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

That's precisely my point... the Web writing marketplace goes far beyond places like forums. If that's the type of place a writer tries to find all of their work from, their rates aren't going to increase. I work to help writers break out of that mindset all the time, and have been a freelance writer for about 8 years now, so I can guarantee you there are better ways of doing business as a writer.

Here's the point I constantly press on writers who come to me for help: You can be a full-time writer charging very low rates and having too churn out 200 articles per week (just for a round number).OR, you can charge more, work for far fewer clients writing far fewer articles, and actually make MORE money, have more time to enjoy to yourself, and simply have a better quality of life in the process. No one in their right mind really thinks about it and says "I think I'd rather potentially burn myself out to earn less." You also have to remember this: clients on a "budget" are not the same as clients who are simply cheap and who want the world for nothing. There are quite a few people here and all over the Web who are very happy to pay $.03 - .10 / word or more for higher quality content, and that's still being on a low budget compared to the large numbers of much higher paying clients looking for that same quality both online and off.

It's really less about trying to level a playing field and getting the basic business foundations actually required to succeed in any kind of freelancing, and enough sense to finally realize that there isn't just one playing field in the slightest. It's all the same game... you have to decide whether you want to play in the little league, minors, or pros, and understand that they overlap. While I have no issue with you personally doing whatever your please in your writing career, my point is for the writers who do want better and don't understand how to get it, b/c they don't yet understand that they have no need in the world to actually compete with those lower-paying markets if they learn the basics of marketing and networking first.

We see eye to eye on this at least. Writing is definitely not "easy," at least if it's done well. The problem is that many webmasters don't understand the value of quality content. They only care about keyword-stuffing. There are many who do though, and that will undoubtedly increase as the SEs learn to devalue lousy content written specifically for them as opposed to quality writing designed for the readers. So it's not something to get too caught up in. Writers do deserve respect, and that includes being paid respectable rates for their work no matter where they happen to live. But catering to the needs of the market, doesn't have to mean catering to the needs of the low end of that market.... the webmaster market is hugely diverse... you just have to know where to look.

 

Respect.

It's looking at your bank account and liking what you see.