Fairly often, prospective clients want to see our rate structure before they even begin to discuss work with us. It’s reasonable of them: why spend time hashing out the details of a project if the consultant’s rates are completely out of line with what you can spend? And do they know if they’re asking for the right services?
For a long time we could say nothing to such clients except that the price of a writing or editing job can vary tremendously based on the details. What kind of professionals will we need to engage? What kind of work needs to be done, exactly? (See, for example, the common confusion that arises with the term “proofreading.”)
This fall, though, we put our heads together and developed a list of 10 Questions to Ask Your Communications Consultant. Most of our standard answers to those questions (when standard answers are possible) can be found on the same page, along with a glossary defining what we mean when we say “proofreading,” “copy editing,” or “line editing.” Try it yourself: pick your top candidates for a project (maybe in-house staff along with some vendors) and get them to submit their responses to the 10 questions in writing, along with a single dollar figure. Then compare the responses.
