This time, I’m going to talk about money. I speak of “bling,” in the parlance of our times. How can you squeeze that extra buck out of a client while still keeping them happy? If you’re not too worried about the “happy” part, you can take a page from la famiglia and offer your client “insurance.” It hasn’t worked so well for me in the past, though.

One issue I run across in writing is that I work extremely fast. I can come up with ideas for creative projects very quickly, and I type quickly. Therefore, working hourly has a inherent drawback for me. To make an effective income, I have to raise my rates to compensate for my speed. I can turn that into a major advantage for the buyer. They pay more per hour and get the product quicker, and you can capitalize on your speed by marketing it as a valuable part of your skillset. If you can work quicker, their opinion is that they payed about the same they would pay a slower provider, yet they received the product now instead of later. In those cases, they are usually more than willing to pay higher rates still for the speed factor. You make more money in less time, and the customer is happy!

I have a few other tips which are actually useful. These are methods that have worked for me with consistent effect.

When working for an hourly rate, you can easily find yourself in a plateau where you are stuck working for less than you should be. When people see that you’re asking for $50 an hour, yet you’ve only done jobs for $12 an hour, they seem to think it’s a bit fishy. To start making decent rates, you need to step your payment up slowly in increments. If you’ve only done jobs for $12, then try bumping your average rate up to $15. Get a job or two under your belt for $15 and then go up to $20. The higher you go, though, the more jobs you have to complete at that rate and your previous rate before people will accept that you are worth the money. Also, if there is an easier job with a tighter budget, you look like a better candidate if you’re dropping your rates from $20 to $15 for them.

Another tactic I’ve found very useful is to negotiate fixed-priced jobs by hourly payment. With previous clients, I’ve told them my hourly rate, but they said that they couldn’t afford it. With someone working at a normal pace, they probably couldn’t afford it. However, I will offer a fixed-price quote on short hourly jobs. For example, for a five page document with an average of 500 words per page, I’ll calculate it as $0.10 per word. So, that’s 2500 words for a total payment of $250. Then, I’ll tell them that I’ll work at $50/hr+oDesk fee while they limit the hours per week to 5. That way, I’ve had job experience at $50/hr, I’m guaranteed payment, and the buyer knows exactly what he or she is paying for the job. It’s security for everyone involved.

Just doubling your rate on your profile won’t give you anything. A buyer won’t consider you to be worth the money unless you have proven job experience and a good rating tied to it. Go the extra mile to make sure that the client is happy with the work so that you’ll have a great rating. If you ever need quick money, you can swoop in on projects below your average rate and appear to be the best candidate for the job. Since the buyer sees you working for $30 an hour consistantly, they’re “getting a bargain” by having you work at $25. All the while, you’re raking in cash hand-over-fist.

Those are just a couple ways to keep your rates going higher and higher. They have worked for me quite well. You just have to put in some elbow grease to climb the ladder.

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