I also find that there are some projects which seem to take forever and others that pay very well but don’t take as long. I find this evens out the workload as well as the compensation.

…quirement in jobs. Surprisingly, writing is also listed, but that could actually be a bad trend for writers, because it shows writing is a more commonly expected skill , rather than … just technical skills of some kind. Adrienne, thanks for your n…

It’s great that you found a freelance field that suits you better, but the evaluation of the freelance writing field isn’t quite accurate.

Those charging $400+ per page usually don’t have a problem finding clients willing to pay (while that’s far from the high end of the spectrum, to get even there you’d need to have built a pretty solid network and reputation amongst buyers already).

At the same time those clients know it’s worthwhile for a reason – their own time is more valuable elsewhere (as in actually running their business, developing something new, or securing customers of their own). If their time isn’t more valuable than what they’d be spending by outsourcing the work, then that client simply isn’t within that writer’s target market.

I’ve found that the biggest problem most freelancers have (writing or otherwise) is poorly targeting prospective clients–often by trying to target markets or rates their credentials can’t back up. Once you can do that and effectively convey your value to those people, you’ll thrive in any freelance field.

Best of luck in WordPress freelancing. I’m not sure if you’re just planning to help people make tweaks or take on full theme development, but either way there’s definitely a demand.

You say “freelance writing is a lot harder than clients assume”. Some clients, sure. But a lot of my clients find writing so difficult and painful that they regard what I do with embarrassing levels of awe! And I don’t think those clients are in short supply. The trick (as with any other service) is finding people who really need you.

As for your cost breakdown – (1) I rarely spend 90 minutes consulting with a client about a single page! Most of my clients want multiple pages, anyway. (2) Finding images might be an extra service you offer, but I wouldn’t consider it part of the cost of *writing*. (3) $400 isn’t a lot to spend on copy – even for a single page – if it’s going to mean the difference between people buying and not buying your product. Again, it’s a question of finding clients who get this. (4) Even when people write their own copy, you can still offer to edit and polish it, so it’s not an all-or-nothing proposition.

Cheers!