1,000 words for $1?
Where do you draw the line on trying to get started as a freelance writer, and taking jobs that pay slave wages? Early this morning I was perusing GetAFreelancer to see what was new, etc. While there were many jobs that stuck out in my mind as poor, one of them stood out above the rest. There was a buyer offering to pay $1 for 1,000 words! I am all for finding a way to break into the industry, even if it means lower rates, but this is ridiculous.
If I were to take a job like that, which I wouldn’t, my rate would work out to somewhere around $5/hour. Maybe there are some people who think that earning $5/hour is a bargain, but in the United States it is not going to get you very far. In fact, this is a couple bucks short of minimum wage.
I have always said that taking low paying projects is a good way to get involved with freelance writing. But at the same time, you need to use some common sense. If you are not even going to earn minimum wage on a job, you should really leave it for somebody else. Hopefully nobody will bid on this job, and the buyer will see that they are not contributing anything useful to the freelance writing industry.
What type of quality can somebody expect for $1 per 1,000 words? I would love to see who this buyer chooses for their project, and what type of articles they end up with.
December 30th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
I’m impressed that you can write five thousand words an hour. For how many hours can you sustain such output? And if you write 40,000 words in a day, can you write that five days a week? Because, a novel can be 100,000 words, and, at 40,000 a day, you could write two novels a week.
December 30th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
anonymous - In theory you are right. But realistically a lot of work goes into writing a novel. The articles discussed in the post are probably nothing more than basic web copy.
December 30th, 2007 at 8:42 pm
I’d do one of two things for that dollar. I’d either send in a picture (a picture is worth a thousand words, right?), or I’d do a happy little Lorem Ipsum on them. Both of these options would likely still be worth more than a dollar, but it would be good for a laugh on my part
December 31st, 2007 at 11:38 am
Jason - Great idea, haha! Its hard to believe that people expect quality work for such low prices?
December 31st, 2007 at 7:43 pm
A lot of people who are posting projects offering these kind of rates don’t really know what they are looking for.These people don’t know how to leverage good content in their business. They have a few dollars to spare and think that all they have to do is slap some keyword stuffed junk on a web page and they are in business.
I notice some of these projects at GAF and to my horror watch as bids start pouring in. The problem is in the biz model (if you can call it that) and the savvy writers and as well as Internet marketers don’t participate in this model at all!!!
Happy New Year Chris.
Nadin
January 1st, 2008 at 2:34 am
[...] went backpacking through China, CHESSNOID blogged about me, Chris did too. ChrisBlogging won’t write 1,000 words for a buck (do you blame [...]
January 2nd, 2008 at 12:41 am
I’ll admit, over the past year I took some very low paying jobs while I was trying to get started, but that’s low even for a beginner. The sad part is, the poster is probably a perfectionist that will ride whoever accepts the job demanding quality that they are not willing to pay for.
January 3rd, 2008 at 11:39 am
I’ve been a freelance writer for almost 15 years. I recently started to do SEO writing and have done quite well at it; it’s some of the quickest and easiest money I’ve made in my career.
I think it’s because before I started in this niche, I researched it. While I was horrified at some of the rates offered, I also got glimmers of success from a few articles where SEO writers said there are clients who are willing to pay decent rates for good writing. Furthermore, during my research I discovered that many SEO writers got so busy that they started to turn down clients. Right then, I knew it was a niche for me, as it takes many freelance writers years to get to this point.
As for rates, I dispense this piece of advice to writers, especially beginners: “How you begin is how you will end.” Applied to freelance writing, it translates into valuing your worth.
While we’ve all had to take on projects that pay less than desirable wages, there should be a bar that you never go below.
Now, where that bar is, I have no idea. As freelancers, what may be a good wage for one may be peanuts to another … which is why the debate over freelance wages will rage on, I’m afraid.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Thanks for all the comments! Everybody has brought up some valid points…
Jim - There is nothing wrong with low paying jobs as long as you are always looking to move up. You are done with the hard part!
Yuwanda - I agree, there is some good money to be had with SEO writing. After all, everybody needs good content to keep their site running smoothly.