In January, I did something I don’t think I’ve ever done in my 9.5 years of freelancing: 

I raised my rate mid-project. 😬

Before I get into the guts of the story, I want to make two things clear:

1. I do not recommend this approach. It felt necessary for me (and I’ll explain why), but I am not at all advocating that you do this for all of your projects moving forward. 

2. This was entirely my fault. I should’ve pumped the brakes and taken more time to clearly think through the scope of work before I accepted the project. 

Okay, with those disclaimers out of the way, here’s what happened: At the very end of 2023, I accepted a project from a client I’ve worked with sporadically. I know them, I like them, I trust them, we’ve worked together successfully for years, and they’ve always been happy with the work I deliver.

The project was quite a bit different from the work I typically do. It was essentially a package of stories. It required digging up numerous sources (which proved to be challenging) and completing a lot of interviews—before even getting into the actual writing work. 

When this client pitched me the project, they included a rate. At the time, it seemed like a big number. It was far more than I’d charge for a typical SEO blog post (understandably).  And if I’m being honest with myself, I think I got so googly-eyed at the sight of those digits that I said, “Yep, that sounds great—let’s go!” without giving much thought to the actual amount of time and elbow grease I’d need to invest in the project.

You can probably see where this is going…

I wasn’t far into the project when I realized that it was a lot more work than I had bargained for. When I had already invested hours upon hours into trying to find sources (and hadn’t even touched the actual interviews or writing work yet), I knew that I had done a major “uh-oh” here.

I tried to grit my teeth and stick it out for a while. “This is what I agreed to,” I told myself. Or, “It’s my own fault.” Or when I was feeling extra delusional, “Maybe when I get through this first part, the rest of the work will fly by and I won’t feel so underpaid.”

Welp, that didn’t happen. And after pouring more and more hours and energy into this project that spanned months, I faced the harsh reality that I wanted to go back to that client with my tail between my legs and say, “Oops, pay me more, pwease!” (professionally, of course). 

So that’s what I did. Here’s a look at the email I sent (with a few sections and snippets removed, as to not give away the project or client): 

Hi [Name],

Quick question for you: Is there any room to bump up the rate for this project? 

I know we originally agreed to $XXXX when this was first pitched. But given the time I’ve already spent sourcing and interviewing (before even writing anything), I readily admit that I didn’t think through the scope of this carefully enough.

I want to be clear: I will still complete this project at the agreed-upon rate if necessary. This is not at all a “pay me more or I’m walking” sort of situation. And I’m definitely not in the habit of asking for more money mid-project, so this is new to me. But, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask if there was room in the budget to bump this one up to a place where it feels more fair.

Could you come up to $XXXX for this project? 

Thanks so much!

Kat 

How did it go? They were super receptive to it. So receptive, in fact, that my contact responded within 20 minutes and said: 

“YES! Let’s bump up your rate. This has been so much work and you’ve done a fabulous job.”

I was so relieved. And while I absolutely can’t guarantee the same result for you, I’m happy I asked (despite the fact that I’m probably still way undercharging for the scope of this project).

I guess I can chalk it up as yet another one of those freelance lessons that’s learned the hard way. There are a lot of those, aren’t there? 😉