Charge by the Hour – or by Project?

I’ve been writing copy for nearly 15 years, and I’ve NEVER charged by the hour.

Why? Well, keeping track of every minute I spend on different projects is a lot of work. And it takes time away from what I love… writing.

Besides, I’ve found that it just sets you up for trouble with your client.

Most clients have a budget for their copywriting projects. If you take longer than they anticipate – and end up charging them more than they expect – they’re likely to push back. And you might not get paid for all the hours you worked.

None of that is any fun. That’s why I prefer charging by project.

When you charge by project, you can negotiate your fee for the work ahead of time. That way, there are NO surprises when you bill the client. The fee is exactly what they expect, so they can put through the payment quickly.

But simplifying payment is just one thing charging by project does. It also allows you to give yourself a raise.

Let’s say it took you a week to write an email campaign when you were first starting out as a copywriter. As you gain more experience, you write faster – and can knock out the same type of promotion in half the time.

So, you’re getting paid the same amount of money for fewer hours worked. And you can use those free hours to earn more money on other projects.

That’s why I love charging by project – instead of by hour.

But you’re probably wondering how to know what to charge for the project. So glad you asked. Let me tell you how I figure it out…

First, determine how much you want to make in a month. (If you’re just starting out, don’t shoot for $10 grand. You need to prove your copywriting chops before expecting a pay-out like that.)

Next, guesstimate how long it will take you to complete the project.

Then, all that’s left is to do a little math. I’ll give you an example…

Let’s say you want to make $4,000 a month. That’s a nice, easy number to work with. It comes to an even $1,000 per week.

And you figure that the project will take you two weeks. (In the beginning of your copywriting career, this time period might be hard to judge. But it gets easier when you have some experience writing copy.)

Just multiply $1,000 by 2 – and you get your project fee.

This is a good starting place. As you grow as a copywriter, it won’t take you two weeks to complete the project – but you can charge the same price. And you can always raise your fees in the future when you have some wins under your belt.