To those of you who have noticed the writing gigs drying up here at DP

Meh, this happens periodically through the year. I have been here since 2008, and I have noticed a trend in the ebb and flow of available work. At the beginning of each year it is more noticeable because so many jobs flood the marketplace. There are just so many new projects in January in particular.

Usually, they seem to come back around mid-Spring to early-Summer (US seasons here). Maybe sites like Fivrr are part of it this time around, but I doubt it is anything to worry about. There are always places to get cheaply written work, and the same pattern seems to persist.

 

I think it is as simple as this chain of thought...

1. iDevices/Androids == more people than ever with internet access
   
   
   • - A lot of which are people who are less apt to do a lot of reading of anything that is actually considerable as read-worthy articles. I know many people who have never owned a computer but browse from their phone as the source of that notion.
     
     

1. With the mobile market having grown exponentially as time has passed there is a lot of people capitalizing on a whole new segment of viewers.
   
   
   • - In the group of people targeting the evermore mobile viewers, there is bound to be the bottom feeders who make absolute crap and sell it like it is a bacon wrapped filet mignon...and they can because there is people out there who just want something, anything on their new and more than likely in all reality straight up useless site.
     
     

1. In reaction to the two previous reasons, there forms a large segment of potential clients who want thorough and quality content and also think they have a bargaining point in their advantage because of the hypewritters as I call them.
   
   
   • - When in all reality that should drive the price of quality writing up. With all the possibilities of bad sources popping up, purchasers of content should be happy just to find people who can construct solid unique content on a regular basis with reliability. I have never paid someone to post an article on a site...but if I ever did, I would like to be able to pay someone and them hand me an article that I can just publish without having to second guess the process. It now seems that there is just a lot of people out there who would like to say whatever they have to in order to make a sale rather than form an opinion on a subject, portray it in text, and receive compensation for it.
     
     

Then again, I have never written anything and sold it though I have written many things, so maybe I am not on the same page as your normal human with this subject. I just figured that I would offer an outside perspective to the topic as a person who is more than anything one of the people who reads random articles on the internet.

 

In all honesty, with many of the 'jobs' listed on the BST section you may as well write for free.

$0.0041 per word I seen earlier.

 

I posted yesterday to a member from India as to what I charge for translating. He was astonished and said that me and another member were "trolling", as our prices were outrageous as far as he was concerned. He seemed to indicate that article writing and translating ought to be about the same price, haaaaa! Yet my fee is the industry standard here in North America.
I believe the differences in the costs of living may be the problem here. Fees and costs are *very* different in different parts of the world.
Writing (translating) gigs like this ought to dry up, who needs them at the prices they wish to pay? I believe I'll just go back to waiting for people to contact me, at least *they* offer to pay serious fees.

 

I agree with you about the cost of living and location playing a part in it. I have worked with people in other parts of the world, such as South Africa, who have written great articles for what writers in the U.S. would not even consider. The only thing for writers to do is focus on their own rates, stick to them, and not worry about what everyone else is charging.

 

I don't think you are trolling, you are simply offering to do the job for your rate, but someone else sure is. They are not even offering to do the work, just insulting people who offer low sums for jobs. Pure trolling.

 

@browntwn
I really ought to stay away from Spanish gigs anyway. My Spanish is less than perfect and I have to spend so much time proof*reading (proofreading) my work, and checking for spelling and grammar. But...it's really hard to walk away from extra $$$.

 

Still better than me. I am illiterate in a couple languages. Whenever it got to the serious grammar part of learning a new language I had to stop as I was in over my head. I didn't know what they were talking about in English, let alone French or Japanese. About all I can do now is count to 10 in a couple languages. Luckily for me the one I do know is the one everyone else seems to use.

 

Those amounts are outrageous and an insult to freelance writers. Most likely, they are PLR, or worse, plagiarized. Fiverr can be used as an "introduction" to a writer, say a 150 word piece or a 300 word rewrite. These are still very low rates, but I have actually done this in the past to get some decent paying clients for a little extra money. I think they have upgrades now, where you can offer more for say $10 or $15. Still pretty much a joke for a professional writer. Overall though, I wouldn't count on Fiverr for any real quality writing.

 

I'm a Level 2 seller on Fiverr. I think it's an incredible website, with many talented and creative individuals. I don't sell writing services on Fiverr. Here's a Super Seller featured on the Fiverr blog that does specialize in writing. It's his full-time job. I've actually purchased from him. Nice guy.