It is important to note that not only is my way not the ONLY way to do things, but it may not even be the best way. It’s worked out alright for me, but don’t look at it as gospel so much as a starting point.

Quoting—Hourly vs. Fee-Based

I have two ways of charging for social networking—hourly and fee-based. I prefer fee-based and would advise everyone else to stick with that model. In the fee-based model I tell the client how many tweets I’ll send each day, how many people I will follow, how many conversations I’ll start, etc. Then, I consider how long I think those tasks will take and I multiply that amount of time by the hourly rate I charge for social networking (which factors in the value of my time and the potential value of the service). That is their fee for my work on their Twitter accounts.

Guru is Guaranty with An Extra U

I’m not a fan of promoting myself as a guru in anything—but especially social media, a place where I’ve been wrong many, many times. In fact, I shy away from expert, guru, supreme being and all other hyperbolic and ridiculously impossible titles in everything I do. Experienced? Sure. Knowledgeable? Definitely. Dedicated to consistently improving my skills and knowledge? You got it. Guru? Hahahahahaha—no. And just as I shy away from the title guru, I also shy away from giving a guaranty of the results my social networking will achieve. Because you know why? I have no idea what the results will be. Also, with every individual client it takes a lot of time and trial and error to figure out what will and won’t work. Instead I let the client know what they should expect from me, not from the work itself. Every few months the clients and I go over what is and isn’t working and discuss a game plan for the future.

Tangibility of Your “Product”

Social networking is a difficult product to sell because it is completely intangible. Even if a client logs on to Twitter to see what you’ve been doing, he or she may not feel particularly impressed by your tweets about your cat and Justin Beiber—even though you know that these conversational tweets go far in building community. The way that I handle this is by giving my clients a biweekly report. This report has a graph that shows any increase in followers, lists the amount of link click-throughs we’ve gotten, tracks the number of our messages that have been retweeted and the number of conversations we’ve had.

So there you have it. It’s not earth-shattering, amazing, or even terribly creative but hopefully it’ll help you get a little of that deer-in-the-headlights look outta your eyes the next time someone approaches you about handling their social networking.

**Special Note**

You may have noticed that I’m doing fewer and fewer marketplace reviews. Most of that is because I’m super busy lately but a small part of it is because I never get surprised by my results which makes it a lot of work for little payoff. I have plans to take a look at a few more marketplaces in upcoming months but I’m also wondering if we shouldn’t expand the series. Is there any other myth or folklore about freelancing that you’d like me to explore and prove or bust? I’m up for (almost) anything. Give me your ideas below.

The garbage gigs and the decent gigs really aren’t that difficult to separate. But just in case you’re still waiting for the good ones to come along, here are some signs you’ve hit the freelance writing jobs jackpot:

1. You’re being fairly compensated. — How much is that exactly? I don’t know. Nor do I care. The actual number will vary depending on where you live and what your cost of living is. But if you’re not being paid enough to cover all of your bills, pay your taxes, have something left to grow the business, and still have enough for your health insurance, retirement, and other benefits, you’re not there yet. Keep trying.
2. Your clients know how to communicate. — When you truly love your clients, that’s certainly a contributing factor to a great freelance writing gig (although it doesn’t make the job cut it by itself). If a client can tell you what they want rather than give you the “I’ll know it when I see it” speech, you’re on the right path.
3. You have few, if any, edit requests. — There is nothing wrong with getting edit requests from time to time. If you’re getting them constantly though, you’re doing something wrong (unless you’re in a niche like magazine writing where they’re more the norm). Maybe the client has communication issues about what they really want up front, you’re not asking them exactly what they want up front with the right questions about their target audience and such, or they’re just control freaks who will always think they could have done a better job, so your work will never be good enough. That last group can be scary, but they’re few and far between. Great clients and great gigs involve having all of the information up front so you know exactly what’s needed and you can turn it around with minimal edits needed. Anything else cuts into your potentially billable time elsewhere.
4. Your client respects you. — If the extent of your client’s communication is “write this and get it back to me,” you might not have the worst gig in the world, but it could be better. When your clients respect you enough for being a specialist in your niche or industry that they ask for your honest opinion, that means a lot. That’s not to say they should take advantage by asking for unpaid consulting all the time, but if they want your opinion once in a while go ahead and give it to them. You’ll remind them why they hired you in the first place, and when you see them truly value and consider your thoughts you’ll feel a level of appreciation not all freelance writers get to experience. Enjoy it when you have it.
5. Your client keeps coming back. — The only thing better than having a great freelance writing job is having a great long-term freelance writing job. If the client keeps ordering more work, or if they set up a long-term contract up front (and they satisfy the other elements like decent pay and no obsessive or excessive edit requests), you’ve got a great gig on your hands.

What other factors tell you that you have a great freelance writing job lined up?

Why am I happy? Well, because I have to be or otherwise it would mean I did something wrong. Okay, kidding. I’m happy because, from the way this transpired, I think I was saved from a gig that would not have gone well. Or not…who knows.

The Dish

Okay, so this all started on Elance. Huh? Elance? You can get high paying gigs on Elance? Ummm….yeah…but you have to know how–and I’m not going to get into that until next week.

On Elance one morning I found this posting to rewrite a series 7 study manual into something people could learn from and enjoy. The pay was $400 per chapter and would have amounted to $6,800 total. I bid for the gig and was one of the people the company decided would be a good fit. So they sent me a message with a copy of the manual and asked me to do a 3-5 page rewrite for them so they could see what I would do and compare it to the other writer’s revisions.

Say what?

I responded to the hiring…guy…and told him that I’d be happy to send additional samples if he needed to see them and gave him links to some more stuff I’d written that I thought fit the tone of what he wanted. He responded back that my samples and resume were all well and good, but they’d be making their decision based on these custom-written samples of 3-5 pages. Here was my response:

I’ll have to respectfully decline. Thank you for the consideration and good luck with your choice.

I’m not going to share his response with you because I don’t think that it’s appropriate, but I will tell you it involved this: ?????

Now, I could have assumed he had peanut butter in his question mark key so it got stuck and that’s why there were all kinds of question marks in his response, but instead I assumed that he was curious about my decision to pull myself out of the running. So I responded to ???? with:

It isn’t practical for a writer to give every prospective client a free sample. It is cost prohibitive, supplies the potential client with free content that the writer would normally get paid for, and should not be necessary when samples and recommendations are available. It’s like commissioning an artist to paint a portrait–you would not ask for a free portrait so you could compare multiple artists. You would examine their prior work and make a decision. The same goes with builders, financial advisors (a few commission-free trades just to test them out and compare their instincts?), house painters, landscapers, etc.

Asking for a free sample that will take hours to complete shows a disrespect for the writer’s professional experience, time and talent. If you were really blown away by a writer’s samples and experience, you would have the respect necessary to hire based on that. Since that is not the case, I would guess you haven’t found the right writer yet and I will just take myself out of the running while thanking you for your consideration.

You should know that at this point I no longer wanted the gig. It’s not like I don’t understand where he is coming from–I mean, crappy writers abound. People who say they can do something, when they aren’t actually sure they can, crop up in spades and writers are a quarter a dozen–so I really do get where he is coming from. But wanting the gig and needing the gig are two different things. I don’t want to work with someone who is going to ask for THREE TO FIVE PAGES OF FREE WORK. You know, if the guy had asked for a page I wouldn’t have been so hard on him–although I still would have explained my objections.

He responded that he felt I was wrong, that they had been overwhelmed with responses, had narrowed it down to just four of us and that I was the only writer who had a problem submitting the unpaid sample work–which must mean that I’m wrong…right? He also said that they show a “glimpse” of this course to prospective students before they sign up and that offering this “glimpse” at the course before they buy had increased their business exponentially. Um…really? Wow, I guess that’s exactly the same as this situation…oh…wait a minute….:

I don’t really want to belabor the point, but a free glimpse at the course is not taking time (and therefore money) out of your pocket with each viewer and is standard procedure for a course like this. If the prospective students don’t like the “glimpse” they move on. You have your content to sell to other students and it took no additional time out of your billable hours to show the sample to your prospective students. I provide the same free glimpse at my work and worthiness through existing samples, not newly developed, custom content.

Best of luck with your choice and the manual, it is nice to know that I made it to the final four.

The Lesson?

Oh…well…there is no lesson. Some of you will read this and think, “Yeah–right on girl!” Others will read this and think, “Oh my, who does she think she is? So cocky that one…harumpf.” And still others will think, “I read all this and she didn’t talk about crack whores one single time? What a waste.”

The lesson is, there is no lesson. It’s your business, you do what you need to do. Seriously, if my cats were starving or in need of cosmetic surgery, I probably would have just done the samples and tried to get the gig. But my cats are beautiful and don’t need surgery and my table runneth over so I made the business decision to do what I thought was right.

So?

Here are some new freelance writing jobs to take a look at over the weekend:

• Freelance Newsletter Writer – California Climate Change Law – CA
• Web Copy Needed for Real Estate Website
• Freelance Writer for Short “City” Articles – Austin – $10 per article
• Business Writer / Editor Needed
• Urban Magazine Writers Needed
• Fashion / Jewelry Reporters or Writers Wanted
• Editor / Proofreader for Web Content
• Freelance Health, Nutrition, & Fitness Writer
• Copywriter for Wedding Planner Site

Are these freelance writing gigs not what you’re looking for? Search for more freelance writing jobs or blogging jobs.

Key:

Blogging Job
Web Writing Job
Print Writing Job
Business Writing Job
Free Membership Required to Apply
Paid Membership Required to Apply
Bidding Site
High Paying Gig

• Freelance Medical Writer – NYC
• Restaurant Business Plan – $100
• Men’s Shopping Blogger – $40 per post
• Fashion Blogger – $50 per post
• Help Start an Education Blog
• Article Writers Needed – $6 – 10 per article
• Music / Celebrity Gossip Blogger – $25 per post
• Web Copywriter Needed
• Cricket Writers / Bloggers
• Freelance Copywriter / Ad Editor – CA

Are these freelance writing gigs not what you’re looking for? Search for more freelance writing jobs or blogging jobs.

Key:

Blogging Job
Web Writing Job
Print Writing Job
Business Writing Job
Free Membership Required to Apply
Paid Membership Required to Apply
Bidding Site
High Paying Gig

• Online Copywriter
• Dog Bloggers
• Engineering Technology Blogger
• Freelance Writer – eGuiders.com – $75 per entry (1-2 pages)
• Freelance Newspaper Writer – CA
• Writer Needed for History Project – $100
• Automotive Writer for Newspaper and Web
• Online Journalist Needed – Chicago
• Freelance Technical Writer – LA – $15-25 (doesn’t say if that’s per project, per hour, etc.)
• Online Sales Copywriter Needed
• Freelance Writer Needed for Promotion Company – NYC
• Bio Writer – $75

Are these freelance writing gigs not what you’re looking for? Search for more freelance writing jobs or blogging jobs.

Key:

Blogging Job
Web Writing Job
Print Writing Job
Business Writing Job
Free Membership Required to Apply
Paid Membership Required to Apply
Bidding Site
High Paying Gig

• b5 Media Needs Lifestyle Bloggers
• Technological or Lifestyle Blogger
• Taos-Area Ecology Blogger
• Business Blog Writer – $7 per post
• Soccer / Football Bloggers
• Bloggers for New Teen-Focused Blog – $10 per post (20 posts per month)

Are these freelance writing gigs not what you’re looking for? Search for more freelance writing jobs or blogging jobs.

Key:

Blogging Job
Web Writing Job
Print Writing Job
Business Writing Job
Free Membership Required to Apply
Paid Membership Required to Apply
Bidding Site
High Paying Gig

• Freelance Primary Grades Reading / Language Arts Writer and Editor
• Freelance Cityguides Writers – $50 – 150 per article – Reno, Lake Tahoe, and Fort Meyers
• Freelance Grant Writer
• Mac/iPhone Bloggers
• Blogger for Gay and Lesbian Dating Site
• Freelance Copywriters – Seattle – $35 per hour DOE
• Freelance Sports Writers
• Freelance Writers for Human Interest Stories – $100-200 per article
• Mommy Blogger Wanted – $15 per post
• Staff Writers for Fashion Newspaper – DC

Are these freelance writing gigs not what you’re looking for? Search for more freelance writing jobs or blogging jobs.

Key:

Blogging Job
Web Writing Job
Print Writing Job
Business Writing Job
Free Membership Required to Apply
Paid Membership Required to Apply
Bidding Site
High Paying Gig

Anyway, here are you freelance writing jobs and blogging jobs for Tuesday:

• Corporate Blogger – Renewable Energy
• Freelance Writers for a Watch Magazine
• Content Writers – $15 – 40 per article
• Green Blogger – $5 per post (150-250 words)
• Freelance Part-time Magazine Editor – San Jose

Are these freelance writing gigs not what you’re looking for? Search for more freelance writing jobs or blogging jobs.

Key:

Blogging Job
Web Writing Job
Print Writing Job
Business Writing Job
Free Membership Required to Apply
Paid Membership Required to Apply
Bidding Site
High Paying Gig

Here are your blogging jobs for Monday, December 8th:

• Recruitment Blogger – $30 per post
• Photography Blogger
• b5 Media Needs Bloggers
• Graphic Design Blogger
• Food Blogger
• Technical Blogger Needed
• Personal Development Bloggers
• Fashion Sales Blogger – $10 per post

Are these freelance writing gigs not what you’re looking for? Search for more freelance writing jobs or blogging jobs.

Key:

Blogging Job
Web Writing Job
Print Writing Job
Business Writing Job
Free Membership Required to Apply
Paid Membership Required to Apply
Bidding Site
High Paying Gig