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What's The Fair Rate For A 500+ Words Article?

Discussion in 'Copywriting' started by hnicolassuero, Dec 26, 2013.

  1. Crimebuster_of_the_Sea

    Crimebuster_of_the_Sea Notable Member

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    #41
    That was the point I was trying to make. Clients who are happy to pay for unreadable work and pointless links are not the kind of clients you want to be working for. Not until they have made their mistakes anyway, and are now willing to spend their money more wisely :)
     
    Crimebuster_of_the_Sea, Jan 6, 2014 IP
  2. abdulpathaan

    abdulpathaan Active Member

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    #42
    $5 /500 Word article .
     
    abdulpathaan, Jan 7, 2014 IP
  3. coreygeer

    coreygeer Notable Member

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    #43
    Absolutely. This a million times, I would never pay more than $1 per 100 words.

    I can has you articles contents for $5 I professional contents write
     
    coreygeer, Jan 7, 2014 IP
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  4. Crimebuster_of_the_Sea

    Crimebuster_of_the_Sea Notable Member

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    #44
    And this is exactly why you are struggling to find clients through Digital Point. Many of the high paying employers on here do not post threads looking for writers, instead they contact them via PM. Considering a high amount of your posts are either putting people down, whining about writing conditions, or moaning about clients - you're not exactly giving off the best impression. No matter what you may think about other writers and the prices they charge, you should not treat them the way that you are. You're coming across as an arrogant ass and I wouldn't want to hire you after reading your posts.
     
    Crimebuster_of_the_Sea, Jan 7, 2014 IP
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  5. coreygeer

    coreygeer Notable Member

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    #45
    I don't really come here much anymore to find clients. I enjoy waking up in the morning by reading some of the threads here in the Copywriting section and heading on over to the cesspool that is the Content Section to see what came that way.

    I've actually tightened up my restrictions on who I will work for quite a bit and it works out for me.

    I'm not sure why me making fun of people who think $1 per 100 words is such a good rate makes you mad. Are you one of those people?

    Actually, most of them don't browse forums or job boards at all. Are there some out there? Sure. You have to market yourself to the people who are willing to pay for research and content development, they don't look at forums or know this place even exists.

    Do you mean it? =) Thank you.
     
    coreygeer, Jan 7, 2014 IP
  6. melanie.c.jones

    melanie.c.jones Active Member

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    #46
    I second what Crimebuster of the Sea said, you may not realise it, Corey, but some of the writers who do find work through this site which they are satisfied with the pay for, think you give us all a bad name. We are not all difficult prima donnas, sulking because there are people in India who can offer a cheaper service that isn't as good. Does a top hairdresser bitch that there is some chick who will take some garden shears to your hair for $5? Does Gordon Ramsey bitch that you can but some tacos down the street? There are different services for different budgets and we all place ourselves where we fit in our industry and compete with our peers.
     
    melanie.c.jones, Jan 7, 2014 IP
  7. TIEro

    TIEro Active Member

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    #47
    LOL, thanks for the chuckle.

    I just got a confirmation email from a client with a $150 weekly retainer (ongoing) for some of the most interesting work I do at the moment. And no, that's not 30 articles, it's the first 5 hours' work. Quality content is a bigger lever than most people imagine... don't undervalue yourself if you write well! :D
     
    TIEro, Jan 7, 2014 IP
  8. coreygeer

    coreygeer Notable Member

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    #48
    No they don't, they know that if the client wants it done right, they know where they can come to get it done.

    You're absolutely right, there are different services for different budgets. Having a high budget doesn't mean the service will be good either, but it's easier to find writers who write like this:

    Hello, I'd like to handle all of your content development needs

    Instead of finding writers like this

    I has your contents I do not outsource 100% original contents

    I've been on the other side of this game, I've been in the employer's seat.
     
    coreygeer, Jan 7, 2014 IP
  9. TIEro

    TIEro Active Member

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    #49
    So have I, and I think you're letting your disappointment cloud your opinion. Sure, it's really easy to find crappy low-end writers, but it takes work to find quality from either direction. As an employer, you can't just throw out a big budget and expect to get quality - the same low-end people will still apply and you still have to go through the weeding process.

    Obviously you can hope for more decent writers as you offer more money, but I can assure you that there are many crappy writers masquerading as high-quality content producers. They pay someone good to write a proposal, then try to screw you with rubbish content when you hire them. Or they just suck because they can write good sentences but don't have a clue about structure, flow or the subjects they're covering.

    Equally, there are some very good writers who are at the low end. I'm currently working with a guy who charges a pittance for his work because he lives in a low-cost country: with a bit of editing, he could sell articles for ten times the price he asks... so that's what we do. He writes, I edit, he earns a lot more and I get my cut.

    IMHO, the real problems in the writing market - again from both sides - come from the misunderstanding that writing is easy and from sites like iWriter and most forums (including DP) spreading the idea that you don't have to pay properly for good content. This means that employers go into the deal with the wrong mindset and writers feel obliged to compete at a low price level because they have no clue about how the market really works.

    The whole "it's easy" thing messes with everyone. It's easy to write. It's easy to find cheap writers. It's easy to find quality content. It's easy to become a millionaire online... it's easy to hear a load of crap like that everywhere you go on the Internet.

    I can understand why you would be fed up with writing, though. I've had my share of really awful clients. But as we say in the UK, "put up or shut up": either shut up and live with it or put up - move on to something better. Sometimes it's a hard choice, especially when there are bills to pay... :)
     
    TIEro, Jan 7, 2014 IP
  10. SCookAAM

    SCookAAM Active Member

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    #50
    I think thee are several things to keep in mind with all of this.

    First, I believe in the idea that you get what you expect to get. if you go around constantly citing the bad things about being a writer, bad clients, bad work etc, that will gravitate toward you. It's a bit silly, I know, but it seems to be true.

    Secondly, with writing, there is a great opportunity to see ahead of time what you'll get from a particular writer. Any good writer, or even a bad one, should have loads of samples they can show. Even further, I am not unwilling to write a short sample for a good client when the project is of a decnt enough size.

    I wouldn't write a 500 word article to get a job writing another one, but I'd write a frewhundred words for a project where I was creating ten web pages, a bunch of blogs, etc etc. it's all relative.

    The point is, as employers, you do have some indication of the level of quality you'll receive from a writer. if there is not enough content that the writer has created to give you an idea, that's enough to move on.

    I'd also say, that if I were hiring a writer, I'd want them to have a website they created and a samples page of articles, blogs, etc that they wrote for free, for themselves. Often, what we do for free for our own efforts is the best indicator. Because when you write for someone else, you may or may not use your style.

    For example, I have a client right now that wants a list of very dry, stodgey articles that I personally feel are not well-written. There is no nuance, no flair, just dusty presentation of information.

    But that's what they want, so I produce it.

    As I've stated many times, in this thread, in fact, the cream rises to the top and cream find cream.
     
    SCookAAM, Jan 7, 2014 IP
  11. Foxxy

    Foxxy Active Member

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    #51
    I try to get $25 for 500 words, but don't mind accepting $15. If it's a subject that I'm already familiar with and don't have to spend a lot of time researching, then I will do it for less.
     
    Foxxy, Jan 25, 2014 IP
  12. SEO_WatchDog

    SEO_WatchDog Well-Known Member

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    #52
    USD 5 - Indian copywriter / USD 7 - Eastern European / USD 10 - USA / USD 16 - UK
     
    SEO_WatchDog, Feb 14, 2014 IP
  13. BoostSoftware

    BoostSoftware Active Member

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    #53
    I agree. I like to charge a minimum of $10 just in case it takes me an hour. Ideally, I like to receive a minimum of $15 per hour. Sometimes, when the writing goes quickly, I've made up to $30 per hour or more.
     
    BoostSoftware, Feb 16, 2014 IP
  14. saltyveruca

    saltyveruca Greenhorn

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    #54
    I charge .12/word. A 500 word article would be $60. I have long term clients that are happy to pay that price -- or at least, they haven't complained when I send them invoices! I realize that's much higher than the rates quoted in this thread, and I'm not commenting here to brag. I am truly curious how others are able to make it work (financially) for so much less. What kind of content are you writing, and how many of these 500 word articles are you putting out per week? Is this your only job, or just a part time thing to buy groceries?
     
    saltyveruca, Feb 17, 2014 IP
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  15. TIEro

    TIEro Active Member

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    #55
    You'll usually find that people charging much lower rates either live somewhere with a low cost of living, write lower-quality content or, most frequently, want their jobs easy. Being paid a few bucks for 500 words sounds crap, but if it requires little effort, no customer service, no commitment, no job-hunting, no negotiations and can be done quickly, a large number of writers will take it. Hence the success of iWriter.

    Like anything, there are multiple levels of pay and effort, with the low pay end spewing out cheap, easy content and the high end requiring a lot more time, effort and involvement.

    At a guess, you're in the US, so your prices make sense. If you were living somewhere where a month's rent is $50, you could write for a lot less and live very well. Personally, I target the $20-$30 an hour area because I have to trade off a bizarre, unfathomably erratic work schedule against the clients' deadlines. It's good enough to pay some bills here in the UK, but it's a part-time setup. :)
     
    TIEro, Feb 17, 2014 IP
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  16. uand.eye

    uand.eye Active Member

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    #56
    It all depends on what your writing and the quality. I could churn out 500 words in about 15 minutes. It would be rough and probably wouldn't attract many readers. On the other hand on a complex topic I could spend a few hours researching. Then write 2 or 3 drafts to make sure it reads well and there are no mistakes... I wouldn't do all that work for $15
     
    uand.eye, Feb 20, 2014 IP
  17. BoostSoftware

    BoostSoftware Active Member

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    #57
    That is so true. The higher-quality work deserves more. As far as how much to charge, it depends on how much time it takes to research the subject. If you can't find it by five to ten minutes of searching on Google, then you probably should get paid more than just a few dollars for it. On the other hand, the higher-paying content is usually paid because of writing quality or upper-level (college-eduated) knowledge of a subject. Still, you don't have to be a college graduate to make a decent living writing, either.
     
    BoostSoftware, Feb 20, 2014 IP
  18. monfis

    monfis Well-Known Member

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    #58
    It's a long time gone since I read a thread from the beginning to the end with such joy. Great posts from almost everyone. My opinion when it comes to writing and prices. It's all a question of quality like almost everywhere in life. For me, as a SEO, the qualification of a writer is measured by the success of the site he's writing for. I want to show you with a screenshot from a new launch, what it means to have a good (paid) writer. (Might be that the SEO wasn't too bad as well ;) The stats show pure search engine traffic)
     

    Attached Files:

    monfis, Feb 26, 2014 IP
  19. Constructor Decasa

    Constructor Decasa Active Member

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    #59
    Ask for $5 to begin with. Once you have became an expert and popular around the circle you can demand more and more. Be sure you study the topic you are given with which will help you to estimate the time required to write the article.
     
    Constructor Decasa, Feb 26, 2014 IP
  20. coreygeer

    coreygeer Notable Member

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    #60
    I haven't been in this thread for a while but the replies are interesting.

    Exactly this. If I'm familiar with a topic, I can warp speed an article out in 5-10 minutes. There may be a comma out of place or one word that is misspelled but that's the quickest I can type out an article on a topic I'm familiar with. I've had spouts where I've done them in 3 minutes. The problem is, a lot of people want articles that are formatted, come with a relevant image and want you to personally upload the article to their Wordpress site.

    Just because you can work fast doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your price for the quality you deliver. Believe me, once you allow a client to cut the budget once, they're going to do it again. I like to create articles with subtitles that are easy on the eyes to read. When people want to pay you $5 though, how long can you honestly spend on that article making it look great and easy to read?

    I know $5 might be the "standard" for content mills and marketing forums like this, but it's only the standard if you let it be. If you let clients pay you $5, then that's your standard.

    Let's say you're writing for $15 per article.
    "But my budget"
    Now you've agreed to $10 per article.
    "But my budget"
    Then you end up agreeing to $5 per article.
    "Well you write fast so we have to cut the budget."
    Seeing as you need the work, you agree to a $2.5 per article rating. I've had that happen to me a few years ago. A bulk client wanted articles done and kept cutting the budget over time because once I caved in once, he knew I would do it again.

    People don't believe me but that's exactly what happens the second you let them lower your budget or pay you less. They will come back later on and try to reduce the budget even more. I understand that work may be scarce at times and it's hard to say no, but sometimes you just have to.

    There is no "fair rate" for an article in my opinion. If you speak coherent English and know how to form sentences that are easy to read, you shouldn't be selling your soul for the price of a McDonalds meal. I wish I could go back in time and tell my former self not to hire $1 writers. I hired nearly 100 of them and couldn't use content from any of them. My friend is currently in the web development business. He tried hiring cheap web developers and ended up doing the work himself after about 40-60 "qualified" candidates never met basic expectations.
     
    coreygeer, Mar 1, 2014 IP