Freelance copywriting??

[hatch80]

hi, im just starting out as a freelance legal copywriter. I left law as I was struggling to fit it in around my kids. im being asked how much id charge for a 500-1000 article and I have no clue!! im wondering whether anyone on here might be able to help me?? please? x

can anyone help?? x

I charge between 50p and £1 a word. You could work it out on an hourly rate if that's easier? Then convert it back into a word rate.

I charge £50 an hour.

This is one of the things you need to work out if you're running your own business, along with tax, invoicing, letterheads for letters, invoices, etc., a website...

How long will it take you? What are other people in the market charging?

If you're new and have no experience I'd charge less to start with, then review my fees in a year or so.

thanks everyone, thats really helpful. doing just fine and your lips - are you legal copywriters? im really trying to find out what people in the market are charging but not getting anywhere fast! thanks again x

No, I don't write for the legal profession. If you have a real niche you may be able to set your prices higher. It's hard to know isn't it?

Copywriter here (some of the time). For context: I'm not a legal writer.

So much of this depends on your qualifications, experience and where your clients tend to be based too.

I usually charge a day rate; I don't touch anything that's per article or per word because it's too fiddly to bill and it's usually not worth the time. But I was a head of copy at a big London agency and have been working as a writer for almost 20 years. So I can justify that fee.

I can see how legal work might need to work differently (i.e. not on a day rate). Is there anyone at your old firm/s — ideally someone who worked with freelance legal writers regularly — who you could take out for coffee to pick their brains? It would be useful to know what other legal writers charge. That way you can benchmark, and then tweak according to your own specialisms, experience, qualifications, area of interest etc.

As a freelancer, you do tend to get quite good at asking the four magic words: can you help me? And growing your network that way.

Interesting, I'm also going to start writing for a website but no idea how much to charge. As consultant (of a completely unrelated subject) I charge between £50-£250ph but I know my former boss won't pay above £50 (and that's pushing it!)

This is so helpful, thank you. I know literally hundreds of lawyers but sadly none that have any experience of using freelance writers - they all have in house marketing departments - so I'm really struggling to know where to pitch this. im getting a fair bit of interest so far which is really encouraging, but without knowing what to charge I'm not getting very far! I do have one contact who knows some legal publishers and they’ve suggested £50 an hour as a ballpark figure so I might open with that and see where I get to. I'm hoping that maybe the more experience I get and the more contacts I make, things will become clearer and I'll have more of a clue!! thanks again, this has been invaluable x

Is it definately worth charging per hour versus by project? To be honest every industry has their own benchmarks and it depends on your experience. A blog could be between £300-£1500 depending on many factors.

How did you all find your clients? I've just started down a similar path.

I need a hug, it's scary!

Copywriting rates are tricky indeed. I don't know about legal copywriting specifically but most creative/marketing copywriters I've worked with have charged around £50 per hour or more. Obviously time spent on briefing/rounds of amends following client review etc may be additional (or you may choose to factor in).
I know a lot of work is also costed on a per project basis.

Professional associations are often helpful with this sort of thing. You could try https://www.procopywriters.co.uk/

I know literally hundreds of lawyers but sadly none that have any experience of using freelance writers - they all have in house marketing departments

It might be worth approaching those departments - they might use freelancers.

Legal copywriting is one of the best paid niches in the freelance copywriting market. One of the few you can earn a very decent living from. You can start at £50ph and once you are established, as new client enquiries come in, increase your rates by £10 ph or more until you hit the right level of work flow and income flow. You do need to be prepared to work all hours at the drop of a hat if you get copywriting from Magic Circle firms. But they pay very well.

wow, thank you everyone! its all so helpful. I jumped in with two feet then was caught a little on the back foot! do you think its worth contacting the magic circle (and other) firms directly, or sticking with agencies for the time being? I’ll see if my lawyer friends can help by putting me in touch with their marketing departments, and take a look at that association. fantastic, thank you x

You need to think how many hours work it will be for you. The thing is as you get more confident you will get faster, so the issue with a by the hour method is that you could end up earning less over time so always think about how many hours worth of work it is, rather than the specific time you spend.

I work in tech and don't have an hourly rate. Only a project or day rate

As you get faster, your hourly rate should increase to reflect this.

Posted too soon,. I meant to add, a page rate or word count rate is a bad idea as some material is riddled with errors and needs complete rewrites as well as careful line edits. Per page or word count fees don't reflect this. I prefer per hour as I can increase my rates to reflect expertise but clients with reasonably polished copy get a good deal and return. That means I get to keep the best clients and weed out the really poor ones.

@goldfinchonthelawn

Obviously varies per industry. I would charge £500 plus for a blog but it would take me 2 hours. If I told them my hourly rate was £250 they would be less inclined I think. So I only operate a day rate or project rate.