Freelance B2B copywriters - how much would you charge for a 2500 word white paper

[wasabipeanut]

Given that I am starting out and need to be ultra competitive.

Any ideas? My thoughts were around £1500 for one paper and £1250 if a group of 3 were commissioned.

I need to be cheaper than the bloke they use but not too much cheaper!

I'd base it on projected time involved. £30 an hour.

How long will it take you? Daily rates range between £150 (magazine work) to £400 (specialist). TBH £1500 sounds quite a lot for your work count but that may be standard for your industry? Sorry not to be of more help.

This might help www.cipr.co.uk/looking/freelance_rates.pdf

The prices you've quoted do seem a bit steep, though.

Thanks for this guys - the feedback was that, yes, they were a bit steep! Lesson learned....

Never mind, wasabipeanut you don't know til you ask! I'm finding that in the current economic climate, bids are becoming increasingly more competitive.

Yes Jaamy you're right. It was inevitable I suppose. The problem is that because I'm starting up I have the double whammy of the fact that I have no track record PLUS the economic downturen to contend with.

I think I'm going to end up paying people to let me write for them!

I'm not too far down the line of starting up myself. I'm lucky to have had a steady dribble of work from a company I used to work for so haven't had to actively bid for much. A business advisor recommended that I do a few (nearly)freebies just to build up my portfolio and experience. Might be worth a try if you can afford to do that. You can't beat word of mouth as an "in" to a client!

Hopefully we'll both be very busy before long! Good luck!

Thanks Jaamy, you too