I have a client who, in many respects is an ideal client. Not only is she a successful entrepreneur who can afford to pay me, but she’s also a kind and generous person. She refers prospective clients to me all the time, and gives me advice on growing my online business for passive income.
This client of mine is always giving me unusual projects, those that aren’t in my list of services and for which I don’t have ballpark fees. But because of all her other positive qualities, I work on these projects. Besides, I always learn something new about Internet marketing, so it’s like getting free training.
But this past week, I’ve been having a difficult time with this client — through no fault of hers. You see, she asked me to work on a project and I underestimated the cost involved.
I didn’t realize that, although I wouldn’t have to do any research, I would have to read through thick pages of documents to learn the material I was going to write about. Neither did I realize the amount of analysis, synthesis and thought it required to organize all this material in coherent and effective ways.
In other ways, I blew it. I charged this client less than what I should have.
The Pricing Debate
Our mentors at Wealthy Web Writer say you should charge by project and not by the hour. They give many reasons for this. One reason is that, if you charge by the hour, you penalize yourself as you get better and start completing your projects faster.
Ok, I get that. But there’s also an advantage to charging by project. It requires you to ACCURATELY estimate the amount of complexity and work a project would entail.
What If You Can’t?
As my experience shows, it’s not always possible to make a correct estimate of a project’s costs.
I’m sure that, as time goes by, I’ll get better and better at this. But in the meantime, what do I do?
I can’t go back to my client and say my fee has changed.
What I can do is take note of what happened and use it as a learning experience for future reference. For example, in the future, I will remember to consider my product research time. I’ll also know what kind of preparation I need to make before writing similar materials.
Don’t Let This Happen To You
I hope you’ll learn from my mistakes:
- When coming up with your fee, imagine yourself going through the entire project. Write down each of the steps involved, along with the estimated time it takes to complete it, and what type of work you’ll have to do (such as research, analysis, or actual writing).
- Use a “healthy” hourly rate when estimating your fee. This gives you enough of a cushion for little underestimations you might make.
- Here’s another tip I picked up from Nick Usborne at Wealthy Web Writer: Once you have an estimate, sleep on it and review at least once before sending off. Nick says he almost always ends up doubling his initial estimate, after he has had time to let it simmer and put more thought into it.
- If the parameters of a project do change, then open the discussion of additional fees. For example, in my case, I told my client, “My fees do not include doing topic research myself. If additional research is required, then I will have to charge an additional $X.”
Where Does This Leave Me?
I was a little bit upset at first when I realized my mistake. But you know what? Since I recently increased my fees considerably, I don’t feel so bad about the whole thing anymore. I’m still getting paid a good sum for the work. And I’m still highly motivated to produce my best work for one of my best clients.
Which goes to show that, when you charge clients what you’re worth, then you’re better able to take care of them — as well as yourself.
Give Your Advice
Has this ever happened to you? Do you have any advice for me or other freelancers on this topic? Please post them in the comments below. Thank you!
PS: If you’re curious about the Wealthy Web Writer, it’s a site by American Writers and Artists, Inc. dedicated to helping web writers achieve wealth. As a member, you’ll get access to half a dozen webinars a month, a forum, and a job board. I highly recommend it! Click here to learn more about Wealthy Web Writer.
photo credit: alancleaver_2000
I feel your pain! I recently did this for an ongoing project and was never sure how to handle it. I decided it was my mistake so just learn from it but it sure is a tough lesson to learn.
.-= Christina Lemmey´s last blog ..Build A Better Business Contest =-.
I know, Christina, we can’t punish our clients for our mistakes. We just have to “swallow” it. Otherwise, we risk losing that client forever, including everyone he/she could have referred to us. Live and learn.
I think as a service provider who is also a business owner, I don’t agree that you have to “swallow” your mistake and go through with the project anyway.
I can understand your fear of losing a client, and it does happen, but coming from someone who has both serviced and hired professionals…once we find a service provider who always provides us with top-quality work, meets deadlines, and goes out of their way to meet our needs, we’re not going to let them go over a mis-quoted project.
There’s too many crappy service providers out, so when we find the good ones we’re loyal to them
I think you should be honest and talk to your client about your concerns. You’re a professional business, you’re not running a charity, so you should expect to be paid for the time and work you put into a project.
Once you approach her, tell her that you have to re-negotiate the project fee because of the unexpected work involved. Then allow her to make the decision about whether or not to continue with the project.
Chances are she’ll be fine with the extra fees, if not, then it’s her loss and in the end, more work for her. Because then she has to find someone else, explain the project, etc., and that takes time and her time is money.
As a service provider I finally stood my ground when it came to projects and being paid what I was worth, otherwise I didn’t want to take the work on because at the end of the day it’s not worth it.
Anyway, just my thoughts on it
.-= Melissa Ingold´s last blog ..WP-Robot Review Part 2 =-.
I disagree – you do not have to swallow it. If I were in your shoes I would contact the client as soon a I realized my mistake. A simple message:
“I have to touch base and let you know that I made a mistake in estimating the amount of time that would be needed to see this project through to completion. The topic is much more involved than I realized, something I couldn’t really have known until I tackled it and it will be taking me at least XX more hours to fulfill the task. I want to honor my estimate but the difference is large enough that I need amend it and let you decide if you’d like me to trim things down to stick to the current price or go ahead and take the extra time.”
That’s not punishing a client is it?
If you were working for me, I’d be really sad if you put in huge extra hours and didn’t let me know. Give me an opportunity to amend the project or just offer you more money.
.-= Kelly McCausey´s last blog ..Really Working at Home Again At Last =-.
Ok, Kelly and Melissa: I trust the two of you very much. I know you have the perspective of both a service provider and someone who outsources service providers. I will certainly give this some thought. I’ll see how much higher my estimate should have been, and if it is a significant difference, then I’ll negotiate my fee.
Thank you both so much for your advice!
Good for you Lexi! I look forward to hearing how it goes
I’ll keep you posted, Kelly! It helps that you gave me the script to renegotiate with my client. Thanks!
Interestingly, this is exactly why I still charge an hourly rate (it’s also what clients expect here in NZ).
Sure, as you get faster you get paid less, BUT when you have a decent volume of work from enough clients, being able to chew through things faster also means that you’ll complete a greater volume in a shorter time, meaning that you’ll end up with more money, and more projects
When I estimate, I always make sure to leave enough wiggle room, so that I don’t end up stupidly underpaid, and the client has at least an indication, but knows it’s not set in concrete. So I might say, “I estimate that this project will take 6-7 hours. I don’t expect it to be longer than 10.” I’ve never had a problem doing it this way – and I’ve got really good at doing it accurately, as well.
That’s a good approach if you’re charging by the hour. Thanks for sharing Lucy!
I think it’s also good practice for all of us to be willing at times to push the limits. By that I mean asking for what our time is worth, even though it may not be within the original estimate. It can be very reinforcing to do so and then have a client respond favorably. If they’re a good client who values your work, they’re not going to give you the boot.
I say this having just realized today that I’m going to run over my original time estimate, thus lowering my hourly rate. However, I’m going to let it go on this one for a couple of reasons. One is that it’s a subcontract bid through a friend’s agency and the copywriting was an add-on to the original contract. Another is that I’m having fun and there is a good possibility of getting a longterm gig out of the client for some articles at a higher rate.
Well said, Brian. We should ALWAYS charge what we’re worth
Hey there Lexi,
I think I was destined to stumble upon this piece of entry. why? because i’ve just experienced the same thing – underestimating a project fee! and like you, i overlooked the entire writing process which requires me to do a lot of research and not mentioning the urgent-ness of the project. Dang!
and thanks to Melissa and Kelly for pointing out that we freelancers should get back what is rightfully ours, even though i think it’s kinda hard to do. cheers, guys!
.-= Dila´s last blog ..Those Ignorant Cool Thirsty Teens =-.
Having underestimated project times in the past, I try and list out in an email to the client everything that the price I’ve quoted covers. (Eg: writing xx number of web pages, one briefing meeting, two follow-up meetings, two sets of amends etc). Then in my terms and conditions I state that, if the scope of project changes, it may incur an additional fee.
I always include ‘researching and assimilating all information’ as an action point because, as you say, it can take quite a bit of time before I start to write anything. Too many clients think they only have to pay for the time I actually spend tapping away at my keyboard!
.-= Freelance FactFile´s last blog ..My freelance story =-.
It just happen to me now. I will use Kelly advice. Lets see what will happen to me.