I came across a Yahoo headline that asked, “Are You Paid Enough?” Of course, I had to click.
A group of guys set out to remove the mystery of how much everyone makes back in 2000. They created Payscale.com, an interactive website where you can compare your present job or future jobs against what everyone else in the world is making. If you’re an employer, create profiles for pay rates of potential employees. Payscale offers tips for interviews, salary negotiations, and leads on jobs. Once you start creating “What Ifs” (job profiles), you won’t be able to stop. This site is addictive.
I did 3 separate job profiles for Graphic Designer and compared the pay rates of graphic designers for the US Southwest, the US East Coast, and Canada. For what I think I should be making, I should be living on the US East Coast instead of the Southwest (James, don’t you dare say, “I told you so”). Quebec’s pay rate for a graphic artist was within the same range as that of the Southwest. Believe me, it was an eye-opener.
Knowing what the average pay rates are for your area of expertise can help you negotiate a salary in an interview, a raise at a review, or a freelancer’s pay rate. You will have a clearer idea of how much to ask for as a salary without worrying if it’s too low or too high.
Money’s a difficult enough subject to breach with an employer, business partner, or a client. Don’t get caught on the spot without any information to back up your argument. Having a handful of solid information to bring to the negotiating table can save both sides a lot of headaches.
I told you so. *smirks*
One of the issues revolving pay for freelance writing in a virtual world is international competition. Different economies of other countries make $1 US dollar an extremely attractive sum of money. Other countries see $1 US dollar as not even enough to buy a coffee.
If you are competing for freelance gigs, then your rates should reflect the regional ones to be competitive.
If you are competing internationally for freelance gigs, you have no choice but to take international economies into account.
Every day, big corporations compete on a global scale. In my opinion, countries with different economies should charge higher rates to equal the global scale rather than undercut everyone’s opportunities to work. It’s one thing to be competitively fair; it’s another to slash rates that you’re giving your work away to compete against countries where 1$ USD translates into a large sum of money for their economy.
The problem is when buyers are faced choosing between two providers who offer the exact same service with rates at either extreme of the scale. Buyers will either choose the more expensive provider, thinking more expensive equals better quality (not always true), or choose the cheapest provider, thinking to save money (again, not always true).
You do have a choice. You can still give someone a good deal and offer a respectable price without losing your own shirt in the process. You can have respect for your craft and charge a reasonable rate for your services or follow the rates of those who bring down the global industry rates.
The longer some freelancers continue to maintain low industry rates by dropping their prices to compete with others, the worse the situation will be. Working to earn income will become a joke and we’ll all end up giving our work away for free.