One thing I have struggled with over the years is whether or not to put my copywriting rates on my website. There are two conflicting schools of thought here that battle it out in my head:
- Putting prices on my quote page is a time saver, because it completely eliminates anyone who cannot afford me from contacting me. I do not waste time reading/sending three or four e-mails with someone, only to find out their budget was a six pack of beer.
- It also keeps people who can afford me from contacting me, because hey, they already have my price. No need for a quote, then. They have my price, and if they like me best in their comparison shopping, they’ll contact me.
The problem here comes from what happens after #2 above. They go to someone else’s website to find out their price… and this someone else doesn’t have prices. So they contact the “Other Writer” to get a price. Here’s the bad part about that – the shopper and the other writer are now talking. I never got to talk, because I showed my hand right away. And if I don’t talk (e-mail / whatever), I’m not getting the job.
Bottom line: I’d rather talk to a few people who can’t afford me than not talk at all. So no prices on my quote page.
There’s a part 2 to this post, because despite the above, I *still* want to have prices somewhere (you can already see it if you look in the dropdown links above, but I’ll give you the reasoning and my thoughts on it next time.)
But the conclusion for today is NO PRICES. Be in the game, not the sidelines.