Stop Working for Free, You’re Ruining It for Everyone Else

A definitive guide to setting your rates and getting paid as a freelancer

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

Please stop working for free.

Please stop accepting $5 Upwork jobs.

Please do not work for less than minimum wage.

Why? Because you’re worth more, and, honestly, I’m worth more.

Recently I documented my first foray into freelancing, where I made $7800 over 40-ish hours of work — averaging out at $65 an hour.

How I Made $7,800 in My First Month as a Freelance Writer

Since publishing the article, I’ve been inundated with questions both from readers and friends in real life asking me to drill down into the details — specifically, how I set my rates and why I won’t work for free.

To address the latter first, simply put — I respect myself, I respect my time and I respect other writers in the industry.

I classify ‘free’ as anything where the rate is significantly out of proportion to the task — like asking someone to edit your 30,000-word novel for…