When to renegotiate freelancer rates?

Salaried folks get hikes year on year. But not freelancers. Because there is no “year-end review” or “performance appraisal” for non-employees. I’ve seen freelancers work at the same rates for years! Don’t.

For existing customers, here’s when I renegotiate rates:

• At the end of the trial period: Based on the agreement with the client, a trial period can either be a few articles or a few months. I always insist that there be scope for renegotiation at the end of this period. When it comes, I review the work and evaluate if the remuneration is worth it. I adjust accordingly.

• At the end of the contract period: My contracts expire in a year — as in, they don’t roll over if not cancelled. So, at the end of the year, the contract has to be renewed, which means the money conversation needs to be had.

• When scope of work changes: When the client wants more work done, they’ll pay more.

But how to renegotiate freelancer rates? Coming up tomorrow.

P.S.: Just yesterday, one of the blog posts I was writing for a client overran the agreed length — we’d agreed on 800-1000 words, but this one was 1800 words. I wrote to them saying “It’s fine this time, but we’ll have to talk about it if it happens again”. She called back and offered me better rates immediately. <3