Comments on: Bad Times Ahead for Freelance Writers?

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By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 18:42:46 +0000

Something else to consider – those blogs are making maybe $20-50 from each article’s ad revenues, so asking $10 for an article isn’t unreasonable. It’s simply a different market, with different market forces. Back in the day, those print magazines were some major players in the content industry.. what did people have? A little TV, a little radio, newspapers, magazines, and books.

Not only this, but the print media of that time took “more” in general to keep up and running. Today it probably is a much easier endeavor to create a new print magazine, with much less invested, so naturally this will carry over into how much they’re willing to spend on content for their magazine.

But, the question to ask is, “What can I offer as a writer which few other people can?”. Then figure out who’ll pay for that specialty that only you can offer. Is there a higher paying market for my services than where I’m at now?

Figure that out, then start making some changes.

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 18:30:04 +0000

There has been a notion for some time that print media is dying and everything’s going to go electronic, but it isn’t true. There were new print magazines being created by the hundreds per year over the last several years, and most magazines are doing well.

There are several aspects to this, and what everyone has been saying so far is spot on. If one American dollar will feed you for a week in your country, then you’ll take a job to write one article for $1, and be very happy with the job.

Most of the time the writing won’t be of the same quality or in the same sort of feel of a US-based writer. But the jobs which require real expertise in a field or real ability to sell or real wordplay are still very valuable to a client.

If you have the chops to make $30/hr as a freelancer, you might not know it, and perhaps no one will tell you that you do.

Internet articles are the “easy answer”, you go to the sites asking for writers, sign up, they say “just write articles, we’ll pay”, and you start writing for $5 or $10 per 400-700 word article. You may be writing at a $30/hr level, but they’re certainly not going to let you know that you are.

Working for yourself as a freelancer requires an ability to assess your skills, to value your talent and from there to find clients who value such talent as well. It’s a business, not a hobby or a game, if you take time to really assess your skills and to assess the market, you can make it to the upper pay tiers.

But no one is going to hold your hand and lead you to the upper pay tiers.

Yes, those 1 cent per word articles are being taken by people who use programs to splice articles together that are already on the web, or they simply resell articles from the free services. It takes them 2 days to “write” those 500 articles, and both they and the buyer are happy with the result. So it is absolutely an apples to oranges comparison, when looking at the real writing jobs.

The market is changing, and not only are opportunities getting less lucrative, there are also new kinds of opportunities, and there is much more efficiency in the process, so you can get more writing done in a shorter amount of time.

And really, payment in the territory of $300 for a 500-word article? Perhaps for the very best writing, from the most talented writers, for the best markets.

There are new trends in the writing arena these days, but it’s important to see why certain things are happening, and to adjust your own strategy accordingly. You make your freelance career what it is and will be, no one else can.

By: Robert

Robert — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 13:16:40 +0000

I think that Bob McKee said it best: Literary (writing) talent is common. Story talent — the ability to tell a good story — is rare. People will pay for story talent, because “good stories, well told” (McKee) are what draw people.

By: David Johnson

David Johnson — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 05:09:00 +0000

It’s those rates that scare the hell out of me because it devalues the worth of a good writer that loves their craft. Most people just want the content for their sites so a search engine will spider it, they don’t really care what it says as long as the keywords are there.

I have written articles in the past and handle a few blogs for a couple of clients but I charge more than .02 or .03 cents a word. With the rates I charge I pour my heart and soul into it with a lot of research and pressing of the backspace button.

You can find people that will pay more, the people that want to keep the reader on the site longer than it takes for them to realize that they were duped again by another cleverly written keyword farm with no real substance.

That’s my two cents anyway (pun intended)

By: Jim Koscs

Jim Koscs — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:35:56 +0000

It’s easy to get alarmed by the “trend” of so-called “article writers” or “content creators” writing for pennies. But they’re not writing — they’re simply regurgitating and in many cases downright plagiarizing for a market that demands endless “content” (SEO). A real freelance writer, especially one with true expertise in a particular industry, will always be in demand. As for that example of ghostwriting — I ghostwrite a magazine column for an executive for $750. It’s a low fee by my standards, but it only takes me two hours.

By: Kathryn

Kathryn — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 12:37:10 +0000

Even in the print world you have companies that pay peanuts (or free copies). It all comes back to personal choice – what are YOU willing to work for? There are jobs that pay $50 for 700 words and jobs that pay $5 for the same – making contacts, building a reputation for quality, ON TIME work, and having a willingness to work with editors will help you build up to the place where you can ask for and get the higher pay for content.

By: Emma

Emma — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 20:39:29 +0000

I have been enjoying working as a “freelance web writer” for a little over a month now. I’ve mostly used Elance and I’ve been bidding low for experience. I’ve had six clients ranging anywhere from $15 for 450 words to $300 for 300 2 sentence blog posts. And I’m enjoying it. I’m learning while getting paid.

Perhaps I’m contributing to the problem, but I also see it as what I would do for some other professions – volunteering to get a foot in the door, interning, etc. I’m ok with the rates because I am a beginner.

Will I be after I’ve grown a client referal list and after I have a few years under my belt? Maybe not. But I believe the web will change again in a few years. And right now it’s suiting me fine.

By: Sophia

Sophia — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 11:16:09 +0000

i wanted to hire virtual employees for web designing and SEO. Actually i am looking for whole virtual team. Because now it’s become very expensive for our organization to recruit employees And we need reliable and quality virtual employees.
We were prepared to post our requisite on freelancers’ site. But we have observed that it’s very time as well as money consuming process. And also I heard that “The bigger problem on Elance, in my experience, is dummy projects. Some buyers post projects simply to get an idea of the cost or to try to find free work” So, what next?
Our team comes out with conclusion to directly contact companies who are providing virtual employee services. But the question is “RELIABILITY and Hiring charges”.
We have got replies from some forums and communities. So, now we have one option company http://www.marketraise.com. it’s nice.
But we want best service provider with better package.

Thanks in advance
Sophia

By: Deb Ng

Deb Ng — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 12:31:33 +0000

I recently did a poll at FWJ to find out how much writers were paid for their work. Many print writers still claim to get $1 per word or more, however, web writers claim much less.

One of the problems as I see it is freelance writing is now a “work at home job.” (Insulting) ads claim “anyone can do it, perfect for stay at home moms and college students.”

Another problem is many of the writers I talk to feel they have to bid low to get the jobs. The Internet has made it a more competitive industry. Many writers will go ahead and accept a $5 per article job to get feet in the door or for the experience, but they wouldn’t consider working for this type of money at a mall job.

This isn’t something new, by the way. I’ve been writing online since 2000 and have seen rates go way down over the years. Many of the same writers who complain about low wages also accept low wages – so they have to approve of them, right?