What are the advantages of writing for $4?

averyz - You're mistaking a marketplace for a market. There will always be a market for crap content at extremely cheap rates. But good writers never have to participate in that market. They need to get their act together in a business sense and learn how to properly target markets that pay what they're worth.

There's a reason you see a lot of "I"s. I'm very experienced, and very well-networked. I know what serious writers are making and I know what kinds of gigs are out there because they're going to me, my colleagues, and my competition. I know how to do my research and keep my finger on the pulse of the freelance writing world. I've also coached writers and helped them go from these garbage gigs to earning quite a lot more. I've also pointed writers to quite a few others who know what they're talking about through professional experience in other threads here. For people who want to know how good gigs come along, first hand experiences have value -- my own, and those from others. Don't belittle them until you've tried and applied them.

For the record, most serious writers don't touch marketplaces like DP. DP does not represent the bulk of writing work out there -- that's only the case for writers ignorant of better options (and there's no excuse for that ignorance with so many others helping them figure it out these days). DP's public market for writers is an example of a lazy man's market. It doesn't represent the writing industry -- not even the Web writing industry. It represents one small segment of it, and not a segment serious writers with an ounce of talent would willingly participate in.

The good gigs are mostly unadvertised. That's not new. It's how the freelance writing world has always worked. People ask those they trust for referrals. You make yourself visible and keep yourself connected, and you'll get those gigs. These days search engine traffic to your portfolio can also act as a sort of referral. Anyone putting a bit of effort into their rankings and network can do several times better than $4 per article, no question about it. So yes, a lot of people live and work there -- people all over the world.

They certainly wouldn't be working less. They'd have to work more, still to earn less overall. Think of it this way -- if you could earn a modest rate of $40 per article, you'd have to write just one to earn $40. Someone charging $4 per article has to churn out 10 of them -- much more work. Even if those articles are quick, so is that $40 article (you don't start seeing big differences in time required per piece until you stop talking about Web content and start talking about feature writing, which is an entirely different animal).

 

averyz is right - it is all about how the market plays out. This $4-rate will be the norm in "marketplaces" like DP as long as there are writers who are willing to accept writing gigs at this rate and buyers who will accept the kind of services they provide.

 

Hmm. Maybe $4 is all your articles are worth because in this short extract you made two obvious grammatical mistakes and did not correct a typing error.

I would not hire someone who is too slapdash to correct basic errors no matter how low his or her prices are.

 

Yes, these rates will exist. No one has disputed that. But it's not what was asked and it's completely irrelevant to the question at hand -- are there any advantages to writing for $4 per article? The answer is "no." On top of that, no writer has to work within this single narrow market. No writer with business sense would even consider it. Many make the mistake, learn quickly, and get out to find better paying work that is just as achievable. Many others never learn, they eventually burn out having to cram in so much work to make ends meet or make a "decent" income where they live, and they quit. Those writers are replaceable. They will always be replaceable, because they don't offer much real value to buyers. Those who get paid much more do offer value (and they know how to convey it to clients), so work keeps on coming and they never have to cram in endless articles to get by. Pay is better; quality of life is better. When you look at both models from the writer perspective, there is not a single benefit / advantage to writing $4 articles.

 

I am not a writer, I am a client/customer. I need writers. I was paying $4 per article for a few weeks in the very beginning before I really got sick of the quality. I moved up to someone who was charging me $18 for 500 words. The articles are 100x better. The english is great, the grammar is flawless and the topic is well researched.

Thats about all you really need to know. You get what you pay for. I learned it quick.

 

When I first entered into the writing business I accepted jobs at $1 per 500 words.

I quickly learnt that it was impossible to make a living and was basically slave labor.

I managed to move up to $3 per 500 words however soon learnt that I ended up compensating quality against time.

I am a member of some freelancing sites and it really annoys me when I see adverts like

"I want quality writers. Plagiarism will not be tolerated and you will be sacked immediately. Excellent grammar and spelling is a must. You will deliver ten articles a day otherwise you will not be paid. You will be available at all times to update me on the project via MSN or messenger. Pay is $1 per 500 words"

 

You will be surprised, Greg. You can get quality for $4, and by that I mean good quality. Perfect sentence structure, grammar, vocabulary et al. The world is a harsh place at times, and there are many excellent writers who are forced to work at lower rates because of the economic condition prevailing in their respective country. Let's not 'write' them off.

 

Frankly, if a writer writes for $4 per article, it's clear they know very little about running a business. And a writer's business sense is as important as their grammar (maybe moreso). If they can't figure out how to earn what they're worth -- and there are plenty of high paying gigs out there for those who can -- then A) why would I want them representing my business, and B) why would I want to build a working relationship with them, knowing they'll either have to raise rates dramatically in the future which screws with my budget or that they'll go out of business like many burn-outs before them? So yes, I do write them off. If you have no business sense, you don't belong in the freelance world until you can figure that out.

Also, you assume things like "perfect grammar" represent good quality. First, many buyers wouldn't know perfect grammar if it bit them on the ass. There's nothing wrong with that. That's why they hire professionals -- to do something they can't effectively do themselves. For example, many buyers here aren't native English speakers, so they can't really judge article quality well based on grammar. There is also far more to quality writing -- such as unique content, expert insight, a new approach to a topic, etc. Anyone can rewrite something (what many of those $4 articles do, which is illegal in some countries -- it doesn't matter if it passes Copyscape). Those rewrites can have perfect grammar. The same is true of articles that are nothing more than re-hashed content from Wikipedia or other overly-simple research sources ("regurgitated Web content" as I like to call it). The content might be passable, but it's far from excellent quality as far as the writing world goes.

 

I don't think it is very nice to put people down or say they have no place in the freelance world just because they work for less money then you do.

In all trades, markets, jobs and professions there is a wide range of levels of skills jobs and earnings. Some people might just be learning so they work for less some people might be just starting out so they work for less there is a lot of reasons people work for less then you do. As a few people pointed out $4. to write an article is decent money in some places

I know many professionals that would never dream of having to try to hustle work or sell ebooks off of Internet forums like you do. But I still think it would be rude and ignorant for them to put YOU down for trying to sell ebooks and promoting yourself in forums like you do.
That's your niche you have found so you shouldn't put other people down who don't have as good of a niche as you do.

 

averyz - That's not what I said. I don't care that there are writers who earn less than I do. Some deserve to earn less than I do. Some deserve to earn more than I do. Some could be earning more than what they're earning now, but they're either ignorant of business issues or they don't put in the effort. Neither of those groups is populated with writers that a smart business owner would rely on. It's a stupid business move to rely on any third party provider who can't function effectively in their own business. We aren't talking about all $4 article writers. We're talking about people who could be earning more based on quality (based on the post before mine which my comments were in response to), but who are too lazy to put the work into doing that -- the type who burn out, quit, and leave their clients hanging. They're also the type who then bitch endlessly to people like me and my colleagues about how there are no good paying jobs, and they want us to hand over the high paying gigs on a silver platter. So take the comments in context before placing judgments.

Location is 100% irrelevant in the rate debate. $4 per article is not good money anywhere. It might be passable, but it's not a "good" living. It certainly isn't what anyone qualified to produce decent content should be earning (and those who produce crap content just because they can earn a quick buck demean the entire profession). I know writers in India, China, etc who earn what I do and much more in some cases. That's smart business. You don't de-value your time or your talent and blame it on cost of living because you choose to market services primarily on price (bad business for any type of service provider as anyone well-versed in the marketing world will tell you -- why? -- because you're selling time which is a finite resource).

I "hustle" e-books? Really? I don't give a rat's ass if you feel that way. Why? Because it's clear you don't fully understand the meaning of the word. You're entitled to your opinions just as I'm entitled to mine. But I'm not going to worry about opinions founded on anything less than fact. Posting a link in a signature is far from hustling (although I don't even bother doing that anymore, so hmmm). And newsflash -- I don't promote myself around forums. I network. That, my dear, is smart marketing. If you want to talk about hustling, go look at some of the $4 article threads being posted and re-posted (against the rules) practically begging for work because people want the world handed to them on a platter rather than learning how to market themselves effectively and build a network that leads to referrals.

Frankly I am sick and f*ing tired of all the justification for low rates. Anyone who tells writers that's a good thing is out for their own interest. Those who really care about those writers are the ones out there helping them to do better -- not coddling them and telling them whatever they want to hear to make them feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I'm sorry if you don't like my thoughts on the issue. I guess it's a good thing I don't make it my mission in life to be a people-pleaser. Then again, that's why the $4 article types keep coming to me when they finally wise up and want no-bullshit information about how to have a serious professional career rather than trying to pass off hobby writing as professionalism. Some are better left behind. They'll burn out, quit, and be replaced in a heartbeat and they have no real bearing on the writing community.

The point of this thread was to discuss so-called advantages of writing $4 articles. When people spout crap about how great it is in any way other than for cheap-ass clients, then they're too busy drinking the Kool-aid to be taken seriously. And like it or not, I will always call bullshit when I see it.

 

Advantages of writing for $4? You qualify for government assistance, like food stamps and Section 8 because you're living below the poverty level.

I honestly don't think anyone (at least in the U.S.) can survive writing $4 articles for a living.

Writers can and do make more and the many of those that do don't bother with DP which is why so many writers and buyers think these low wages make the world go round.

 

I am with you on this one Averyz. This is a fact. We need to look at the big picture. Frankly, I don't think there are many clients who are willing to shell out big bucks for articles today.

 

The only advantages are for the people buying your work.

Undervaluing yourself makes you happy?

 

You can write an article for the people who need to read that or for the search engines to rank it!!!.
If you are writing for search engines, then 4$ per a 500 word article is ok.
But, If you are writing the article for the those who should enjoy reading it then 4$ in not sufficient.

 

I am writing for more than fours years but I have not find people offering more than $5/500 words. What are the ways to look for high paying clients?

Thanks

 

Look at some other websites that list writing jobs: jobs.problogger.net, freelancewritinggigs.com, allfreelancewriting.com/jobs.

The other thing you can do is let clients come to you. Participate in the discussions here and network with other writers. Show your expertise and you'll be contacted by buyers who've noticed your style, want to hire you, and are willing to pay your higher rates. Of course, if won't work if you're a bad writer and have no expertise.

 

You'll never earn much writing general articles.

Specialise in something and you can charge decent money for it, or learn how to write press releases, white papers, or anything actually useful.

I'm a sales copywriter but will help clients out with basic stuff, if they're regular clients that have already paid a large lump for previous work. For example today I'm doing a press release for $100. I wouldn't normally bother, except the guy previously paid $1600 for a brochure.

Here's some tips:

If you can't write really good English, do something else. Do social bookmarking or other link building, get good with graphic design, offer research etc.

If you are good at English, pull out all the stops to make your clients extremely happy. They order 4 articles, give them 5. The moment you find you have more clients than you can handle, increase your price by at least 25%.

Want to be a sales copywriter like me? It's easy, go to Clickbank, find products you like and sell them. Once you've proven you can do that you can easily charge $1000 to $10,000 per salesletter for someone else. And you get paid while you learn



AC

 

I know someone who is sourcing articles at a rate of about $1.50 per 400 words ... decent quality to. I just shake my head at this. I do not know why any writer would sell their services so low ... I won't even pull my keyboard out for less that $50 ...

I just do not understand writers on DP. Why do you waste your time here selling your services for substandard rates when you could be using other sources to get yourself clients that will actually pay you a pretty good rate ... just makes no sense to me.

But then again about 90% of writers on these forums are so bad I suppose they don't have much choice.

 

Hi,
May I know about the kind of sources you are talking about? Actually most of us do not know how to find a high paying client. It is all our fault only. I know. But, we have to work hard to make ends meet.

Thanks

 

Sorry for veering away from the topic. I'm planning to write a few articles related to my city and am reproducing the first and last paragraph below. Would appreciate your feedback. Thanks in advance.
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The heady perfume of burning frankincense along with the soft aroma of marigold flowers permeates your nostrils as you walk through the labyrinthic lanes and bylanes of North Kolkata. It is nearly dawn… from the distance you can hear faint sounds of the Imam calling the faithful for their morning prayers. The golden beams of the rising sun, peeking between buildings, plays hide and seek with you, as you slowly proceed ahead towards your destination.


But doesn't something seem to be missing amongst all this? You had read in various journals that Kolkata is still full of filth, beggars, and cows. It is not your fault. It is because quite a number of media experts seem to suggest that Kolkata is still full of filth, beggars, and cows. Media experts have been wrong before-or didn't you notice?