Hourly Rates and Limited Resources

Q&A with freelance writer and photographer Mike De Socio

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Mike De Socio is a freelance writer covering cities, climate change, the LGBTQ community, and lots more. He just started freelancing 6 months ago, and he’s already got bylines with CityLab, Fortune, Bicycling Magazine, and The Christian Science Monitor.

Mike got his journalism start at a local paper in Albany, learning all aspects of the news production cycle, which I hear is very fast-paced and exciting. (Having watched The Newsroom really dominates my perspective on newsrooms—so I’m still a little starry-eyed over the idea of working in one.)

Then he came over to the self-employment side to pitch and play the freelancer game. When I asked him what he’d be interested in talking about, one of the topics he mentioned was money. And whenever a fellow freelancer is willing to talk about money, I have to jump on the opportunity. Because, as he also mentioned, we really need more honesty around finances for freelancers.

So, let’s talk about writing and making money. Writers, meet Mike!

“My most precious, limited resource is not time—it’s creative energy.” — Mike De Socio

Freelance journalist and photographer Mike De Socio

Britany: Tell us about what you were doing prior to six months ago when you made the leap to full-time freelancing?

Mike: I was working full-time as a digital editor at the Albany Business Review, which is a fantastic small newspaper that brought me to upstate New York in the first place. I’ve said it a million times, but starting off my career in a small newsroom was the best decision! I learned a ton, got to try so many different types of work, and found great mentors along the way.

What’s been the hardest thing about freelancing so far?

Definitely just getting over my own imposter syndrome. It almost stopped me from going freelance in the first place. And now that I’m doing it, I constantly feel like I’m “not good enough” for the publications I write for. I literally have a sticky note on my laptop that says, “nobody hates you,” to remind myself that editors hired me for a reason, and usually end up really happy with my work!

Would you mind sharing what percentage of your full-time income you made in your first month of freelancing?

I would not mind at all! So in my full-time newsroom job, I was making about $3,750 a month before taxes. In my first full month of freelancing, I made $2,230. That’s about 60%.

How did you financially prepare for that transition?

I started financially preparing to become a freelancer way before I knew I even wanted to; let me explain. Not long after I moved to upstate New York for my old newsroom job, I realized real estate was (relatively) affordable here, and I bought a 4-unit row house. I lived in one of the apartments and rented out the rest, which set me on an amazing financial path that I did not fully comprehend at first. (The rental income covered all of my housing expenses and then some).

I saved up a lot of money in that time period, and in March 2020 I bought a second home, this time purely as an investment property. By that point I had mapped out a strategy for myself where my real estate income would provide a good financial baseline (cover all my basic expenses) and allow me to freelance.

So to answer your question: I financially prepared for the transition by essentially building a small real estate investment business that gives me the stability to pursue the (sometimes unpredictable) work of freelance journalism. And, of course, I made sure I had a good emergency fund saved up before I made the leap.

Do you have any tactics for finding more work when you see a slow month approaching?

Nothing revolutionary, but I usually start by checking in with editors who I work with frequently to see if they have any projects coming up. That tends to work pretty well for me. Beyond that, I also ramp up my pitching if I know I have room to take on more stories in a given month.

What do you think has been the most financially beneficial focus of yours in freelancing?

It’s been incredibly helpful for me to focus on my hourly rate. Right from the beginning, my freelance coach Wudan Yan had me calculate my ideal hourly rate, which is now my north star for basically everything. I track my hours and have a spreadsheet that calculates my hourly rate along the way for each assignment. That helps me see if a project is actually worth my time and really guides my decisions about what work to take on in the future — and when to negotiate for more. Track your hours, people!

So what hourly rate did you come to? And how do you judge whether or not a journalism assignment will make that?

My ideal hourly rate is $100, and my rock bottom rate is $50. It’s hard to predict exactly how much time a journalist piece will take, but I try to estimate based on the number of interviews I’ll have to do, and I have a pretty good sense from past articles how long writing will take. Then after a piece is done I’ll check to see how the rate worked out, and adjust for next time!

What have you learned about yourself as a writer/person in these past six months?

So much! But one big one is that my most precious, limited resource is not time — it’s creative energy. I quickly realized that there is very much a limit to the amount of writing I can take on in a month. Even if I have the time to do more stories, my creative energy maxes out way before that. So I’m trying to be more conscious of the energy each project will take out of me, and also find work (like editing and research) that doesn’t require so much emotional/creative labor.

As someone who often shoots the photos for the stories you write, can you tell us how you’ve marketed yourself as both a writer and photographer? Do you pitch one or the other or do you offer to do both? Do you charge more when you do both?

I’m definitely still working on how to market myself, and my website is changing all the time. But generally, I call myself a “journalist, writer and photographer” everywhere I can, and on my website I really emphasize that I’ve worked in nearly every part of the newsroom.

Usually I start by pitching a written story and then offer to do photos if/when I hear back from the editor. I find that it’s easier that way — I don’t want to confuse an editor in my pitch by offering too much. But when I tell them I can shoot photos for the story too, they’re usually thrilled because it makes their life so much easier. That said, publications don’t always have the budget for photography, and sometimes they just opt to use stock photos. But when they do hire me to shoot photos, I do charge more; it’s a whole separate rate in addition to the story rate.

What is another skill you have found adds value to your work as a writer? Or another skill you would like to start working on to add value?

I find that my background as a digital editor can be really valuable. I have a lot of experience “packaging” a story: adding subheads, coming up with headlines or social/SEO text, suggesting photos/multimedia. Editors don’t always want or need that from me, but when they do, they really appreciate that I can format a story effectively and I know what works well on different platforms.

What do you find is key to building a sustainable freelance business and lifestyle?

So far I have found that setting boundaries — for myself and my clients — has been really key. Some examples: I pretty much never check my email after hours or on weekends. I build in a day off in my schedule every week (I generally don’t work Wednesdays). I only take calls during certain hours of the workday, and block off time in my calendar for writing/creative work. A lot of these boundaries revolve around how I manage and protect my time/energy. It’s what keeps me from burning out or over-extending myself. And I don’t think my business would be sustainable without those boundaries.

What has been a particularly challenging story you've written recently and what did working on it teach you?

I recently wrote a story for Fortune that really kicked my butt. The story was part of their “Path to Zero” package that analyzed how big companies are making progress on sustainability. My story focused on Coke/Pepsi and whether they were actually meeting their plastic recycling goals (spoiler alert: they mostly weren’t).

This story was really hard for me because I wasn’t very familiar with the companies to begin with, and my editor had set a really high standard for me. I struggled to strike the right balance and tone in the story: On one side I had passionate anti-plastic activists, and on the other side I had the big bottlers themselves telling me a totally different story. I was really worried that no matter where I came down on it, I would offend someone or get something wrong.

Thankfully, my editor was a huge help and I definitely learned a lot about how to be critical of a company while still being fair and allowing them to say their piece. I think I also learned how to think critically about my sources — why they were telling me certain things, and how much weight I should give them.

What is your goal for the next six months of freelancing and what are some things you're doing to get there?

My big goal for the next few months is to build out some new services in my business — namely editing and research. Like I said before, I’ve definitely reached my limit on the number of writing assignments I can do in a given month, but I’d like to take on more analytical work and increase my income a bit.

To get there, I’m trying my best to network with editors and offer my services through (everyone’s favorite) letters of interest. I also revamped my website to include a new services page that outlines my editing/research services, gives examples and includes testimonials. I also keep an eye out on Twitter and in newsletters for editors who are looking for part-time editing help. It’s a slow build, but I’m trying to make sure everyone I work with knows I offer more services beyond just writing.

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That’s all for today, friends. A big thank you to Mike for sharing his insight on finances and freelancing!

As I mentioned on Tuesday, I leave for vacation tomorrow and there will not be a newsletter next week.

If you’re looking for places to pitch, I highly recommend digging back into the archives which include over 100 issues with pitch calls. (Paid subscribers, you have access to all of them!) I find I have better luck when I pitch an editor who didn’t JUST put out the bat signal for pitches on Twitter, because their inboxes are much easier to break through. So treat those archives as your rolodex of editor contacts. (But also, double check their Twitter bio. Positions change quickly out there.)

Okay! It’s road trip time for me! I’ll be back in your inbox on July 27.

Stay inspired and hydrated,

Britany