isn’t unique to copywriting – it can be applied to virtually any product or service.

It can also be represented in a Venn diagram, as shown below:

Nothing is super fast, super cheap AND super quality.

So, if you ask a copywriter to lower their rate, be prepared to either wait longer or accept a lower quality of work.

In fact, next time you’re tempted to ask any professional for a cheaper rate, ask yourself if YOU would be happy to do the same job for less money.

Hmm, didn’t think so.