How much to charge for a press release?

I'm in a quander about how much I should be charging for a press release. I normally charge by the hour or day for editing, copywriting, pr and proofreading but I have a client who wants charging by the press release. The only problem with this is it's quite a small amount (£35) and I'm finding that by the time I've researched, written, edited and completed the press release it's taken the best part of my working day, and all for £35 - even less once I've accounted for tax!

With the credit crunch I'm loathe to ask the client for more money but wondering if it's really worth my time in the long run?

What do others think? How do other people work out what to charge?

 

Who set the rate of £35 per release? Is it for regular ongoing work on the same theme or is that the fee for one-off pieces as and when? If the latter it's not much at all.

Assuming it's the client you could try and educate them on the work involved; so show them how long it took you to complete one release, how much time you spent researching, drafting, editing etc. Sometimes clients genuinely don't understand the effort put into these things and saying "I want to continue to work for you at this high standard of quality, to do that I need to increase the fee to X" or if they really don't have the budget agree to minimise the time spent by cutting back on time spent researching say.

You also have to appreciate your own value or else your clients aren't likely to either.

 

Dear AliG,

Clearly you can't survive on that, and then there's the client's perception of what a PR is and how long it takes - probably thinks you run it off in five minutes.

I would work on it from both sides:

1. Change your own definition of what constitutes a good PR.

You may find that your standards are way to high for the price being offered. So look at your own criteria and how you can work "smarter" getting more done in less time. Don't fall in to the "I've always done it this way" trap or "I'm not willing to change."

This is business, it's perception and delivery of value. It's a balance, and finding that balance is what business is about. if you don't, you won't be in business.

2. Offer the client a sliding scale of charges for PR.

With the £35 being that you spend 2 hours MAX on it.

IMHO.

Good luck with it
John
Freelance Coach

 

There is a huge variation in prices and it depends purely what they require from it.

 

How much to charge for a press release

I charged £50 but I feel I undersold myself. it took 2-3 days. I researched all the stuff needed to understand the company, asked questions, asked for pix, several phone calls, wrote the release and re-wrote it when the person was not happy(he was not a journalist and did not understand the industry), gave advice on placement and emailing etc. So, I think it depends on how much work you have to do. Perhaps after an initial discussion place the amount at £50-£75. Don't forget you are giving up all rights and the company can use your stuff over and over again. Hope this helps.:banana

 

£150 per release

We sometimes use a copywriter at the firm I am freelancing at. She charges £150 fixed cost per release.

 

Its appropriate.

 

Not much i usually like to charge $3 per press release.....

 

Hi everyone! I'm new. Make me welcome.

It's the same thing I always come up against as a copywriter, but at the end of the day, you get what you pay for!

I still have clients from when I just started out, and I will do everything I can to keep their prices low. In those instances, they get shorter press releases, less meticulous research, and not a lot of scope to have things changed and modified until they are happy.

As a standard now the usual ballpark is between £100 and £150 for a release. That's from coming up with the specific idea for the release (ie. angling their subject matter so it's more likely to be published/create interest), researching the content, physically writing the thing, and - within reason - going back and forth on any edits that they might require.

Fact is, though, that it's a bit of a false economy for clients - if they're paying a good price in the first place, they can be confident that they get the release delivered when they want it, to the highest possible standards.

 

I just think that people get what they pay for.

I would usually charge between £100 and £150 for a press release, and my clients are happy with that and happy to come back.

But it always comes down to the individual client, at least in my experience. I'm not saying you should milk them for whatever they're worth, but I'm saying you have to consider what is reasonable for them to pay, given the size of their business and the scale of their revenue.