Keep working towards solutions, with examples of writing included maybe your rate can begin to increase. Article rewrites are a different story; you can produce them faster manually then article writing and rates show that too: article rewrites are generally anywhere from $0.003/word to $0.01/word on the market from my experiences. But then again these articles are easy to produce 1000 words+/hour in unique quality
IMO rewrites serve another purpose then generally used here, that is not even an issue for me. To keep working to sharpen your skills is a necessity always, but that alone won't do. It is time for the skilled writers to seize control of their business.
Show off skills through linked examples and let big buyers come to you? Comes back to the question how to compete with the lower rates? quality writing comes from a passion & interest of the subject and the other creative skills (outside of quality English language) are icing on the cake
Mate, i think it's a mistake to compete with the lower rates. Your target here is the buyer. Sell/market your 'quality' to the buyer, create a distinction between your superior product and penny writers. I think this is why Kraven started the thread - you can't introduce your quality in an environment where buyers are conditioned to look for dirt cheap articles and feel proud when they managed to close a cheap deal irregardless of the quality of the article given. not necessarily true. a quality writer will still write a quality article on an unfamiliar subject, but with perhaps less authority. In my opinion, it is a mistake to trap oneself in niches. A writer can write anything, just like a painter can paint anything. The circumstances, the parameters and resources determines the end product. Talking about resources, with the wealth of information available at our fingertips today, niche writing is really selft limiting, imho.
There are all types in the world. It is possible to make money offline while being solely a webmaster, but that is a bit off topic. If it is possible, and as a fledgling writer I think it is, to have people clamoring to use your services, the supply and demand topic becomes moot.
Indeed it does, but those are not the writers I started this thread for. Though relevant indeed a bit off topic, but appreciated anyway I do however feel it is our responsibility to lift the good writers above all this though, and for that I started all of this.
Sales copy, SEO articles(off site mostly), News mailings to existing clients. Manuals, Tutorials The list goes on....
Kraven2, thanks a lot for the awesome post. Both parties are to be blamed. When a writer knows that someone else will undertake a task for a lower rate, they try to undercut further. As you have mentioned, only if all writers decide to stick to a standard minimum, then only can the scene improve. @Webdeveloper: Sorry boss, but you cannot get a decent meal in a good hotel or even a good restaurant (3 star standard) for $2-3. Yes, the taxi part is acceptable.
You are most welcome, and for the most part I agree. My suggestion of a minimum wage for writers, is but one of the possibilities. The other I think may be easier to achieve is take the talented writers and lift them above the scraps yard. That would improve the scene as well as all that in such an event remains are the penny pushers and the content re-arrangers, while the true writers move on to much richer hunting grounds. It's not what I would prefer, but it is something that could be achieved without the help of DP.
Thank you for posting your insights. They are really helpful for me. And I agree with those things you said. I just hope people like me who offer High Quality Articles will be paid as much as you do someday after gaining some reputation.
My reputation has nothing to do with what I get paid. First of all it takes the right attitude to negotiate price, second you find the better paying jobs at other spots then just here, or you get contacted privately because a buyer is impressed with your postings on the board. The rest comes down to skills. If you have the proper set of skills, your writing will do the talking for you. It's plain and simple: I guarantee top 10 first page Google spots, find me a writer that can do the same