Can someone help me ?
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive January 2007:
Can someone help me ?
As ya'll may recall,I do freelance reporting/photography for my local newspaper.The other day ,a business that I am interviewing for an article asked me if she could hire me to write a monthly newsletter for her to send to her customers and also to go to her current customers and take photo's of her merchandise that they bought and used for their home improvements.She has a Bath,Door,and More business.I am soooo excited,but I don't have a clue as to what to charge for my services!! For starters,does anyone here do any writing as a business?How much should I charge for the newsletter? Should I include taking it to the printers, or just let her do that part?Should I charge by the hour or by the photo for the photography? Remember,I'll be going to the customers home or place of business.Thanks !
I have no idea, but congrats to you!! How exciting!!
Congrats!!
Are there other businesses in your area that provide this service? If so, you could call a few and ask them how much they charge to do it.
Figure out how many hours it will take you to produce and then think of what you time per hour is worth. You can also call some companies that do graphic design, but more than likely you will have to say you want to use their services to get any kind of price quotes.
Ame
First, how many pages? How many photos will she want? Once you get those questions answered, then, how much of the newsletter does she want to be "filler", i.e., notes or comments copied from some other publication. (Be sure to tell her that anything that is taken from some other publication is almost certainly copyrighted, and she needs to have permission to use it.)
Next question: she decides the topic, but does she give you a rough draft, just an idea, or what? That makes a big difference in the amount of time you must spend. And, of course, she will want to review the final copy, and you'll have to make changes.
I think you need to talk with her a bit more to find out what she is looking for, the content, and my questions above. Then you'll have a better sense of how much time would be involved. As for photos, developing/reproducing the photos should be a line-item charge, not a flat fee. One newsletter might have only 2 photos, another 8, and that changes your costs.
Once you have a sense of time, then figure out how much you are paid by the newspaper. I know you free-lance, but I hope you have some sense of how much time you spend on a story and how much you get paid, to work out an hourly rate (or do they pay you by the hour?)
I would then figure out how much time it will take to do the newsletter, including a visit with her for editing, and charge her 150% of what you get from the newspaper, and make your quote for a 3-issue trial basis. Tell her that because this is the first time you are doing this, you need to get a sense of whether you are charging to little - or maybe too much - for your time and effort. And the photos are line-item, remember - each photo taken, not just each photo included in the newsletter, because you will have to pay for the developing/printing of the ones she rejects as well as the ones she accepts. Reimbursement for gas/mileage should also be a line item - my ex is a consulting engineer, and travel costs are always a line-item even when he quotes a flat rate for a project.
I would put it in a proposal in writing, including all of the factors you can think of, and then think about it for a day or two before final editing and presenting to her for her acceptance by her signature. Be sure that the proposal states clearly this is a 3-issue trial basis and your rates may change based on your experience and hers with the 3 month trial.
These are my "off the top of my head" thoughts.
Not a clue, but that really sounds so exciting. And if I recall properly, it all started from a tube of lipstick (or some type of makeup).
As someone who has paid for both services I can tell what my experience is being on the "paying" side.Go in with a strong bid, knowing what you can/will do.
Photography we pay 85/hr in studio to 125/hr on location: get a good idea of what they want and take lots of photos so they have a good choice to pick from!
Copywriting (fancier word for writing newsletter) we pay for the whole job, currently we are having tradeshow takeaways done, matching wording for our recruiting information and website, the job should take three weeks (not sure how many hours) the total cost with re works will be $1200.00.
The thing no one Wants to pay for or Should pay for is learning curve So only accept a job you know you can do, do it well to their expectations and charge a fair amount!
Is the newsletter a "sales" piece or just information passed along?
There is a website called redhotcopy.com Lorrie has lots of info in sales writing available.
To build a strong newlsetter you can view some examples at constantcontact.com to give you an idea and overview of what does in, different styles etc.
Hope that helps some, have fun in this new adventure!!
BTW these are two services that are very valuable to business owners so don't sell yourself short if you are good and can deliver
See, Wanda...good things are happening for you. God provides.
Kym - Thanks for those websites. I write advertising copy for a human resource consulting firm. I am always trying to tailor our introduction letter to the business that we are targeting. I will certainly be able to use the info!
I am always amazed at how much information that we are able to pass along to each other.
Thank you all so much !! I'm like Hol,it truely does amaze me ,too.I'm going to re-read all of this tommorrow,as I will be working on my ideas.Kym,thanks for the addr for the websites.I knew there should be some ,just didn't know where ( I'm still learning my way around the computer )And Hol,thanks for that word of encouragement.I know that I know that God is in this! But then I still get kind of scared!!And,again,thank you ladies.I truely love all of my MomsView friends !!
Wanda, it's okay to be scared, but you have to have faith in yourself (and God). These folks saw that you have what it takes because they sought YOU out, not the other way around. Now YOU have to believe in yourself.
I, too, sometimes doubt myself, and when someone pays me a compliment, or asks for my advice, I wonder what they are seeing that I don't see. We women tend to sell ourselves short, and then when you have a painful past like you have had, it adds to the doubt.
Make sure that you don't under price yourself. Time is something that we can never get back, so don't give it away. Charge a fair price, both to the client and to YOU. That is so exciting, Wanda! I am so happy for you.
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