Why is it low paying??

Nice and educative thread. Thank you all. Coming from a non English speaking country I find it quite complicated to write something that can pass as at least a decent article. And to write it and get only $5 for 500 words can be quite stressful. As I see it there are two solutions. Lower the quality and produce more or increase the quality and charge more. Since I am really new in this maybe I'' try the first route, first. But in the long term I would say its not a very smart strategy. Cheers, and good luck with your writing.

 

I second your thought Kelebrimor, I think because we come from a non-native English speaking country, webmasters don't trust the quality. Build the trust then go for a hike, that is what I have been planning, with an occasional discount offer to get some more clients in the kitty!

 

I dont understand: 5 clients that pay low ( and you are always in a danger of loosing them to writers whose offers are lowering in rates even as we speak? ) or 1-2 clients that pay good enough ( and are willing to do so as long as you keep the quality maintained)

Seems to me that we really need to weigh the pro's and con's of both sides. Moreover, the client is the best judge of the quality. If he's honest enough, he would have no hesitation in admitting that your work is well worth its price.

 

You've touched on a good point. While we say repeatedly around here that you should never market services based on price, it doesn't always sink in. You demonstrated the "why" here though - when you choose to market to clients who only, or mostly, think about price (again, rather than actual value), you put yourself at the mercy of what everyone else is choosing to charge. That's simply not smart marketing. If you're able to offer something more than low prices, that's what you should be focusing on as a selling point. And if you can't offer anything more than low prices, I'd re-think a service-oriented career and focus on informational products or something else.

 

Indeed, a point well touched niches. Just one funny question props in mind though- Are you willing to pay the same rates you demand to those who would write better or at par with you? There are people asking for 1500 word articles to be done for as low as $3. I want to know, if you wanted to get something like this done, would you ask for such a low rate?
Worse still, such people get writers who are willing to write at those rates. Here are the two sides of this story now, both are two of my favorite quotes that I have picked up here at DP
1. "You always get moneys for peanuts"
2. "Peanuts are still food to an empty stomach"
so guys, always keep one thing in mind, a person willing to work at rate x would always want to get the same level of work done at some rate x-y, the greater the 'y', the greater are his profits!

 

Not much of a mathematics guy myself, but I get your point.
I would not care that a certain someone who pays low, gets his work done.
Such a buyer is obviously not someone who appreciates quality work. And I suppose, neither is he looking for it!
So why whine about these things. Focus on others who have no qualms to pay you the amount you deserve. Read the post above your own, its pretty much a smart reply to your question - even before you asked it!

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If you're able to offer something more than low prices, that's what you should be focusing on as a selling point. And if you can't offer anything more than low prices, I'd re-think a service-oriented career and focus on informational products or something else.
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I second each and every point from every-one who backs the concept of just-rate marketing, and marketing 'services that add value'. Jenn's posts have always been a delight to read niche, I never skip them. Infact, I was thinking of starting a thread taking views of people about Jenn.
Anyways, coming back to the point. The real thing is not that I want to work at low rates. But I would also pay someone at those rates whom I might hire in the future, rather than paying that guy like a miserly paymaster who wants to suck even the last drop of blood out of a writer's veins, and pay less than the writer would have been paid had he sold that blood off to a blood bank!
What I wanted to ask in the first place was, are those people, who are demanding high pays willing to pay that much if they were in the buyer's place? If you want to work at $10/100 words, are you willing to pay someone else that amount, assuming he writes just as well?
If the answer is 'yes', you are a good trader of,course. But if the answer is 'no', I bet you are a damn good businessman, and business is what we do. Right? So to get business, to market it well, and to raise your prices, I am of an opinion that you NEED to lower the prices and let your write-ups do the talking. Once you have built upon a sizable repute, you can hike your prices. That is how our trade system works, and if I don't reduce the price, someone else would do it, and maybe, someone else would eat my share of the pie (even though it would be a bit less than what I would have had, but nevertheless, he would have had some of it).
This is in context to Indian markets..
Ever Wondered why people prefer Nokia phones over Motorola?
- Because they offer same features for lesser price
Ever wondered why most people prefer CCD over barista Cofee?
-Refer answer to the above question

Ever wondered why on this planet there are so many writers lined up int the content creation section?
- Because they have a variety to offer in terms of pricing and in terms of quality.

Imagine, if there was just one market going-rate, and one level of quality, wouldn't it be just too monotonous for the buyers as well as the readers?

Don't you like to laugh out at an ill-written page, telling yourself what a miserly webmaster the guy must have been to hire a cheap copywriter?

Don't we all just love reading jenn's posts, admiring them?

If we didn't have extremes, competition and price-wars then the whole concept and need of marketing to the target audience and readership would have had no basis. I welcome the concept of waging price-wars because that boosts the concept of free-market dynamics. It teaches us to market- like Jenn said- our services and most of all, it teaches us how to compete.

 

A few issues:

1. The reality is that it doesn't usually work to charge low and then raise prices later... at least not if you ever want to raise them significantly. For example, if you wanted to go from $.01 / word to $.02 / word, you can probably pull it off. If you want to get from $.01 / word to $.50 / word or more, the vast majority would (and do) fail miserably. This is for several reasons. One, for example, is that once you've built an image around rates, it's extremely difficult to alter that image. Good reviews are not enough to do it. What's considered "damn good writing" by a client paying $.01 / word is not likely to impress someone on the higher end of the spectrum. In many cases those clients are simply uneducated as to what good writing is (and you can figure that much out by finding some awful posts here from "writers" and seeing all of the positive generic comments left in iTrader). At the same time, if those clients refer you to others they know you'd better believe they're going to mention what they paid if they're asked. Then your new clients feel cheated if you're then charging more. It's not a good image to set for yourself (coming from the PR person in me who knows all about building and maintaining an image ).

2. You're trying to compare services to products, and they simply don't work the same way. Prices on products don't have the same limitations. Why? Because people can always produce more products - the extreme bulk levels being created allow for extreme drops in prices (why Walmart can charge less than other retailers - they can buy infinitely more and get it as a discount because of that sheer bulk). You cannot do the same thing with time as a service provider. It's technically impossible. Yes, you can offer "bulk rates." But it's not the same thing in the slightest. Why? Because you can still only produce so many articles (or whatever it is you're writing) in the limit of hours you have in a day. Products don't have that issue - they can always hire more staff, get more supplies, etc. and make more - enough so to keep driving the prices down as long as there's a demand for the quantity. As I said before, time is a finite resource. Once it's gone, it's gone. There is no true "bulk" when it comes to your hours.

3. You mention the free market, but in fact it's the free market that allows you to set your own higher rates. Use it to improve your career - not justify a career at a level lower than you're capable of achieving. Price wars are only a part of one small market (the one where clients hold price above everything else). Limiting yourself to that means limiting your career. If that's what you want to do, do it. It's never going to affect me, so it's no sweat off my back. That said, I work hard to teach writers how to better their careers when they ask for help for good reason - yes, you may have clients now. But you never know when your career will end (through illness, disability, etc.), and you never know when you're going to need an influx of money for some expense (anything from a car needing repairs to needing money for a wedding, a home, or because you find out you have a new baby on the way). Earn as much as you can while you can, and you'll be prepared when things out of your control happen, as well as have more freedom to make the big decisions that rely on finances to some degree down the road.

When you market based on a selling point other than price, you'll almost never have to worry about what other people are charging - at the very least you won't have to constantly lower your prices. People come to you because they respect your work, they want your specialized knowledge, or something else that gives them value - they don't just want to trade cheap rates for good reviews that are worthless to most other buyers other than those also solely looking for cheap rates - your success condemns you to some degree.

I know I mentioned this in another thread recently, but it bears repeating - people love to argue the issue, saying low rates are the way to go. But at the same time, of the writers I've worked with, helped along the process of increasing rates, and those who have just done it on their own and later shared their stories with me (including some who used to make some of the same arguments that you are, and who fought tooth and nail about it before finally breaking down and giving the other approach a try), not a single one regretted getting out of that cycle. There's a reason for that.

 

I am not fighting tooth and nail for the cause of the issue. My point is still as clear a muddy waters now, after reading your post Jen. I consider myself a newbie, still. I am learning the nuances of writing and marketing in the right way. I am not at all of a singular point of view and I would definitely want t ocarve our a story of my own to share with you guys.
See, as of today, I am a student. Being a student, whatever I earn at DP from whatever I write is wnough for me, and that is the reason I don't feel the need to market. This is what I thought till I read your opinion about earning as much as you can, till you can. Thanks, it has given me an inkling into the kind of attitude required to get the 'six figure' salary from writing. But still, as of now, when I compare myself to a lot of good writers, I get a feeling that 'I still have miles to go before I sleep'. Its not that I am underrating myself, its just that I know where I stand. I might take a break down the line and then revamp my marketing strategies once I have equipped myself with all the nuances of writing over the internet. For now, I am happy being a silent student to the different schools of thought existent here. Again, I am open to choosing the one that suits me, and it is definitely not the 'low-paying'.
Regards,
Jeewant

 

I believe price does matter. It is term of quality of copy writing service. Some people want quick cash and sell article for low price but low in quality

 

It's cheap because people don't want to pay high premiums. That's how it is in ALL fields. People will always try to lowball. It depends on your skill level and experience.

I'd avoid lowpaying gigs altogether. The person you're going to be dealing with is going to be such a nitpicker because they're pretty much broke and want to get the most from the $20 they hired you with.

 

So, any strategies to get rid of such clients?

 

To get rid of the low paying clients that you already have?
Or nitpicking clients that you already have?

 

For those who think price is their main marketing advantage, you are seriously shortchanging yourself on dp.

The content service section is in all honesty a sweat shop.

I try to avoid it after I found my articles being sold for 10 times what I wrote them for. You can imagine how I felt. It had taken me a long time to write those articles. Instead of getting annoyed, I realized I was worth more and have not looked back.

When I don't have any clients, I write for a few of my blogs. Just from the adsense earnings from these articles, I am earning more than the peanuts I was given. I will continue earning this amount for the rest of my life. I can assure you that it's more than 1 ct per word.

If you really are a good article writer, then there is no better client than yourself. If you need quick money, buy a pr website, write 30 articles and join a blog review site. You will keep your short term income as well as concentrate on your own websites as you market your services to clients who deserve your services.

Anyone who values your work just because of price is not a client but someone who is using you. You cannot continue complaining of low rates while still seeking low quality clients. Anyone offering you cheap wages is either

1. A conman who might not pay you when you finish the work.
2. A constantly nagging client who will want an English literature project for 1 ct a word
3. A broker who is being offered higher prices by his clients and does not love the topic or doesn't have the time.
4. A sweat shop runner who will praise you when he needs you and give you hell when he finds a cheaper person.

There are some webmasters I can do low priced work for. They are easy to spot. They actually have a website where you can see your work after it is finished. Write for these kind of webmasters even for that 1 ct a word, give them good quality articles and as they succeed they give you more work and will never shortchange you if you need to increase your rates.

They are rare but they are here on dp. I am lucky that most, actually all my clients fall in this category and I write for them for fun and our discussions are based around making their websites grow, not how much the job was.

 

Here is another reason why the rates for content creation are so low on places like DP: I have noticed that many people think they are a writer because they have access to a computer and a keyboard. It's ignorance like this that also goes into the factor why the rates (and the quality) are so low.

 

"Ever Wondered why people prefer Nokia phones over Motorola?
- Because they offer same features for lesser price"

Oh, ya ? I prefer Nokia any day, just because it's Nokia
you failed my cheap friend, and stop talking about long dollar in 3rd word. buying power with the same goods or same quality of them is much much less then in US. and food examples (like cola or mac) don't bring real picture there.

 

Stuff written at such low rates will not be high quality material... it will just be cheap filler

 

Exactly. you don't get a cake if you pay for peanuts.

 

Well, you *may* get a cake if you pay for peanuts. But, if you do get peanuts, you can't complain, as that's all you paid for.

Or, to unwrap the metaphor, you *can* get good work at $0.01 if you are lucky (e.g. a good but inexperienced writer seeking to build their portfolio or itrader), but you probably won't.

 

I would hope that there isn't a "good" writer here naive enough to shortchange themselves to build iTrader - it means practically nothing and isn't much of a factor (if at all) to serious buyers with bigger budgets who would pay them decent rates - they're usually smart enough to put the weight in the portfolio and references that don't work in an exchange-style system (in other words - they know iTrader is seriously abused).

And for portfolios, there's no reason they have to take extremely cheap gigs to build one. There are far better ways with far more value to their career - for example, if you want to work for next to nothing, do it for a respected non-profit to build your portfolio (their review actually carries weight and it's good PR for you, as opposed to a review from a webmaster no one's ever heard of who could only really refer you to other webmasters without a real budget).