I actively review new job postings on several freelance sites on a regular basis. It never fails to amaze me what buyers are asking for. Freelance writers charge various rates, some fixed, others hourly. Some freelance writers (myself included) charge different rates depending on the individual clients needs and the difficulty of the assignment. However, there are some things which are just flat out insulting. Here is one I read today:
ONLY Bids at or below $1 per 500 words article will be considered.
This is a Entry level writer job.
You must be flexible and be ready to write on a wide variety of topics.
You must be able to work on your own with minimum supervision.
Must be capable of doing your own research.
This is a great way to get (redacted) experience.
This can be a long term job for the right candidate with performance based pay increments.WHAT I EXPECT:
Fast and reliable writers
Must be able to write at least 5 articles of 500 words each per day (2500 words per day)
Good grammar and NO spelling mistakes
100% copyscape passed Original Work
Let me tell you something - I wrote a 400 word article on Helium yesterday. It took me 20 minutes to write, it took me 2 minutes to ping it to Twitter and Stumble Upon. You know what I earned on that article?
- $2.50 up front payment
- $2.93 so far in page views (after less than 24 hours)
So, at a minimum, I have made 5 X’s what you are offering for your job. I have a couple of words for you that I’ll not use here, suffice it to say that they are not Happy Birthday.
Economics
I understand economics, honestly I do. I know there are hundreds of writers who think this type of job is great, in fact, I see that ten people have applied for this job in only a few hours. You need work done and you need it done as inexpensively as possible, as quickly as possible. But don’t short change those people who are going to work for you. No one is saying you have to pay a super high wage, but good lord, have some respect for the people you are asking to do work for you! You are asking someone to give up 2/3 of an 8 hour day for $5.00 – you cheap idiot. Do you want your daughter, your wife, your son working for that amount of money (that won’t even buy lunch someplace??) Are you willing to work for that amount of money? Get a hold of yourself!
At least play fair
OK so you don’t want to pay $10 or $15 an hour for work – I can understand that – I run a business too, and I know how important the bottom line is. These articles are not likely to sit in a folder on your desktop, you’re going to put them up on a website, in a blog or someplace else they are going to make money. Have a heart and play fair. At least pay a reasonable wage. Don’t ask someone to devote five hours a day for a crummy $5 “gift” from you. They can make more money posting to their blog.
About Doreen Martel
Well-rounded freelance writer who contributes to various blogs, paid to write sites and revenue sharing sites. Doreen is legally blind and has worked at home for more than 10 years. She uses the lessons learned from this experience to enhance her writing and share information with others.
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[...] isn’t FREE! In fact, I wrote a very similar rant almost two years ago called “You Want What?” ….. I did get a lot of traffic from freelancers who understood exactly what I was [...]
[...] with some freelance writers on LinkedIn, I was lucky enough to read this rant by Doreen: http://freelancingandmore.com/2010/06/10/stop-screwing-providers/. While it is mostly a rant, it reminds me that I am trying to break in to the publishing industry [...]
[...] recently ranted about what I felt was a buyers totally unfair expectation put out in a job opening. I am of the belief that all buyers must adhere to a code of ethics just [...]
I love this article; I get so irritated when I see these kinds of job postings.
Doreen my dear, gotta love ya. So true.
[...] interfering with my ability to take risks. Buyers who expect me to work for $1 per hour – well they are just stupid. And since I couldn’t say this better I’m going to quote “Franklin” a [...]
I once had a bad experience with a buyer, I applied on hourly job and got an interview, in interview he told me he liked me & wants to work with me but he is not comfortable with hourly job as he have to purchase hours in advance ( as per oDesk guaranteed payment method) & he was also once burned down in past.
So, he said he will hire me on fixed job and pay me as bonus of each successful task I complete, I didn’t mind and agreed, I worked with him for about 1 month with no sign of payment so I finally asked him to end the assignment, and never contact him or replied to his messages.
He said he thinks I m his friend and doing him a favor, wtf.
From then, I don’t work with buyer who mention about price in job postings.
OK I had to quote this & say it was my favorite part of this post!
“you cheap idiot. Do you want your daughter, your wife, your son working for that amount of money (that won’t even buy lunch someplace??) Are you willing to work for that amount of money? Get a hold of yourself!”
I can’t believe what some people expect to get for nothing if only we could write articles in vanishing ink!! LOL Now that would be fun!
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Freelancing & More , Doreen Martel. Doreen Martel said: New Blog Post: You want what? http://freelancingandmore.com/2010/06/10/stop-screwing-providers/ [...]