DP not a Writers Heaven!!!!!

Hello all...
What i have noticed so far on Dp is people offering prices as low as $0.01 per word!!!...
This has become a standard price now

There are so many new writers and there is always someone who is willing to do the job at the lowest price possible....

I for instance work with 2 other writers and have been doing business for sometime at $0.03 to $0.05 per word.....I have a good solid client base.. but i am not able to expand much as people want quality content at low prices.....

What to do??Where to go??

Anyways have a great day.....

 

DP would be the last place I would recommend a writer to get his business. You might instead focus on outsourcing sites and local clients.

 

Those paying .01 cent per word are not your target market. Period. You'd be wasting your time trying to convince them good content is worth paying for.

Now, some of these might become your market once they get rank and notice that no conversions are happening despite getting lots of traffic but content no one cares to read. It might just occur to them that they can get better conversions and lower bounce rates. Your market is that one who has been at this internet thing more than a year. So don't sweat it. There enough people out there coming to that realization. You'd be wasting your breath complaining about people who don't know why they should appreciate it yet. A more seasoned client is a better client anyway. You don't have to SELL your position because they are already on the same page.

So just ignore those listings and move on. Pay attention to the threads in which you can contribute quality advice on subjects you know a lot about.

 

Who said that it was a writer's haven in the first place ?

The high paying jobs are never publicly advertised, not on this forum at least. They will come to you when you have built up a reputation for your work.

 

I have been very lucky as a writer.

I used to write columns for some of the big business and computer magazines (like Inc. and PC/Computing)... and I wrote a bunch of computer books, including some of the early "... For Dummies" books. (My best books were Quicken for Dummies and QuickBooks for Dummies.)

I would say that one can't make money as a writer working at rates even of a $1 a word (which was the price that the big book magazines used to pay years ago when I wrote for them).

It's even tough, for the record, to make money writing books for $5K or $10K or even $35K advances... You've basically got to write a best-seller to really hit the mother-lode.

 

elance.com is a good start. 0.03-0.04 is pretty common.

 

Well most of my writing clients through DP pay me from around $.20 - .50 / word, so it's a pretty good place to find gigs in my eyes. The problem isn't DP or other writers; it's the fact that you haven't taken the time to learn how to use the forum properly yet to get anything better here.

Hmmm.... I know plenty of writers earning $50k to well over $100k per year as full-time freelance writers, and most don't write for $1 per word. It's very much possible, and a lot of us make decent money writing. Those who can't usually don't know how to market themselves effectively... that's the biggest difference between successful freelance writers and the ones who can't make it happen. It's all about the marketing folks; not whether or not you can simply write.

 

It is all about networking. Hit the streets in your city if you want real clients. Make sure you have an excellent portfolio, though. DP is an excellent place to start building up that portfolio, but only if what you are writing is amazing. No one wants to read bad content, especially potential clients. So, print out some business cards and get on it. The Internet isn't the only place to get work, you know? Heh.

Justin Dupre

 

So you mean the job I got recently which equated to $2 per word should have been charged out at $0.01? That's funny!

Then again, I don't look for work on forums, I never bid my work down against others and I don't position myself as low-price (from positioning, experience and perception). I also never do work "on spec" ... there's plenty of work available without that approach. Also -- I never price "by the word" -- instead by the project (and where I can with a percentage of sales).

The best strategy is to demonstrate how your value far outweighs the cost of hiring you -- so price isn't the main consideration.

 

meh .... maybe some of us can't afford 2cents, 5cents or 10cents a word, like myself i have been really happy with the articles that I have recieved when paying only 1cent per word. So the point is some of us don't want out standing quality - we just need some basic filler and the cheaper the better.

 

I'll get there someday, hopefully...

 

Who said that?

There's nothing wrong with looking for work on forums IF you know how to go about it... and that's not simply answering ads for writers. While most of the potential clients here are small budget, there are a lot of exceptions if you know how to network and market yourself effectively to them. While I don't get my highest-paying gigs here, there are certainly enough good clients to make it worth sticking around.

You make a good point there... if you're a writer, you shouldn't be positioning yourself based on low prices. That strategy very rarely works for services.

As for pricing by the word, you have to remember that not everyone here is writing sales-oriented copy. Many of the writers focus on only content (where per-word rates are just fine). Because I do both, I tend to have different ways of pricing - per-word for business content and per-page or per-project for copywriting, PR writing, etc. You just have to find out what pricing model is best to market to your target buyers, and use it.

Couldn't agree with you more.

 

DP may not be the BEST place to find clients but I have to say that I have found several very good clients here. While not all my client base is from DP, there are a few members that I write for and they pay me very well.
It all boils down to how you market yourself. If you feel that 1cent per word is reasonable then you can definitely find people willing to pay that.
On the other hand, if you think that you can write for $1 a word and you believe in your abilities and market yourself respectively then you will find clients who will pay you what you think you are worth. As long as you can back up what you charge I think that even several buyers on DP won't have a problem meeting your rates.

 

I don't earn $1 a word or even 20 cents a word and I made $75K last year and worked only 8 1/2 months total.... the clients are out there. Also once you find a few good clients on here, you will begin doing business OFF THE FORUM and pricing seems to be a bit more professional then. GOOD LUCK!!

 

I have had some great offers and gotten new clients as a result of this forum. I've also gotten nice referrals. I am not low price. And the truth is, I really didn't expect to get offers. I work in a home office and I like to commiserate with other copywriters. So while I did not have expectations of it being heaven or producing great contract opportunities, it did.

 

Yes already doing that...thanx

Yes thats what i do, i already have a set client base , so i dont worry much about whats going on. If and when i get a new chance i grab it, else all is fine

Thanx will surely check them out

well no offence to all of those people

 

That's some peoples wages in other countries, I'd be pretty darned happy to write as much as possible regarding those kind of payouts.

$46 dollars for that one sentence.

 

A Dp writer has his phases of evolution, where he goes from being a .01 cent writer to the status of the mighty jhmattern [if that is even possible].

I used to write at a cent per word, no longer because i don't need the money that much and i've bettered my confidence/experience as a writer.

Working at low rates for some time on DP, eventually you will discover the great clients who will give you more than you want.
Actually some people around here are so great that i won't mind writing articles for them for free [every now and then]

 

There's nothing "mighty" about me, and I'm far from a top tier writer as far as what I earn. I was earning $.35 - 1.00 / word before coming to DP (and others I'm sure have come here while already earning much more than that), so not all writers come in here needing (or wanting) to "evolve." Every writer will have a rate they're comfortable with, and as long as they're realistically setting their rates, that number's fine and will likely have a target market here willing to pay it.

Jenn

 

You are mighty here and for me. How i would love to have your reputation and rates.
I should have said the average DP writer. There are excellent writers here that need no "evolution".
"Evolution" is just as much letting people here know your quality as much as being an excellent writer.
I fancy myself a better than average writer, but if i charged high rates as soon as i came here, i'd be nowhere IMHO.
Or maybe my approach was not one of the best.

P.S great article on setting the rates.But you didn't account for the quality and capability of the writer