Most of us agree that as writers we need to present ourselves, both in forum and pm in the best possible light. But as a writer, I'd like to say that the converse is also true. Buyers need to think about how they present themselves too. Here are the 3 phrases that really hack me off... 'Im looking for prices based on a long term working relationship' Why would I want long term low paying work? 'Your best small business rate' It's the same as my large business rate, for the same quality of writing. And the classic... 'Im not sure what I want, but will know when I see it' Okay..... Im sure we all have others that hack us off...(and bear in mind this was just a bit of fun...but NEVER, EVER, say these things to me ) Christine (on work avoidance)
A few years ago I had a client who needed something written up about a new property development, they specified highly targeted writing aimed at the discerning investor, then raved about the completed product, and promptly employed a 17yr old schoolkid to answer sales leads. I washed my hands of the whole affair and went a different direction.
Christine, you might have ignored the greatest one 'I'm looking for high quality at cheap rates'. lolz! In fact I've come across one with 'looking for cheap quality articles', and I kept on thinking and thinking for a long time what does it mean 'cheap, quality articles' or 'cheap quality, articles'.
Mine would be the same as yours, Christine. However, this one which I saw in Craigslist Curmudgeon really got me: Link: http://craigslistcurmudgeon.com/2007/06/10/would-you-work-for-this-guy/ LOL! I think my "LOL" says enough.
I agree. If in a moment of weakness I have lowered my rate , I have found myself not getting into the relationship for the long term as I wanted better rates eventually. In fact, just a couple of days ago, a writer posted in the content creation part of the buy-sell-trade part of this forum advertising bulk rates at under a cent a word. The person seemed a bit desperate to get started on writing and I assessed that the writing was of good reasonable quality. So, I sent in a couple of assignments and offered to pay far higher than asked. My reason was that I wanted a long term relationship But guess the writer is flooded with assignments as he has missed his deadline by many days
This made me laugh! My "favorite" is "this is easy work for someone who knows what they are doing." If it's so easy...then you do it instead of paying $3 an article. LOL.
I've seen several comments in these forums that essentially say that how much you are paid should depend on your typing speed, as if writers just take dictation. And for that matter, a lot of the pay here is lower that what you would have to pay someone to transcribe dictation.
Every time I read one of those posts looking for a cheap, quality writer and the employer makes crazy demands I always have the mental image of a slave being whipped. When I see replies like "Thank you sir for this opportunity" it makes the image even funnier. Everyone thinks that because they own a keyboard that they are suddenly a professional writer. Just because I own a knife in my house doesn't mean that I'm a surgeon!
Thank you! I couldn't have said it better myself. If writing was so easy, then everyone could do it.. and we all know that's simply NOT the case.
This one brought a huge grin to my face - "I need good research article writting. I will go throughout the article". For all that research, he was willing to pay me $3 per article. There sure are some generous people around here.
Oosha - if you are serious about your writing career, you will NOT find the majority of clients on DP are willing to pay decent rates. I've found a few hidden gems, but all of my work now comes from other sources.
Denise, that's what I figured. Fortunately, there are a few clients that are happy paying my asking rate and more. I've started looking at other sources too.