Hello Reader!

You've heard the story from the amazing book on buyer psychology, Influence (get the book if you haven't read it yet).

In short, there’s this jewelry store owner, right? Business is dead.

She’s sitting on a case full of beautiful turquoise jewelry that nobody seems to want.

She’s tried sales. Discounts. BOGOs. Nothing.

Finally, out of frustration, she scribbles a note to her manager before heading out of town:

“Everything in the turquoise case — price × ½.”

A few days later, she comes back to find something shocking.

Everything’s gone. Every single piece. Sold out.

But not because it was half off.

The manager misread her note.

He thought she meant “price × 2.”

He doubled the prices.

Turns out, people didn’t see cheap jewelry. They saw exclusive jewelry.

It was the same product & store, but buyers had a totallly different perception.

I can't begin to tell you how much this story should resonate with content writers, especially now.

People don't want .01/word content. That's what AI or a crappy writer is for.

Really, does this instill confidence that you'll get worthwhile copy?

No.

Clients want the EXPENSIVE writer that everyone wants to hire. They want the writers with chops, systems & processes, and high-quality writing. And, they want the price tag to match.

Here's a quick reference guide for rates:

See the FREE rates benchmark report

For reference, I've been writing for 15+ years. I write in the SaaS niche. I don't accept writing projects under $1000. Unless I can justify a lower rate with how many hours it will take. Wanna pay me $400 for something that will take an hour? Then, sure. Twist my arm.

So, that brings us to a fun challenge...

Challenge: Raise your rates. If you're below 0.25/word (which is kinda low), that should be the minimum. If you're above that rate, try boosting your rates by 10% for every new client.

Thanks for reading,

Ashley R. Cummings

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