Lately, I see scores of "claiming-to-be-quality-writers," who can't even spell and punctuate correctly, get hired in DP. It's an insult to us who give life and limb to our work to deliver real quality articles. We get by passed for what... rock bottom prices? What's even crazier is that some of them are claiming that English is their first language. Huh... really? If so, then they should have known that "I" is capitalized; and stringing two independent clauses without proper punctuation is a run on. And to real Englishmen, don't you feel insulted when they use "english" instead of "English" in their sentence? Even Word knows that English should be capitalized at all times. Tsk... tsk...
Yea, unfortunately, that is the case here. The only thing that we true writers can do is to continue pushing real quality, and eventually the masses will see the light. After spending a couple hundred dollars on poor content, perhaps people will realize that quality does cost. If you pay for junk, that is, in fact, what you will get. People who appreciate quality writing know that .02 cents or even .03 cents per words is considered cheap in the "real world." Those who write for national publications, news casts, local businesses, and other private sector companies know that a good piece of content can easily garner upwards of $100 for just 500 words (and sometimes less). Despite the fact that there are constant threads advertising uniquely written and high quality articles for mere pennies, it's up to us (who have sense) to keep pushing forward. There's no need to degrade ourselves for those clients who are only willing to pay pennies for our work. For those who think a native English writer charges too much...move on to the next person. It is the choice of those seeking out writers to work with us, just like it is our choice to accept their assignments. In my opinion, there's no need to even try to compete with "those" writers because their quality nor style can match mine, even within the bounds of their best written article. Knowing that, I simply don't worry about all the supposed competition among the writers within this forum.
I really don't care that much. It's a free market, and they should be able to charge whatever they like. And as far as saying things that aren't true... are you new to the internet or something? The simple truth is that if you are a good writer, you can make plenty of money. As HQ content said, there is no need to even compete with cut-rate writers. Once you find clients, they will stay with you regardless of the price. I charge upwards of $0.05 per word for sales copy, and usually $0.02-$0.03 per word for normal articles, and trust me, I get PLENTY of work.
I know that a lot of people don't capitalize the 'I' because they don't really care and type too fast. Perhaps their work is of a higher quality, but when you are trying to land a writing gig, it just looks sloppy. As for pricing, I agree with clashctyrokr. Once you get a client established, the price can go up. In my case, my client felt like I was undercharging him for my level of work, and he raised the price.
DP is a forum of small time website owners. Many of them new in the game who have read somewhere that they can get articles at 1 cent pr. word. In reality I have never bought an article on DP for less than 2 cent that was even worth putting up. I just don't think DP'ers have the budget to pay for quality work. I mean, I have clients who pay me 10 cents a word for my articles, but when I offer them here for 2 cents, all I get is being asked for discounts. Seriously, if you can't pay 2 cents pr. word for an article, don't expect to get anything resembling quality. In the end I doubt I will even offer writing here because most people don't realise what a bargain they are getting.
It may be annoying, but if you are good enough, you can get work in any situation. I've never fallen short of work when wanted. Sometimes people look to buy 'less-than-perfect' articles to save money. What they do with the articles from then depends. Some edit it to make it better themselves, or others are simply just looking for bulk content. DP has always been as it was. It just depends on your timing and the needs of the OP.
I mostly agree with what's being said above but when it comes to pricing, I guess it also depends a bit on reputation right here on DP. But at least it is better than GAF or such places. $1 for 500 words I tell you! That too you have to hand over all rights to your work, no reselling. That said, 10 cents per word? That is nice!
Reputation doesn't determine quality, and people who say you should charge a cheap price because you are not known are just foolish. You can charge $50 per piece of content if you want...reputation comes from providing quality. Don't get it confused.
^Hmm... actually i did mean reputation for providing quality content, not just iTrader points. I should've made that clear. So yes, I agree with you wholeheartedly. But 'quality' is relative. I have seen website owners buying and using content that looks like it was written by a high school kid during lunch time (probably was). I'm sure they got what they deserved, most of them anyway. No offense to high school kids though, exceptions do exist.
I know one high school kid on here that does excellent work! Heh. My pricing is designed to land clients. I will do re-writes for 1 cent per word, but original content I generally charge .05, which isn't outrageous. When I show samples of my work, people generally will go with my services. Of course, I don't just write anything, either...I'm very picky about the jobs I take.
Yes it all depends on the value you add. If your article keeps visitors on your clients site for 25% longer, how much is that worth? Or teach them something they couldn't easily learn otherwhere? Now that is worth a lot of money. The problem is that, if you're running a small adsense site or affiliate site and not being very succesfull, then you don't have the budget to pay. So when we offer the same service here that we do to others, but at a lower price, we are devaluing our product. And that's bad for business!
I think a lot of writers here try to write content, but end up just writing for AdSense clicks. Keywords are great, but if you are programming yourself to think 'keyword, adsense, keyword, SEO' all the time, your non-linkbait work will suffer. If I were to pay a writer, I'd rather find someone who can write a good ARTICLE rather than a good LINK BAIT.
Cheers to all DPers who do not want to settle for anything mediocre, providers and buyers alike. Quality should come first before quantity.
Hi fellow writers, This is a good thread, i must say! (apologies for the i...as someone mentioned, it is a result of fast typing) I was keeping a tab on it since it started and now i could not resist sharing my views. I am a relatively new writer here, but i have had all sorts of experiences which a DP writer can possibly have. Thankfully, i have got decent enough jobs which are not just SEO focused and i love writing on my pet subjects. The point is that i am realizing that i am charging quite reasonable(read less) rates for the quality i am offering. In fact, i was browsing a couple of other threads and they are charging double of what i am charging. In fact, now i am refusing offers of clients who hassle a lot over money. Does that mean i am devaluing my quality services. If you were in my position, what would you do...any opinions...
If you don't like it, instead of whining why don't you work on marketing your services? People get hired over you because they seem so willing to work, not because of some witchcraft spell they cast on buyers.
You got it wrong man...we are discussing(not whining...) about what happens after the spell is cast and the marketing is done...each one of the writer here on DP is willing to work for sure...and no one is here for charity be it buyers or sellers...we are just talking about optimization in a decent and friendly manner. So if you cannot empathize, at least maintain the decency of the discussion. Cheers, Neogen
I'm sure we are all marketing our services. Nothing wrong with getting a bunch of quality writers together to discuss things...in fact, it makes us more likely to referr each other (if our work load is too high) rather than just turn jobs down outright and let some shoddy writer get them. Hmm...that sounds like a good idea...
I agree with almost everybody here. I truly hope that these pretending-to-be quality writers would get out of DP -- and soon. DP is a great place to get writing gigs and with these "writers" around, well... they are really not doing the real writers any good. Also, it is refreshing to finally read one of the few threads here in the Content Creation section that has no grammatical/spelling errors of any kind -- well, except for NeoGen's "i" -- which he explained.
I completely agree with the fact that many new writers do write their thread in a hurry and misspell words, put incorrect punctuations, misrepresent their thread, and employ incorrect capitalization. I don’t know who can be termed as a writer. Most people I believe have had basic education and can write stuff, even if it didn’t look too specific or professional because at the end of the day no one can be termed as the perfect health or legal writer unless they are a professional in the field. This is my assumption based on limitations I face when writing. The only reason I have survived here is because I too have been educated in an English medium school (we do have schools that employ vernacular languages as a medium of education). The confusion over English being a writer’s first language is contentious. I am an Indian but if I wish I could actually sing along those lines. This is because if you study in an English medium school, your report cards and school leaving certificate mentions it as your first language. It’s not anybody’s fault but since it’s all about playing with words, I think it’s acceptable. I’ve certainly never had to give clarifications regarding how I know English because I have also referred to it as my primary language. I’m certain that I haven’t jeopardized any assignment because I wasn’t born elsewhere. In regards to prices, we as individuals don’t govern market trends. A lot of things don’t make sense because each of us has a different perspective to things. This is a forum where you can work for 3 cents a word and even $2.50 for 500 words. I have even worked for the low rates mentioned, and hated every minute of it. It’s simply a matter of market demand and how far you’re willing to go to ensure that you have a job. For many people, it’s just a part time activity because they can act as middlemen and make some money. For most people, the dollar has a different meaning, only because we belong to different countries. I am purely a freelancer, and if the markets going through downtime because of recession, I have no choice but to offer discounts because if I don’t, there’s many others who will, and take the jobs available. Each of us will always have a few steady clients but that may not always be enough. Instead of just sitting tight on my rates, I’d rather try and acquire a job to make my time productive. I’ve come to realize a few things. There are times when I may break my back but I won’t get a job because I’m not a native English speaking individual. Do I get angry? Yes? Can I do anything about it? No. This is not true with all clients but does happen. However, I still maintain I’m Indian and am in no way going down and under because of my non native status English knowledge. At the end of the day, there’s many deals waiting to happen and with the right approach anyone of us could bag a particular assignment. As of now, terms like quality, cheap, native, discount, experienced, bulk, and the likes, are simply words that need to be put in perspective. Come to think of it, this is a 500 word creative article. On a serious note, thank you to the writer who started the thread and others who chipped in. Yes, it’s very irritating to see what’s happening because malpractices by certain writers give clients a reason to question every writer’s ability and trustworthiness. .