I want to quickly share something that happened to me yesterday. If you’re a relatively new and inexperienced writer, or if you just lack confidence sometimes, hopefully you’ll get something out of this.
Before I start, the aim of this post is not to complain about clients who try to lowball you. It’s not about poor rates of pay generally. Instead, I simply want to illustrate what can happen if you assert yourself and push back against people.
Potential New Client
Last week, I received a LinkedIn message about a potential new casino content project. Nothing unusual there – I’ve spent years building a personal brand on that platform, and it’s by far my main source of new business.
However, we didn’t discuss very much at all. They wanted to chat over email first. Okay, no problem.
Yesterday, this dropped into my inbox:
Lowball Rate
“Hi Dominic,
We are looking for a freelance content writer to join our team and think your profile could work well.
I’d like to suggest a paid trial casino review at €0.05 per word.”
Now, if you’ve read my post about how much iGaming writers can earn, you’ll know this is far below my usual rate of $0.14 per word. Although I wrote that piece a couple of years ago, nothing much has changed in terms of my pricing.
Blunt Reply
Naturally, I didn’t see the point in going any further. The proposed fee is too far from my own to bother negotiating. What would they offer me, maybe €0.08 max? It’s still nowhere near my expectations. So, I sent a short, sharp and to-the-point reply.
But within just a few minutes, this happened:
Pushing Back Works
I learned a long time ago that, if you want to increase your prices, you must not accept lowball offers.
I know that’s hard when you don’t have much work and the bills are piling up. But if you keep accepting joke rates, clients will keep paying joke rates. This is basic economics.
When I replied to that email, I genuinely wasn’t attempting to negotiate. It wasn’t some sort of power move. I didn’t even expect a reply, as I assumed my email would be considered rude.
All I was trying to do was say “no” as efficiently as possible, so as not to waste the time of either participant.
But it just goes to show what can be achieved when you assert yourself.
My name is Dominic Field. I’ve been in the gambling industry since 2008. Please get in touch to discuss my iGaming content services.