Beware of Pathetic Content Writing Offers!

My DP visit is restricted for a valid reason. More than often, an occasional glance at the "Content Creation" section ends up in sheer dismay. Here’s why:

This person wants to hire a full time content writer. The lackluster pay is $1 for 400 word article with shit loads of requirement such as perfect grammar, native speaker, free revision, blah blah blah... The only promise from his end is "bulk order", which implies that even if he orders 10 articles (4000 words) a day, you will end up with $10. WOW...$10 for an entire day's work.....I would rather swing an axe and chop trees in my neighborhood for an hour or two. I am sure my neighbor will pay me more..

Here's another shitty offer that I encountered:

The pay and other requirements are similar as above, but this guy has something more to contribute to the writer's agony. Here's what the guy had to say, “If you don't deliver excellent quality articles, you will be fired without being paid". Hmm..."Lucky writer", lost a pathetically low offer job from a client who can barely frame two sentences on his own and expects quality stuff at dirt cheap rates.

There are others who try to act smart by playing around with words. Here's an example:

I need an article done...quality required...copyspace...grammar...blah blah. The chosen writer just needs to rewrite this 500 word text. I will pay a dollar...It's very simple..Will only take 5-10 minutes for an experienced writer.. PM ME...

Dude, if it's simple and takes barely 5-10 minutes, why don't you work your ass out rather than inviting others to work at that lousy rate.....

There are yet others who want “KILLER “sales copy at rates that can barely fetch the chosen writer a good beer after 2-3 days worth of hard toil.

To top it all, you will also witness offers that offer $300/$400 a month with a return commitment of 8-10 articles a day(5-6 days a week). Five minutes spent on mathematical calculation reveals that the client ends up gaining each article for less than a dollar. Over here, I fail to figure out if the client was too clever or the writer too stupid?

Writers stop picking such offers…To a certain degree, these rotten deals hamper the entire content writing industry. ..The more you bend, the harder you will be f******. At least charge 50 cents for 100 words if not more!!

Bottom line-Hone your skills and then offer your services, rather than working for these soulless creatures. This will prove to be beneficial in the long run. Despite having decent experience in the field, I started off over here by offering free contents to several DP members in exchange of feedbacks and corrective suggestions. I am not amongst the top-writer out there, but I don't over-promise, nor do I work for dirt cheap rates. Best Wishes!!

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It's been like this since day one, and it wil continue to be like this.

You have to ignore such idiots.

And no, these, "writers," who accept such low-paying jobs do not hurt the industry.

Thankfully!

 

I think it is a self-cleansing process.

1. Poor quality employer employs poor quality writer.
2. Poor quality employer dies from lack of customers due to poor quality articles supplied by poor quality writer.
3. Poor quality writer dies from lack of food due to not being paid by poor quality employer who has died earlier.
4. End of story.

 

I agree totally! Webmasters who request for low priced articles actually do not care too much about the content. I've also noticed that many of these end up being scams.

 

How pathetic. $1 for 400 words article. If nobody will accept that offer that person won't find anybody. It is better to ignore that kind of person and do not reply for that kind of offer.

 

I have just recently entered into this Copywriting/writers world not as a writer but as a person who uses writers occasionally for my websites. I had no clue about writers salary expectations although I can write good articles myself. So how much should I expect for 400 words from a writer's point of view and an employers point of view

 

You've gotta ignore the ignorant people here who think that their $1 is worth twice as much as anyone elses.

 

*shrugs shoulders* It depends on how good your writing is, and how far you want to take it.

It can range from ten cents, on up to three-five dollars a word.

It all depends on who you write for, whether it's an off or online source, and, the quality of the articles.

 

I would write a 400 words article for like $20, I don't understand people doing it for $1... :S
I mean, do they really expect quality content for $1?

 

Yup, they do.

Unbelievable, huh?

The stupidity is so thick, you could cut it with a chain saw.

 

And justice is served at last. [sigh]

 

As long as the currency exchange rate between the US and India is $1USD to 46.50 rupees - somebody is always, always going to accept these offers.

And they're going to keep on comming because of that.

 

@Senobia: About an year ago, when I had planed to build up a team, I had the misfortune of viewing the writing of many others who were interested in joining. I can assure you that, those who undertake article writing tasks at such low rates, never deliver quality content.

 

Right.

So then the buyers come back to forums like DP and offer even lower rates (like oh, I dunno - .00007312842394 of a cent per word) for someone to rewrite what they already paid to have written.

It's a never ending, vicious cycle powered by greed and poor self esteem. Accepting gigs like this SCREAMS "I'm not worthy! Abuse me, please!" I have turned down no less than 10 of these offers in the past 10 days ...from right here on DP Forums. I know what I'm worth. And I also know that, while my rate is insanely high to most people around here, it's also insanely low in the freelance market.

 

I totally agree with whatever you have mentioned. But, the fault is not of the writers alone. It is also that of those who pay such low rates or, as you rightly point out, it's a pathetic, never-ending cycle. There is no dearth of work and one can easily charge a minimum of $0.01 per word and push upwards from there. Unfortunately, I do not see this happening in the near future because, for every writer who decides to change, ten more will try to pull him back to the bottom of the abyss by charging extremely low rates.

 

Now let me tell you how it works for the employer (me, in this case)

Considering 10$ for a 1000 word is pretty standard for a WRITTEN article, getting 5$ for a 500word REWRITTEN article is good pay in my opinion.
And no, I'm not talking about those writers who charge 40$ for a 100 word article, sorry but I have a ROI to keep up and your offer is simply not feasible for my business model.

Now here's what happens, I post: "5$ per 500 word REWRITTEN article, only looking for perfect grammar and native english writers..IF YOU ARE NOT ENGLISH DON'T BOTHER PMING ME"



What do I get?

Out of 12 PMs:
- 3 are from indians
- 3 are from pakistani
- 2 are from people named like "abby" and "cute sarah", locations mentioned in the profile are "los angeles" and "new york", but they somehow like to use "lakh" as a unit of measure. Try going to NY and saying "hey man, can I buy a LAKH of hotdogs?"..duh!
- 1 is from a (seemingly) american girl who writes an article full of grammar errors, and after telling her to correct it the response is "please point out the errors, one by one, and I'll correct them" (no shit sherlock, I can correct them myself that way! I need you to save time on bulk articles since I cannot write 200 articles per day myself)
After telling her that I cannot do it and she has to correct them herself, the response is an insulting PM threatening to "spam my sites with pr0n" from her "russian friends"

The other 3 guys wrote a couple of articles then disappeared

Moral? DP is not feasible for articles of average quality, with no grammar errors. Here you can only find overpriced (for a content site) super-quality articles that would better be suited for a newspaper, OR crappy-quality articles that come from "spinning" programs. Let's not talk about the 70% probability you have of being scammed with a rewritten article or one that has simply been copy-pasted

 

Whatever you have stated is correct, except for the last paragraph. There are many writers in DP who charge average rates and deliver decent quality articles/ rewrites.

 

If that is your "standard" - because it's not my standard - then why are you complaining? You obviously are getting what you pay for, right?

You want pefection at the rate of .01 per word? And you're disappointed that you aren't getting it, which means you really expected to?

The real moral is this: You get what you pay for.

You can apply that to anything you ever buy in your life and it still rings true.

 

If the writers wouldn't accept these paltry offers, they would quit coming or improve. Either way, it's a win/win situation for those of us who value our talent.

 

Very well expressed!

One day, all of us who can write will come together and take a stand. It's insulting how devalued good writing has become online.