Has the time come for DP to set threshold price for writing services offered by writers here? It implies that the buyers cannot ask for lower prices than the threshold I didn't want to sound complaining (I apologize if I did) but I believe it saves time of webmasters as well as writers!
Ya, you are right. I am also feeling the same thing here for last few days. Its not a bad thing to offer services at very cheap costs, but it should be atleast at a minimum price. Otherwise it is always a problem for those who provide services for a living. Because they will never able to compete with them who will be students or someone who just need some easy money for some days. They sometime even can't deliver quality jobs and just remove others from the queue with their very low price tags. And this thing is not only the case with writing services, but also designing and programming services. The same things are happening out there too. I also agree with you that there should be a minimum threshold to maintain the quality of service. But another thing is that service buyers also should understand that high quality would never come at very cheap price. Sorry if I say anything bad, very sorry for that. But its just what I feel.
Nothing like that is ever going to happen. While writing is not exactly a "global market" as some folks like to say (find out why), you have to understand that writers are offering different things and coming from different backgrounds with different experience (and clients are looking for different things). If a client honestly doesn't think something is worth more than $5 - 10, I say let them learn the hard way or let them be happy with what they have. They're not the kind of people I want to work with - they're not my market, so why should I care what they're paying? If this is the kind of thing you're coming across, and it's bothering you that you can't find better, the problem isn't with the clients - the problem is with poor market planning on your own end. Also consider another side of things. Let's say someone suggests a minimum threshold of $.05 per word. That would be a huge increase for the less than a penny per word crowd of writers, but to many other writers here it's just as much of a joke. There's no threshold that could be set that would make all writers happy. And frankly, if you did create a threshold, you'd put a huge amount of writers here out of business, because their writing simply isn't worth more than they're earning right now (there's a reason clients don't pay much for poor English and SEO fodder). The "minimum price" you should be working for is the one that you choose to set for yourself. Mandated rates won't ever happen and won't get you what you're looking for. Strong marketing skills will.
Its so true and I vehemently echo the feelings of Live2Write.. Its absolutely true that quality writing does not come with cheap and low price so its better that a minimum price is set by the Forum to have a better and professional approach to buy and sell quality work be it content, coding or designing.
Well as a moderator then, I'll clarify - the forum will absolutely not set any kind of minimum rates for any kind of business that goes on here.
I have to take exception to saying that you can't find quality writing that cheaply - that's just not true. I have written for .01 a word and less in the past, before I knew how to find higher paying jobs. I consider myself to be a high quality writer. Unfortunately, high quality writers can occasionally sell ourselves short...lol.
The sad truth is someone in one country could do an hour of work for $2 and consider that a good salary, while in another country that'd be not even an option. Yet there are more people in the first category, making it pretty hard on those who have a higher cost of living. Even in the same country, there's a huge difference in how much money the same type of work will earn in say Springfield, OH versus San Francisco, CA.
No. The MARKET decides the price that will be paid. DP has nothing to do with anything. If you can't find clients willing to pay you what you want, that should be telling you something (about yourself).
It seems that this would be an impossible feat, not every writer has the same experience or qualifications. Meaning, those that have worked hard to have clients paying what they want should not be roped into the same type of rates as someone with little experience. At least that is my thoughts on setting a certain rate.
Agreed sandarr - as much as I'd love for writers to all charge what they're worth, they should have to work hard for it (getting the experience, improving their writing, building their marketing skills) just like those of us earning more now had to do in our own careers. If anything I'd say expecting things to be handed to you (at any level) means you may not be ready to really manage a freelance life yet.
It should not be done. It might be a good idea for many, but it will limit, if not erase, the charm of a free market. Let me ask everyone here a question, especially those who started out as penny for word writers- What is more motivating to you, a client willingly paying more or a client having to pay more becuase the forums imposes it? See, I am (or was) one of those who started out as a cent a word writer. That is simply because I didn't know what my writing was worth, as I had no prior experience. Participating in these forums, reading the posts here and then digging harder to find better paying gigs have definitely improved my earning per word. So my suggestion to you would be, if you want higher paying gigs, participate, build a portfolio and gradually hike your charges. I have learnt it, thanks to some really great moderators and members here, especially market junction and jhmattern.
I caved down to what jhmattern put! Hone marketing skills alongside writing while reiterating that there has been some amount of resentment and despair amongst many people offering services. I understand the difficulties that come in setting threshold prices for different services (considering the GLOBAL NATURE of these forums). But, does this sound okay to have good paying markets and low paying markets in the BST section while leaving to the discretion of buyers to post in whichever forums they might want, to get a service provide? So to say that no one is forcing the buyers to post in a specific forum Like to know what jhmattern and market junction have to say on this!
If you mean breaking down everything into two posting areas based on payment levels, it's not gonna happen either. Why? Have you seen the size of the BST area?? It's about much more than writers, and other freelancers here have similar problems. It would nearly double the BST area's size, and that just isn't practical. On top of it, anything where a total deal is $5 or less already belongs in the Freebies area - we "punish" overly low rates by doing that so they're not allowed to give or receive iTrader on the deal (scammers were running up big iTrader levels with crap goods and poor services in the past). And it wouldn't work anyway (even if Shawn were around to make changes - which he's not). Who's to say what's high-paying? Some people here would consider $25 for a 500 word article to be high pay. To me, I still view it as practically slave wages. To someone in a very low cost of living country, it may sound more like a king's ransom. You just aren't going to see that kind of discrimination going on here. On top of that, there are reasons you don't see many high-paying gigs advertised here. Eliminating the low-paying gigs doesn't do anything to change that. If a client posts saying they're paying $100 per 300 word article in a specialized niche, they're smart enough to realize if they post that publicly they're going to get slammed with inquiries and pitches (probably even long after the deal's closed) from these low-rate, unqualified writers making all kinds of claims (like perfect English when it's obviously not, or claiming they're an expert in the niche when they intend to actually pull things from "sources" like Wikipedia). The better-paying client base does business here underground through referrals. That's how they can work efficiently and find people they can trust (based on referrals from other webmasters they know). No matter what "rules" the forum might set in place, it's never going to change how people actually do business. If anything, they'd just stop posting the rates, and tell people to PM them for the info. There are MANY writers here who can't justify charging more, and there are many clients here who still demand the mostly poor quality content, because all they care about is unique text. That's the nature of one particular side of the market that hangs out here, and it's a reality you just have to get used to if you want to look for gigs on a webmaster forum - don't try to change the market; change your targets.
just because some people earn quite a lot, they think that they could use whatever words that come to their mind. fact: there are many who work for as low as .75usd per 100 words and they do not want to be referred as "slave wages" or "working for peanuts".. it takes time to build up a reputation and everyone has to start from a lower level. about time people as highly ranked as mods showed some respect as they are the ones looked upto by freshers like myself.
Actually, that's the kind of mentality that leads to most failing in the first few years. You do NOT "have to start from a lower level." I've been working with newer writers for a few years now showing them that, and not once has anyone taken my advice on dropping the "slave wages" and come back regretting it. As a matter of fact I'm in the middle of drafting a long post on AllFreelanceWriting.com today about this issue of marketing based on low rates and how it contributes to the failure of freelance writing careers. It's a big problem. And I honestly don't care if people don't like the term "slave wages." What I said very specifically was that to me that particular rate would amount to that. You don't have to like it. You don't have to agree. And don't tell me to "show some respect" around here when I've given countless hours to help new writers improve their careers - and several have done so quite successfully thank you very much. If it takes "tough love" and blunt honesty to get people to see through the crap (and unfortunately it does around here), that's exactly what you'll get.
Heh, s k, Try to be less negative, if you can. This is your second post of this nature, the other in content. Take the chip off your shoulder. You can easily respond in a kindlier fashion.
as much as i would like to do so, i just cant so long as i dont have a good enough reason. if you feel strongly about something, i dont think theres any harm in being the whistleblower. i still maintain my point and although would like to believe that even freshers can start charging more than threshold prices, i wonder how much work would i actually get. considering the fact that they have no i-traders to start with! and as our mods have to say, "tough love" is what it takes, then so be it.
Hmmm... maybe they'd have iTraders if they followed the rules and stuck to using a single account. I suspected the personal bitterness towards me was for a reason. EDIT: And here's the post I mentioned earlier (it's a long one) for anyone who believes competing based on low prices is a good idea for freelance writers - Why Marketing Freelance Writing Services on Price is a Big No-No
I am 100% agreed with you. I am not also saying that DP must impose anything. Free market obviously have the charm. And I am also not at all out of work. In fact I am working at night also. Please don't take it otherwise. But can you think you can compete with someone who is providing content at $0.001 per word? Thats the range we are talking about.
You shouldn't be competing with writers charging $0.001 per word if that's not the rate range you're targeting. They're NOT your competitors, and that's something a lot of writers here seem to have a difficult time understanding. If, for example, your basic rate is $.05 per word, you shouldn't be wasting a moment of your time pursuing the types of clients who are looking for $0.001 per word content. You should instead be finding out how to more effectively reach the types of clients who will happily pay your rates by understanding what they're looking for, how you can satisfy their needs (provide value), and where or how they tend to hire their writers. It's probably not posting public ads on DP.