I was having a discussion on another forum for writers, and one of the members offered this tip: You can accept articles at a low paying rate, say $5 per article, but you should just do a few articles for the client at that rate. After you've written some quality articles for them and you've demonstrated your ability, you should ask for a higher pay rate. If the client realizes that you are of value to them professionally, they will accept the new pay rate. After all, a well written SEO article, for example, will drive significant traffic to their website. Those who aren't willing to pay a good rate for this service are just being cheap and low balling you. Better to spend 2 hours looking for a more suitable client who will put more money in your pocket.
You are forgetting that old adage, "Know your customer." Folks looking for $5 or less content aren't likely to be willing to invest more. They'll just find another writer.
Well, my thinking is that a lot of people charge 1 and 5 dollars for articles just because that's what they see other people doing. But if you can demonstrate some value to them then maybe they'd reconsider their position. That can be good to keep in mind in times when there isn't much more available then the low paying articles.
Although, a lot of people who pay 5$ per article may have become frustrated by the lack of quality that they are receiving, and when they find a good writer, they will stick with him/her. However, I doubt that you could wrangle out more than a .5 cent per word pay increase using this technique- once you get stuck writing articles for dirt cheap, it's hard to dig your way out without finding new clients.
At least it would be good to ask. If you've come upon a client who will gladly increase a cent or two per word to keep you onboard, then it's worth finding out.
Ah, ok- I'm sorry, when I read your post for some reason I was picturing the situation as "Up my pay or I'm outa here!" Rather than "I have demonstrated my quality, and I feel that the rates you are paying me are not what I am worth. Would you be willing to increase my pay in light of this?" Might work for a couple cents per word if you are working on a per article basis- if you have a contract, however, you are locked in at the rate you agreed. (And you should finish any work you promised them at the original rate)
I personally think article marketing is dead if it is done for backlinking and SEO. Rather I'd submit creative articles to some sites with legit traffic.
Dream on! !t Digitalpoint folks are looking to pay $1 or less per article, but demanding too much from both writer and delivered content.
Seems like 40-50 cents for about 500 words is the preferred rate around here - at least by the cheapskates with their Adsense empires. The $5 rate isn't what I charge nor the typical rate for articles here, it's just the example quoted in the original post.
I wouldn't dare waste my time writing for $5 per article when I've got to eat and keep a roof over my head! Yes, people will do what they have to do to get to where they want to be, but when you start out a certain way, you paint a portrait of who you are and what you're willing to put up with. As someone mentioned above, you can't really expect to charge a client $5 per article, give notice that you are raising your fees and expect them to say, "OK! Cool."
If you're looking for quality material that will help bring extra traffic to your website, then you need to ($5 please).
You are on a slippery slope here. There are clients who, if they hired you for the price, will leave you for someone else who's doing the job for your previous price. Playing the price game doesn't always work. Better have a decent price and appeal to clients who understand why your price is bigger.