Freelancers: Do Not Discount For Promises of Future Work
Tags: Freelance Writing, Small Business, Freelancing, Freelancers, Customer Service

Freelancers: Do Not Discount For Promises of Future Work

Photo: Magnet.me/Unsplash

When you are a freelancer, you learn to find your own definition of customer service. Since it is your business, you are the boss. You are the person who is responsible for deciding what you can and cannot offer, and that includes discounts.

Now, in most cases, I advise against providing discounts. You deserve to be paid your rate, but even I have an exception to the rule: bulk orders. And that is where things get tricky.

“But, I’m Going To Bring A Ton of Work”

As a little baby freelancer, I heard this a lot. Clients would come by with big aspirations for their marketing efforts. They would be high on the promises of wealth from some LinkedIn article that said success was only one blog away. Search engine optimization (SEO) is breaking into every single blog space on the internet and making everyone feel like a marketing expert. So, yeah, your new client has plans. You know what they don’t have? Follow through.

“I will need twenty to thirty posts a month.”

So many people invest in the idea of SEO and make these grand plans to bring their business to that coveted first page of Google. And yes, it is absolutely possible. Unfortunately, it is not an overnight process. If all I had to do to take over any industry was post thirty posts as quickly as possible, I would be Queen of the Internet. Sure, plenty of my clients are on the first page of Google. Some of them are even the first option after those pesky ads, but the majority of them have been working at it for some time and are doing plenty on the back-end to support their website’s SEO efforts. But, those LinkedIn articles don’t mention any of that because then it might sound like work instead of an easy process that anyone can do.

“I have all of the article ideas planned out.”

Yes, they have some article ideas planned out. They have the top ten suggestions from Ubersuggest, and maybe a few ideas they stole from a competitor’s website. Since they came up with these basic ideas, they think it will be smooth sailing to come up with more. It’s not. They will ask you for input, which is fine, but it does bring additional work. So, now you’re doing more work for someone who isn’t paying full-price for an article in the first place. More effort, less money. That’s bad for business.

“We agreed on this price.”

Then, there comes the awkward part. Your client, the one who promised you work every single week and then ghosted for over a month, suddenly returns for their next order. So, what do you do? Do you offer them the discounted rate and honor your verbal commitment even though they did not follow through on theirs, or do you quote them the full price and wait for them to get upset or attempt to correct you? It’s a conversation that isn’t fun and it can lead to some unpleasant interactions. I’ve seen clients legitimately get upset over being asked to pay full price. Why? In their mind, they just got a little distracted and you are now overreacting. They will think that you are being greedy for wanting to be paid your actual rate when they know you could charge less. It’s not a fun talk.

The Facts

Right now, there are countless blogs designed to stress the importance of SEO. Why? For the sake of SEO. As ridiculous as it might sound, websites are posting about search engine optimization for the sake of search engine optimization. So, your clients are seeing a lot of it. They are seeing those pretty little promises of overnight success and how they can easily beat out their competitors — and they want in.

But, in the years that I have spent doing this, I can absolutely assure you that when a business owner gets distracted, their marketing efforts immediately get put on the backburner. The second their schedule gets too busy, you will be forgotten. They won’t care about the fact that you were promised work and did not receive it — which can be particularly terrible if you are at the point in your career where you don’t have a guaranteed lineup of work at all times.

Even a client with the best intentions can let you down, so focus on clients that show you in advance how committed they are to the process.

My Exception

Though time has taught me to always ask for my rate, I do give an exception for bulk orders. See, when someone places a bulk order, they are paying for my services in advance. Since I have that guarantee of commitment, I do generally offer a small discount. Now, what this looks like for you might look different than it looks for me. I’m not offering discounts for ten mini-blogs. These discounts are only given to those who are committing to several hundred dollars worth of content and paying for it in advance. I like to do nice things for my clients when I can, so I try to do my part.

For me, discounting on bulk orders is not just a matter of money. I’m at a point in my career where I’ve got a constant flow of work. I don’t need someone to buy out my time, but I do appreciate someone offering me a singular focus. While I do love the varying nature of freelance work, it generally takes less effort to write ten blogs on a single topic than to write ten blogs on ten different topics. They save me time, so I save them money.

Business Is Business

Depending on your freelance craft(s), you might be more prone to hearing these promises. Freelance writing jobs tend to be ongoing, which makes a lot of clients feel more entitled to discounts. But, the fact is that unless they contractually agree to bring that work, you might end up out in the cold. Instead of getting swept up in someone’s vision, remember that your entire business is just one part of theirs.

Whether you are a writer, designer, social media manager, or something else fun and groovy, you deserve to be paid for it. Stick to your rate and only give exceptions when you are gaining a clear advantage too. Business partnerships are meant to be mutually beneficial, so don’t sell yourself short. Dollars speak louder than words.