Real Words

I have been a freelance writer for quite a long time now, working primarily (but not entirely) in web writing and blogging. Part of the way that I maintain this career over time is to steadily increase my freelance rates. (Read this article to learn how to do it yourself!) And having done this consistently over the years, I’ve seen a pattern develop: my creativity rises in direct proportion to the increase in my rates.

Here are some of the reasons that I think raising your freelance rates will boost your creativity:

• More time per project. When I first started out doing freelance writing from home, the majority of the jobs that I get were SEO / keyword article jobs that paid approximately $4 per 500 words. In order to be able to pay my bills, I had to write hundreds of articles per month. No matter how many times I tried to convince myself that I could infuse those articles with some creativity, it just didn’t happen. After raising my keyword article rate, I was able to drop down the number of articles I’d write monthly. This let me devote more time to each article and that allowed me to actually get creative with some of the pieces. Sure, they were still keyword-driven articles but I could take the time to write more creatively and research new aspects of each project. I learned more, was more interested in the work and wasn’t so pressured to produce quantity that my quality improved because of it.
• Better projects. When you start charging higher rates, you’ll actually start to get higher-quality projects coming your way. Basically, people figure that they get what they pay for and you’re going to draw a higher-quality client from a higher pay requirement (assuming that you can follow through with quality work). Better projects tend to not only allow you more creativity but actually demand it of you. They don’t want just the standard “fit this many keywords in” kind of article. They want a unique perspective and a fresh voice and that means that they want you to be more creative. They’re paying you for exactly that!
• Time for non-work creativity. When you raise your rates, you can decrease your workload and actually take time for yourself. This may mean that you have the time to actually work on creative writing projects like that novel that’s been hanging over your head for years. Or it may mean that you have the time and money to attend art gallery openings, indie film screenings and other events that inspire you to be more creative in your own life. At the very least, it means that you have some time to read and that can be one of the most inspiring things for a writer!
• You’re more likely to demand creativity of yourself. No matter how hard you may try not to, you probably have a tendency to treat each job in relation to what it pays you. If you get paid $5 to do an article, you just aren’t going to feel motivated to put a lot of effort into it. If you’re getting paid $500 to do that article, you’re going to pressure yourself to give it some more time and attention. You will hold yourself up to a higher standard of work in accordance with the higher pay and that means that more creative work is likely to come out of you.
• Better feelings in general. We may not like it but this society tends to value us based on what we earn for our work. Unless you’re truly enlightened, your own self-esteem and energy levels can be greatly impacted by what you’re earning for your freelance writing. When you’re earning more for your work, you feel like it has more value. This translates into feeling better about your work overall and that can give you the extra enthusiasm that you need to boost your creativity.
• Quality networking. Although getting paid more for your work doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re going to be better at social networking (online or off) it does mean that you’re going to be in a position to meet other people who take their writing work (and yours) more seriously. This opens up the doors to networking with others in the writing field. That kind of networking can serve as a diving board for entering a new area of creativity and focus on your work.

Raising your rates alone isn’t going to suddenly flood your life with creativity. But it can certainly play a key factor in freeing up your time and energy to do more creative work. It can also improve the way that you approach your work and network about it which can make you feel more inspired to do a better job at what you do.

Question of the Day: Do you agree or disagree that raising your freelance writing rates can directly mean that you do mroe creative work?

[Tags] freelance, writing, blogging, creativity, rates [/Tags]