Q. I was hired by a recruiter for a hi-tech PR firm. The job was – at first – suppose to be full time, but dwindled to an ‘on call’ situation. I had told recruiter what my fee was and was told PR firm could only pay little more than half of that. I verbally agreed because the potential for ongoing work was there and I was told (by recruiter) that we could revisit my rates once I had established myself with PR firm. Two months go by before I receive my first assignment from PR firm. I contacted the recruiter to let her know and she asks what I’m charging. HUH? I should have quoted my usual rate!
My take on it: Recruiter is scrambling to find a way to make $$ on the deal, since the per annum arrangement didn’t work out. She wants me to accept below-standard rates so that she can still make $ and not price her/me out of PR firm’s range. I need a going-rate reality check – am I correct in thinking $250 is low for this caliber of work? We’re talking a 4-6-hour job here, and I’m no newbie. Should I stick to my $400 guns? I’m tempted to contact PR firm directly and explain that this arrangement is jeopardizing the quality work I could be doing for them. If they’d pay her a fee for her time, we could move on to the business of making their clients look good. What’s your perspective on all of this?
A. This is a very convoluted situation, and I’m not sure I get all the details, but here are a few things that occur to me. I would NOT go around the recruiter to the company directly. Regardless of what you think of her, and her relative worthiness to get a piece of the action, SHE was the one who brought you to this party. If you want to approach the company directly, at the very least, talk to her first. Do it without her knowledge and you will not only piss her off (if she finds out, which is likely), but the company itself might think less of you. All we have is our reputations, and that one is a BAD one to get. Especially if this client turns out to not be that much of a steady client anyway, which certainly sounds possible…
As for the price, if you’re used to getting $400 for a PR in that market (as in, steady track record of billing and receiving that amount), then you don’t need to ask me if that’s the going rate – it obviously is. And NOT to pick on you here (and I’m smiling as I write this…), but I get a kick out of it when people ask me if THIS amount is the going rate in THIS market/industry for THIS project type. As if I have all that data right at my fingertips. You, as a writer of that project type in that industry (for years, I presume) are in a FAR better position to know the reality on the ground than I would EVER be.
Same thing with the question about whether you should stick to your guns. I don’t know – should you? If you can get $400, why not ask for it? If it’s getting harder to get that amount, then maybe you revisit your fee structure. $400 sounds on the high end of a press release, but if ones for this market indeed take 4-6 hours, then it doesn’t sound excessive to me. All of which is irrelevant if the market won’t bear it.