Freelancers: How to Create + Sell Writing Packages to Clients

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Apr 18

There are so many freelance gurus out there who say things like “this is the one thing that 10x’d my income!!” or “do this to land dream clients!!” and most of their tips I found pretty useless. (And usually gatekeep-y as I had to watch their live seminar or book a call with them to actually hear what their tips were.)

However, there was one structural change to my pricing as a freelance writer that actually did triple my annual income and give clients more value, so please excuse me if I sound like I’m trying to sell you something (I’m not, I’m literally just going to tell you for free in a sec!)

Last year, I worked pretty much only on an hourly basis. This worked for me at the time because I was able to jump into creative projects for as long as they needed me, and peace out when the project was either completed or abandoned (which happens quite a bit in some of the niches I was working in.) I was also able to be generous with my copywriting clients — they were paying for my time, after all, so I was happy to do any number of revisions or extra research they needed. In this pricing model, I was optimizing to prevent being taken advantage of by clients.

However, most clients want to be clear on the budget for a project before starting. This is totally understandable, but until this year I didn’t quite know how to service these clients without getting locked into a project that would go on forever. I needed a fixed-rate pricing structure that could work both for myself and my clients.

Enter: package pricing. Basically, if you’re a freelance writer in any niche, you can create a package of services or deliverables so that you can more easily budget your time, energy, and provide value to clients.

By listening to what my clients wanted and also finding a structure and price point that allowed me to be generous with my time and revisions, I hit the highest-earning months of my freelance career.

Here’s how:

How I Approach Selling Writing Packages for Freelance Clients

As of the writing of this blog post, my base package is $7,500 for my 24 hour foundational copywriting package. It includes all the foundational copy and messaging web3 projects and startups need to get going, and includes two revisions per item.

Package pricing helps clients know exactly what they’re getting for what cost, compared to hiring me on an hourly basis. I’m able to really dig into my freelance projects and make sure my clients are thrilled with the end result.

Package pricing helps freelancers because you’re able to more clearly understand what your goals are for the year, and understand how to schedule packages in your workflow and allocate the right amount of time to each client rather than just maxing out your client workload when you’re unsure how many hours you’re going to bill for each project.

Let’s dive into how to build your packages.

3 Tips for Building Your Freelance Writing Packages

Tip #1: Get specific on your deliverables.

If your deliverables are vague, your clients won’t know what they’re getting and might take advantage of you if they don’t feel like they’re getting what they thought they were getting.

So, get super specific on your deliverables, what they look like, and — when relevant! — provide examples before the project begins. Your deliverables could be a set of brand images and web design templates if you’re a graphic designer. Or, it could be a set of copywriting documents, a memoir manuscript, or whatever your freelance writing niche is.

Freelancers should set the terms for the deliverables: you should explain what you’re offering and how the deliverables will look, rather than the client providing you the deliverable info. Any time the client is looking for something specific, I often opt to provide an hourly rate quote instead. This is especially true for creative projects that are a bit fuzzy when it comes to scope of work. You can’t create packages if you’re not crystal-clear on the deliverables you’re putting together.

Think of packages as pre-set terms. Kind of like when you walk into a sandwich shop and you can either make your own sandwich or buy from their pre-set special sandwich list. Your Veggie Surprise can have alterations, but generally you’re ordering it because the shop has dubbed it a high-quality combination of ingredients that you’re going to love to have for lunch.

Tip #2: Cap word count and revisions.

Always always always have an upper limit for your word count and a set number of revisions.

This helps your client know how many revisions they have available, and encourages them to collate their notes (and their team’s notes!) into one set of notes rather than doing endless revisions. This makes the process smoother on both sides, and keeps things moving at a good pace.

The last thing you want to do is get yourself into a loophole of doing an infinite amount of work on a project. Instead, you can politely point to your contract with your client if they ask for more revisions, and recommend they switch to hourly with you beyond the agreed-upon limit.

If disagreements come up, it’s important that these things are spelled out in writing in your contract. If you’re on a freelance platform like Upwork, be sure to write out your deliverable details in the messages so you have a record if something goes wrong.

Tip #3: Get competitive with your price so that you can get generous with your time.

I always want to make sure I have the time, energy, and brain space to go above and beyond for clients, and that’s because I have competitive rates. If you’re hiring the best, they should be highly skilled, well-rested, happy, and excited to give you some of their best thinking hours of their week — and those hours aren’t cheap.

It’s much harder to be generous when you’re not taking care of yourself and consistently learning, resting, and making space for what you care about. Showing up inspired, excited, and ready to do great work requires a generous mindset.

That’s why you need to charge higher than your first instinct. When we’re conceptualizing what something will take, it’s important to over budget for time and energy so you can deliver great work, every time.

The Authentic Approach to Selling Freelance Packages

I don’t believe in selling, at least not in the way you might think of it. I believe in creating compelling offerings, and finding the people who can benefit the most from them.

Example: the tech community at large is great at moving fast, iterating, and building compelling products. I would also say a majority of the tech community is overdeveloped in building and undeveloped in communicating why what they are building is so great.

So, I jumped into the tech space to offer my creative and technical copywriting skills. I saw a need for my skills, and began to offer ways in which I could help.

The best packages solve a problem. And once you’ve found a problem to solve, you’ve got to spread the word to the people who need it the most.

Why Packages Create More Value for Clients

Anytime I’m changing my rates or pricing structure, I make sure the changes I’m making are still providing enormous value to my clients.

When considering package pricing, put yourself in the shoes of a potential client: do they want to work with a harried, barely-making-livable-wage freelancer who is stressed about money and trying to heap on as many client projects as possible? Or do they want to work with a relaxed, well-funded freelancer who is able to deliver high-quality work because they’re rested and have enough time to stay sharp with trends and keep learning and honing their craft?

When clients are paying for freelancers, they’re not just paying for your time. They’re paying for your expertise, the time you’ve spent learning about your niche, and the energy expended to hone your craft — not to mention all the projects you’ve had experience on before theirs.

When I’ve hired freelancers for projects in the past, I’ve often opted for paying more for more experienced and knowledgeable freelancers, which saves money and time in the long run and results in better quality work.

Also, remember that freelancers are paid so much more than traditional employees because you’re essentially renting the time and experience of someone you: a) did not have to train, b) did not have to pay for things like health insurance/other benefits, c) get their talent on-demand, when you need their help.

Because of that, you pay a premium. But in the long run, freelancers can be much more affordable than long-term employees.

As a specialist in web3, I’m helping my clients shape their fundamental brand messaging and copy. I’ve worked in this space since the beginning, and I know the secret sauce of what projects succeed and what projects fail. That knowledge alone — when leveraged correctly! — can make a project worth billions. So, I make sure my “rented rate” or my hourly or package rates align with my market value.

All of that to say, clients get what they pay for and freelancers earn what they’ve worked for.

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