We’ve all seen crappy offers from people looking for writers. Today I saw one on a forum that really takes the cake. Here are a few of the (hilarious) highlights:
- They must “write English very well.”
- They have to be able to write both articles and press releases.
- The samples he “likes” (and that you’re apparently supposed to emulate) are highly popular / mainstream tech sites.
- You have to do a 400 word unpaid sample / “interview article” to even be considered.
- You must turn over each project within 24 hours.
- He’ll pay you a whopping $2.50 per article / press release.
But wait. There’s more! Here’s the real kicker folks:
If you’re not only a sucker, but a super-duper sucker who prides him or herself on working for slave wages for an unappreciative ass who has no real respect for your talent, time, or hard work, you may be lucky enough to score a long-term deal out of it. Yippie!
Seriously, this guy acts like you should be bending over backwards competing to write for him. I don’t care where someone lives or what their cost of living is compared to places like the U.S. Even in low-paying markets, there’s NO good excuse to take on terms like this.
He goes on and on about things like “English competency.” Let’s hope every writer who sees that ad has enough sense to judge him on his apparent lack of business competency.
Want to see the actual ad? Here you go.
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Krysha Thayer
Brie Wallace
Crystal
Lori
Lucy Smith
http://freelancemoney.wordpress.com/ is a blog focused on winning Elance jobs. The posting for $2.50 an article is just offensive. Problem is, people (note I didn’t call them writers) will actually take the job!
J. Smith Adams
What I found amusing is that (when I posted this at least) no writers responded to that thread saying they’re interested – and they usually jump on even crap gigs begging for more information. He claims he found people who are interested, but I highly doubt he found anyone even remotely qualified according to his terms. Everyone in the thread itself was just ripping him apart (and rightly so).
Sadly, these outrageous ‘job’ ads are becoming the norm. People have lost touch with what writing involves and what it means to be a writer. In most cases, these ads are seeking content to attract Google with keyword-rich articles. The beauty of a well-turned phrase is lost on someone who only wants to cram in as many mentions of a product as possible. Writers should not be equated to software, but they are. There are software packages out there that let you plug in key phrases and create articles – meaningless to humans, but perfect for SEO.
It is time we stop accepting these insulting offers and educate new writers that they do not have to take these jobs in order to earn their wings.
This job posting actually scares me. I can only pray that it hasn’t gotten “that” bad for all of us. I am also a firm believer that we writer’s must stick together and NEVER take assignments like these of any kind. The more absurdly low-paying gigs we take, the less we we’ll all get paid in the end. Unless it’s the opportunity of a lifetime that will indeed further your career and benefit YOU, there is no reason to waste your energy giving it away for free. Set your limits and stick to them. You are worth so much more!
“I need people who can write error-free and grammar free articles that can write English very well.”
Apparently he isn’t all that picky. Grammar isn’t even required.
LOL I love that.
As I mentioned before, there is worse. There’s a scam that asks you to do a trial article. First, you must provide your credit card before you can do the review. That ‘job’ was cross posted on this site if I recall rightly.
Everyone has their own definition of what a writer is, it seems. There was a bit of a debate over it on this blog not too long ago. Later, I read an article about how hate groups are on the rise, and I made the connection. Whenever there is a depression – such as the one we’re in today, people are losing their jobs, everything is uncertain, it becomes easy to find a group of people to hate. For some this may be black people, or Asian people, or a religion, etc., etc. For writers, it seems, it is people who take low paying gigs who make their hate list. It’s so easy to point the finger at people and put ourselves above them. **Inappropriate content removed** I hardly think that if we were all laughing gaily about how wonderful it was to be making a ton of money every week from writing, that we’d be playing the blame game and posting hate rants. If you can’t compete with people who ask for less money, then either start asking for less money or get out of the game. That’s the way capitalism works and what a global economy means.
But then, what’s one man’s opinion when there’s a lynching afoot?
Steven, I’m willing to allow and encourage different opinions being shared here, but consider this a one and only warning – lumping me or my writers in with hate groups because you disagree with me or them and what we say from a professional standpoint (and as people who HAVE been at the starting gates faced with those no and low-paying options btw) will absolutely not be tolerated here.
And as a counter, having a problem with “clients” who want to use and abuse service providers is not about capitalism. It’s more about self-respect. The people who have a problem with it couldn’t care less about competing for those gigs – they’re not in our market, likely never were, and definitely never will be. We go out of our way to expose scammers and cheapskates who intentionally prey on writers while offering nothing of true value in return not because it benefits us personally in some way to do so. We do it so other writers don’t fall victim to common games in the market–games that can set their careers back by years (like the lies about a single “global writer’s market” for instance).
The people who should “get out of the game” are the ones who can’t cut it in the marketing department enough to command better rates and who have to justify gigs like this as appropriate rather than working to better themselves and their career. No writer with even mediocre talent, an ounce of business sense, and two brain cells to rub together (from ANYWHERE) would jump on this gig. This, like many others, is a case of taking advantage of inexperienced, naive, or desperate writers to get the free unpaid “interview articles.”
I still find it ironic that your disapproval of criticism manifests itself in doing the same. But remember this – the people you generally hear or see talking down about these types of gigs are the folks who have successfully pursued freelance writing, often for quite a few years (or even decades). They’re also the ones who have offered information and even held other writers’ hands through the process to help them do the same. You admitted yourself in a comment here that you gave up on it after only two months of trying (after a previous comment saying you were in it for at least a year btw), and are going back to teaching as a result. I can only wonder how that may have turned out differently for you had you taken the advice and general criticisms of seasoned pros to heart from the beginning.
Steven, do you realize that you just likened a whole bunch of us to the Klan? Do you have ANY IDEA how offensive that is? Do you have any idea what the Klan is and what they stand for? Jennifer, I’m all for free speech, but the First Amendment does not protect hate speech, and I think that’s what Steven is propagating. I think you’d be wise to take down Steven’s post.
And for what it’s worth, I’ve got a graduate level education and I’d never in a million years take an assignment that required my hardest work and paid me only $2.50.
I don’t want to become a crazy censor here (I’m generally incredibly liberal in what I allow in my blog comments). But I did go in and remove the most offensive and specific line in there. I think it still gets across his general argument but without being quite as offensive to readers here. Had it been only directed at me, I may have left it. But you’re right Jennifer – that was a bit overboard in attacking my readers. And the irony continues….
I was likening this hate speech against writers who take low paying jobs to that of hate speech against those of different ethnicities or religions. Real writers are people who write.
If you want to check out what white knights and such say about what real Americans are, as I did awhile back when researching characters for a story I was working on, you might find some similarities in the way folks here are attacking writers who work for low pay – as if it’s a crime for being what they are or doing what it is they do to survive or make themselves happy.
I’m speaking up in defense of what they do and what they represent. I should not be surprised to be censured for ‘taking the gloves off’ to use another’s words. I’m not propagating hate speech, I’m trying to fight against it. There’s a big difference Jennifer L.
As far as giving up on freelancing – well, there’s only so much time I have to waste. Giving up on writing? Not by a long shot. I still have two employees who are working hard to illustrate my fiction. Do you? I would never take a job that offers that kind of wage, but I also know that there are more people in the world making less than a few thousand per year than there are making more than ten. People in these income brackets can make more money at $2.50 per article than they can at a lot of other physically demanding and even dangerous jobs. Some of them might even have a better intellect than many of us but lack opportunities because they are from a poor country and don’t know anyone from a rich country who would want to give them a break.
I suppose I could spare anyone further comments. It’s hard to face what one does honestly. All people – even the worst in our civilization – like to think of themselves as good people doing the right thing. Certainly, if the purpose of these blogs is to promote hate against low economic groups, as I’m beginning to suspect is common in lieu of good freelancing advice – I see it on a number of these types of freelance blogs, then by all means delete my replies and I’ll just as gladly remove the feed from myyahoo. I’m pretty sure if I defended illegal aliens as being good people on some other websites that attacked that socioeconomic class, those comments would be removed or subject to ridicule as well.
In conclusion, economic class, taking low paying or high paying work means absolutely nothing about the skill of a writer. If such was the case, then Emily Dickinson was never a writer, Billy Tipton never a musician, and Billie Holiday never a singer. My hope? That you’ll recognize the dark place that these kinds of articles are going and find a way to write articles that are uplifting rather than denigrating. Though I know that it’s easier to hate people who are different than to become tolerant and respectful.
Oh Steven, surely you aren’t serious? Since you are not, I will not take any offense. But let’s just imagine for a moment your comments were for real (fade in dreamy harp here).
Writers who take their craft seriously understand the connection between price and quality. The free market system is very efficient at eliminating incompetence. However, this elimination takes time and we writers don’t like to wait.
You can probably find a brain surgeon who offers a 20% discount on Tuesdays, but nobody wants that guy. I know, I know, writing isn’t brain surgery, but it is brainy. Those of us who appreciate thoughtful writing understand it comes at a price…that price is not $2.50 an article.
Smile…frowning is so last year!
J. Smith Adams
Steven, the problem is that you continually comment on posts here to say the same thing from a soap box that is completely irrelevant to this audience. For example – trying to equate freelancing to poetry. They’re two entirely different animals. A writer is not just a “writer.” They’re a specific type of writer. Here, we’re freelancers. Like it or not, freelancing is a business, and if you’re not being paid, you’re not actually working as a “freelancer” on that particular project. Hobby writing, writing for the love of it, etc. is fine for folks who want to go that route. But it’s not freelancing, and that approach and mentality is not appropriate for people who are trying to build legitimate careers and manage the business side of being a freelance writer successfully.
What’s worse is that for someone who is so against “hate” and your perceived disrespect, your approach since first commenting on this blog has been to breed those very things.
Phew, I am back.. and guess what? There is a raging debate going on for that thread..
he said: “im a strict buyer because I only want quality articles. I have had many people write articles for me before and I had to read proof all of them 3 times and almost re-write the whole article. In which i still have to pay even though I did all the work at that end.”
Clearly he didn’t understand that the reason he has to do all the work in the end is because he is offering such a low pay that anyone who is willing to work for him would simply come up with the articles without spending the time to actually research and write properly, thanks to the $2.50/article rate.
lol I loved that comment. He can “want quality articles” all he pleases. Until he pays for them, he isn’t going to get what he’s looking for. Hell, I want a Buggatti Royale. Doesn’t mean they’re falling from the sky. I wonder what one of the lucky owners would say if I offered a whopping $2500 for one (or even $25k for that matter – or even $250k for that matter!). After all, I’m a strict buyer. Hell, my chances would be at least as good as getting a professional “quality” writer to sacrifice their life writing articles for me to monetize at $2.50 a pop.
I guess those who are willing to work for this kind of people are those who are:
1. desperate for money that they are willing to sell their souls to the devil.
2. new writer trying to find a spot in the community.
The worst I get for a 400-word article is $4 when I first started to write. Still, almost double the amount he offered.
The saddest part is that some people really do think that gigs like this one will be a stepping stone into a serious writing career. It just doesn’t work that way. They usually find that out the hard way and either quit or have to start all over again from scratch – building a new image / presence, targeting an entirely different market, etc.
I’ve said it before here and I’m sure I’ll have to say it again – you’re better off taking on a non-paying gig for a respected nonprofit that actually lends credibility to work (and gives you added PR value) than you are working for someone in your supposed target market for a penny or two per word. Once you start, gigs like that can spread like the plague through referrals from one guy with no respect for your time or talent to the next guy in his network.
Jennifer: I completely agree about the no pay versus low-pay argument. We all build reputations; hopefully, we choose to develop ones that reflect quality. Think of any other trade (and freelance writing is a trade) where you are recommended on price. “I had to completely edit her piece because it was full of grammar, spelling and factual errors — but she’s cheap.” Will such a recommendation get you in the Atlantic Monthly or some SEO business run from the Cayman Islands? We all know the answer, I hope.
Sarah, haven’t you heard? The devil has lowered his payments. He only offers .75 cents per soul now.
I guess even hell is in recession. Thankfully, heaven still has streets of gold!
J. Smith Adams
>The devil has lowered his payments. He only offers .75 cents per soul now.
Okay, I actually laughed out loud at that!
“I was likening this hate speech against writers who take low paying jobs to that of hate speech against those of different ethnicities or religions.”
And apparently you’re likening me to the KKK (again) with the post on your blog w/ the Klan march where you’re talking about this post (and not surprisingly leaving out any relevance in this conversation that you didn’t agree with).
I might not like what you have to say Steven, and I might not like the constant trolling you do here looking for things to bitch about. But I generally let you say your peace and let others weigh in after hearing both sides of the discussion – that’s what blogs are for.
But after that defamatory affiliation, my hospitality has run dry. I’m doing something I don’t believe I’ve ever done (and I’ve allowed a LOT of harsh criticism about what I have to say here and elsewhere in the past). I’m officially lowering the ban hammer. Consider yourself no longer welcome here at All Freelance Writing. I’m only mentioning it in a comment, because I wouldn’t consider it fair to censor in this way without being transparent about it, and the reason for it, to my other loyal readers.
Since you despise so much of what I have to say, I’m surprised you still bother reading anyway. I sincerely hope you find other bloggers in the niche that you find more palatable.
Actually, Jennifer,
I’ve been such an idiot before. I accepted a job for RM5 for a 500-word article. 24 hours turn-over job. I was having such a problem meeting deadline that I was desperate enough to just show myself that I can meet a deadline.
Oh, please don’t ask for my name. I’m too embarrassed. :P
The Idiot.