What is going on with this world? $0.008/word for article writing.

Here is it people,

http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=215206

To be honest, everyone seems really happy on that thread.

 

I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at. If you're complaining that it's too much, at $.008, that makes a 750 word article about six bucks, which is awesome. If you're stating that it's a ridiculously low amount of money for such a service....you're right, but hey, it's something that people who need it can take advantage of.

 

It is insanely low, but I've seen people offer less. I guess quality is really what it depends on. If you expect to pay that much and get an article like what you would expect to see in your favorite magazine, you'll probably be disappointed.

 

The writer who started that thread made a guarantee that their writing would be free of grammatical errors. I can see two mistakes in their very first post.

I don't like shooting anyone else down trying to make a living but I do see that a lot of people on here only seem to care about how much an article will cost. I think writing is undervalued as a skill today because so many people just assume that it's easy to write something because everyone knows the alphabet and can type reasonably OK because of the access of computers and word processing programs. That's like me telling someone that needs a house to be built that I can do the job because I've used a hammer and nails before.

Still, I have found jobs with people that pay a decent rate and value my time, creativity and research that I bring to every job I take on. I'm certainly glad that they are out there!

 

You get what you pay for..... people paying that low will get poor content, let them learn the hard way like most do.

 

that's what you call globalization - the world is your market and your source.

low-end jobs that do not require high skills go to cheap labour countries and people in more expensive countries are forced to move up the value-chain.

if you are in an expensive country and you find yourself competing with skill from the cheap countries, you're in trouble!

 

But its not... non-English countries have a hard time writing a quality article. Articles are either stolen, plagiarized, or have spelling and grammar errors. We reject hundreds of articles a week from non-English speaking countries....

 

that is the most bigot'ish statements i've read in a long while. your post has many grammatical mistakes too and you're a native english speaker? if you can't compete, move on.

that's all i have to say. i'm out of here. have a nice day.

 

I'm not a writer, not even close so... I would never try to sell an article I wrote myself.

How is it bigot'ish? I wouldn't expect an English writer who doesn't have Spanish mastered, to be able to write a quality article in Spanish.

with that said, exceptions obviously exist in both cases.

 

Yes, $0.008 is ridiculously low. If the writer can make a living on that, fine, but people who pay that kind of rate for content will get what they pay for at some point.

I recently saw some projects posted at writerlance.com with project feedback for some of the writers. The projects were for articles at ridiculous rates for $3 or $4 per article and the purchasers left comments such as, "English did not make sense" and "too many grammar and spelling mistakes." What did they think they were going to get for that rate?

People want to pay $4 per article, but then act appalled when they need to rewrite the entire thing or pay someone else to rewrite it.

There is a big difference between skilled writing and rehashing information written in other articles. At best, this type of "writing" is just coughing up the information of others and rewording it. At worst, it's outright plagiarism and will get a Web site owner in legal trouble someday because the original author will discover the plagiarism and take action.

 

I agree. That price is ridiculously low. But for some people, price is the key factor in hiring a writer. They may never figure out that it was the writing all along that kept them from achieving the results they desired.

Writing is hardly a low-end job that doesn't require high skills. But, the good news is I'm not competing with the [lack of] skill from cheap countries.

 

Everyone is free to evaluate his work at a price he would be happy with..
I probably wouldn't

 

Yes, I dont think anyone could complain about getting a poorly written article from someone who charged such a low fee. However, if that is what the writer is willing to be paid for his work, and the consumer is willing to risk receiving a dodgey article, then I suppose they are both entitled to do just that.....

 

I don't totally agree. Its true that low quality writers charge u low but there are many who are good as well.

 

Good writers charging cheap usually have to take in more offers in order to cover their financial needs, and end up creating low quality content to meet deadlines.

Higher price feeds motivation..

 

Speaking from my writing experience so far, I can partly agree with you, Clive.
The higher the pay, normally the higher the motivation. I have some bitter memories of my freelance writer career when I had some clients offering a very high pay and requiring in reward very single word just the way they want it. And at the same time - never satisfied with what they get. Client-writer relations have a very significant effect, at least on my writing.

 

Hey, that is my thread you're all talking about. I started that thread a few months ago as I "was" an inexperienced writer. Yes, it's true, I live in a third world country. I don't deny that and yes, even though my rate seems very cheap I must say it provides well for me. As you may all have noticed, I have already closed that thread. Perhaps you may all judge low paying writers and judge "me" with giving low quality articles, that is all for you to say and I am not going to react to that (but I think I am reacting?) But just to let everyone know, I checked out the article writers under that category and majority of them are charging 1c/word. As a newbie (or a noob whatever you may wish to call me) I wanted to start with a price a bit lower than most people and that's how I got into this business. If you all disagree with my rate, I understand. But we all have mouths to feed, may it be ours or our loved ones. So peace to all!

 

I don't think anyone wants to judge you, phil. But as a professional writer myself, it's hard for me to grasp why anyone would choose to work for $4/article (that would be a 500 word article, using your rate of 0.008 cents/word.)

Unfortunately, people can and DO work for those rates (oftentimes much less,) and if that's your thing, fine. But when there are so many opportunities elsewhere to actually earn what you are worth from your writing, I fail to see why anyone would voluntarily choose to work for less.

 

as some one said up there, it is a low price for somthing liek that but "you get what you pay for". Being a frequenter of getafreelancer.com i see that people will post projects at insanly low prices (like a website done in flash thats 4-5 pages long but they want it done for only 100.00) maybe to the usa market that price is laughable but iv seen people do those kinds of jobs for the 100.00 i dont know if has anything to do with the diffrence in economoy but i do know this. The freelancer website even warns people of it. If you post a project that is insaly low in price and some one bites and takes it then you are going to be walking a fine line. Because maybe the person who took that job dosnt know what they are doing. Which i have seen alot.

 

Im really sorry PhilPoster.

I wasn't attacking you in anyway. I just thought you are worth more than than that.

You could have gotten more money if you asked for it.

One thing i will tell you is that the only way to become a better writer is by practicing. So as time goes along, you should be charging more. When you charge more, you work harder, so you could better at writing, and you make more money.