I also work with SMEs and small agencies, and also with individuals, and although budget is always a consideration, I usually find that my fees are of less significance than the quality of the service I provide. My fees are clearly stated on my website (unlike a lot of copywriters) and I’ve honestly never had any trouble finding work or keeping clients. I raise my prices twice every year and will continue to do so until I hit a point where I’m not getting any work. I have a couple of friends in communications who charge more than £250 an hour for copywriting, and although I’m not yet at that level myself, I certainly intend to be within the next five years.

Rather than undermine people’s confidence, I hope that my interview will encourage others to think bigger, be a bit more ambitious, charge more for their work and as a result do less work for more money. Writing is a valuable skill and shouldn’t be undervalued by businesses or by copywriters. Maybe it’s time to hike up your prices? I don’t think it’s unrealistic to charge £400 a blog post if you’re a good writer with decent portfolio and are good at managing the client relationship. Food for thought?

On the issue of pricing, there are clearly customers who are willing to pay a premium for exceptional work that makes a difference to their business.

There are also many clients with small budgets who could not pay more if they wanted to.

One challenge of freelancing is deciding which clients you prefer to serve. I know as many copywriters who want to help small businesses as those who prefer the bigger clients.

Also, if a blog post takes you more than a day to research and write (not unusual with longer articles) and if you’re also weaving in things like SEO research, then £475 is not at all unreasonable.

I have plenty of regular and rewarding work. If I started charging upwards of £400 for each blog post, that work would soon disappear.

I read another post from a copywriter claiming to charge £250 an hour.

Yes, we need to value our work and our profession higher, but we also need to be realistic. Those copywriters who can charge £400+ for a blog post because of their client base and status should think carefully before advising the rest of us, because the real risk is that you undermine the confidence of people working hard to make a meaningful living from this.