Comments on: How to Lose a $7,000 Freelance Writing Gig Without Even Trying

By: Catherine L. Tully

Catherine L. Tully — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:57:57 +0000

You are the bomb. Keep swinging!

I totally refuse to write custom samples for anyone, for any reason unless I am being compensated for it. Ever. I did it one time at the beginning of my career, got burned, and have never done it again. I think it is bad business.

By: Mitch

Mitch — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:39:18 +0000

Very nicely handled, only you gave a much longer response than I would have. But we all have to learn that also. I did a lot of work on a SEO project I was hoping to get, just to show the guy that I could do it. When he asked about a second website I said I’d have to be paid for it first, and that ended that for him. Shame, but I wish I’d picked up on that for the first site. Oh well, never again.

By: Jennifer L

Jennifer L — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:21:52 +0000

I had to take my hands off my keyboard and give you a round of applause, Yolander. Way to go. You were upfront and professional and you did the right thing. Thanks, on behalf of all professional writers everywhere!

By: Jack Busch

Jack Busch — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:52:09 +0000

Right on – That’s the right thing to do and it’s very cathartic for me to see someone else standing up in an articulate way. I grow so weary of providing writing samples for each application I send out and become even more insulted (and mystified) when they include a clause in the writer’s agreement stating that they retain the rights to all of your samples for free. It’s a wholly unnecessary clause to put in if you don’t intend to rip someone off.

And you are right, it’s totally not the same as giving someone a “sneak preview.” If anything, the writing samples in your portfolio are a “glimpse.”

Thanks for sharing – I love hearing this kind of story.

By: Wendy

Wendy — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:02:10 +0000

I like how you remained professional about it. You politely declined and stated your reasons instead of calling them out as scammers and using colorful language to let them know where they can put their offer, which is what most of us would be tempted to do. Way to go!

By: Laura Cross

Laura Cross — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:57:33 +0000

You did the right thing. By the way, eLance forbids clients requesting work for free or providers supplying work for free. Any clients who requests free work can be reported to eLance (I have done this many times and the client’s listings were removed.) Also, if eLance finds a provider supplying work for free that provider can be banned from eLance – so this is something you can mention to a potential client who aks for free work.

By: Matt Willard

Matt Willard — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:59:42 +0000

Maybe I am. Or maybe I’m not. Is it true? Absolutely not, assuming that it was true to begin with. Which it certainly is. Or is it? The answer is no.

By: Yolander Prinzel

Yolander Prinzel — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:29:50 +0000

Matt Willard, are you challenging me to a sex worker duel?

By: Writing Auditions? « Maryanne Donovan’s Musings and More

Writing Auditions? « Maryanne Donovan’s Musings and More — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 14:14:19 +0000

[...] becomes, was she stupid to blow this gig off? In my opinion, she did not “blow it off.” She simply took a good look at serious indicators that this gig could be a setup for personal and pr…. Reason? If a company exploits the hungry and needy just because they can, what does that portend [...]

By: Marina

Marina — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 11:44:42 +0000

I totally agree with you. This is a very popular scam: to brake work into smaller pieces and get contestants for the job to do it for fee. I doubt he had many volunteers or he wouldn’t keep trying to scam you.

By: Matthew Stibbe

Matthew Stibbe — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:25:12 +0000

This happens to me from time to time. It’s a variant (as other comments have said) on the ‘give us a discount and you may get more work in future’. Also, I have had a few clients who have asked for so much upfront consultancy that any money I might have made on the actual writing was swamped by the time spent handholding the client. (The worst, a £300 email newsletter, required several conference calls and a four-hour round trip to a two-hour meeting. Complete waste of time.)

But with the ‘free pitching’ you have to take a strong line. It’s like a going to a lawyer and asking them to do you a free pre-nup and if you like it you’ll hire them to do the contract for your next job. No self-respecting company would dream of doing something like that they don’t blush when it comes to asking writers to do it.

From the client’s perspective, you could argue that a writer with the time available to do extensive free pitching isn’t busy enough to be good. A good writer should be fully booked up and plenty busy. In fact, it can help to create this illusion even if it isn’t actually true.

One possible counter-offer is to offer a series of milestones with the right to cancel at each stage. This reduces the client’s risk and gives them a chance to evaluate the quality of your work without asking you to work for free. This is quite easy to do on Elance and I think it is fair to both parties.

By: Matt Willard

Matt Willard — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:45:58 +0000

This lack of crack whores will not go unchallenged.

By: Yolander Prinzel

Yolander Prinzel — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:57:37 +0000

Jodi–that was hysterical and perfect!

By: Cathy Miller

Cathy Miller — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:57:03 +0000

Good thing I’m not a proofreader!! LOL!!!

Sorry-Yolander—you go, too, Girl!

By: Jennifer Mattern

Jennifer Mattern — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:53:30 +0000

@Cathy – While I’m fortunate and that’s true, I just want to make sure there’s no confusion. I didn’t write this post. It was from Yolander Prinzel, kicking off her new Friday series here.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:44:12 +0000

I’m a freelance wannabe still stuck working as a legal secretary. This whole “write us a free sample” thing reminds me of a really lame legal secretary job ad I saw recently. First time in 18 years I’ve ever seen such a thing: A solo practitioner attorney gave a whole laundry list of very specific skills the secretary should have, and then announced that the “interview” would consist of the candidate’s coming to his office and working for 2 hours at $10 per hour — which is 1/3 to 1/2 the going hourly rate for legal secretaries in this market. I couldn’t help thinking this guy must think that, with unemployment being what it is, he could get away with paying $10 per hour, with no benefits, for secretarial services for a good long time.

By the way, Yolander, I think I’d have done the same as you, only I *would* need the money.

By: Jodi Kaplan

Jodi Kaplan — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:27:49 +0000

Have you seen this video on YouTube? It’s called the vendor-client relationship in real-world situations. It seems appropriate for this situation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThMu3MFCC60

By: Cathy Miller

Cathy Miller — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:22:50 +0000

You go, Girl! I am with you and everyone here. Just what made this acceptable? I understand for that kind of pay you want to be sure of what you are getting but there are better ways to do it. I have a client where I write continuing education courses for insurance–I know exciting, huh? Anyway, I thought he had a good method. He had us send what we had written after the first week. He paid for the work but it gave him an idea of the quality before anyone got too far along. Now, almost a year later, he is one of my best clients!

Love the great work you do, Jenn. Glad to know you have the respect for your skills!

By: Fiona

Fiona — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:54:59 +0000

I am thinking that now I’m going to try this tactic to get out of paying all my bills for the next month. Mortgage? I want to try the house for a while – see if I like it. Same with the car and the cable. And I’ll be eating out A LOT – for free of course, but if I like it, I’ll come back next week.

By: Yolander Prinzel

Yolander Prinzel — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:52:47 +0000

Richard, if a Nigerian prince having trouble moving his $800b inheritance out of Nigeria is involved, then I am so in! See you on Judge Judy!

Thanks everyone for all the comments, it is nice to see that most of us are on the same page