I like the idea of Maria Schneider (formerly of Writer’s Digest fame) holding her own top blog awards. Maria’s blog, Editor Unleashed, is a true writer’s hangout. She dishes out a little bit of industry news, a little bit of Q&A, a dash of how-to, and a lot of personality. It’s fitting that Maria is the conduit for a top blog honor – she herself deserves one. Pop over to her blog and put your vote in for your favorite.
On a different note, I’d like to be the one to deliver a rousing shake to any of you out there who still use bidding sites to find work. Read this ad on Screw You! to understand why. Go on, I’ll wait.
This poses a threefold issue for me, as it should for you. First, we have the job poster, who doesn’t value at all a writer’s worth. Second, the bid “winner” who is overjoyed by his first “paying” job (Seriously? Was McDonald’s not hiring?). Third and equally unsettling is the fact that some bidding site somewhere took your money and is presenting you with these offers. Okay, maybe this is a fourfold problem – you’re still paying to view these super little postings.
If you’re one of the gazillions out there lamenting the loss of fair pay and good clients, here’s how to help change it. It’s going to take all of us, not just one or two (like me) who beat the drum constantly. So here are your marching orders:
Ignore these job postings. That means walk away. Don’t respond in any way. Silence rather than any berating of the poster will send a much stronger message. If you don’t bid, they don’t get the work done. Period. This one’s toughest because it won’t stop the postings, but it may go a long way toward separating these postings into a well-deserved category – fly-by-nights.
Educate your peers. The person doing the work is enabling the poster’s bad behavior. If you know someone who’s working for pennies on the dollar (or much, much less), say something. That means say something on forums, in email, on your blog, wherever you see someone taking much less than he or she is worth.
Stop paying bidding sites. It’s not an easy way to find work. It’s an easy way to part with some of your cash. Bidding sites exist to part you from your money. They offer a pseudo-benefit. You get access to jobs! Wow. What a bargain a dollar an article is, right? But not for you – for the job poster. Bidding sites don’t care who pays to post jobs or what those jobs are. They didn’t care five years ago when I voiced my concerns (and canceled my own membership). They don’t care now. Their job is to make money, not offer you anything of real value. Sure, you may get one or two great clients out of it, but why are you paying for that? Why not find those clients on your own with some old-fashioned marketing? The one client I kept from a bidding site is now long gone and frankly never paid me the proper wage.
Reassess the pay versus real life. I use the McDonald’s example a lot. The bottom line is this – is the job you’re about to bust your tail to complete paying at least minimum wage? If not, don’t. Just. Don’t. Oh, and just to clarify my stance on it, you should be making much more than minimum wage. I’ll never understand why people think it’s beneath them to earn minimum wage at a fast-food place but think nothing of taking on a job that pays 0.002 cents a word. That’s the sign of someone who A) doesn’t think beyond the job, B) doesn’t do math at all, and C) doesn’t value his or her own abilities.
So what’s your thought on bidding sites? Be honest. I want to hear the justifications and the reasons why spending money to earn money makes sense. From my own experience, it doesn’t.
What’s your personal experience with bidding sites?
I don't use them. I have complete contempt for them. If you're too lazy to get out there and hustle your own work, maybe you shouldn't be a freelancer. Why pay someone so you can low-ball yourself and not make a living? Get out there and land well-paid work.
It's out there. If you're not landing it, stop blaming the economy, and start looking at the way you operate.
Utter waste of time and a degradation of our profession. Nuff said.
Would never use a bidding site or write for content providers. Look, if someone asks you to write for free or for almost nothing, don't do it. Why? They'll respect you for it. I refused to write for free for a particular client when they asked me to. They claimed they had no money, but three months later they came back and said they had a paying job for me. The other writers that were writing for them for free didn't get the paying gig. I did. Hmm.
I had been a frustrated member of the E-lance community for a couple of months, Lori, when you celebrated your 2nd Writer's Worth Day.
I had read of others' success using E-lance and went into it with hope. It didn't take long before the hope turned to dread. I hated the bidding process, the anonymity, the groveling.
The day I read of your Writer's Worth Day, I cancelled my E-lance subscription and left what felt like muck.
Shortly thereafter, I began my blog. I'm still a little trepidacious about marketing myself as a writer; copy editing is my strength. But if I'm going to write for nothing, it should at least be fun.
Ooo Cheryl, that's what I like to hear – a convert! Welcome to the other side, hon. Feels pretty damn good to stand up for yourself, doesn't it? Congratulations on the first step to a great career! 🙂
As a newbie freelancer, I signed up for Elance thinking I had to take low-paying gigs to flesh out my portfolio instead of really taking pride in my work and asking for reasonable project fees. I've had nothing promising come from Elance.
I got my first official copywriting client through word of mouth just a few days ago.
I cancelled my Elance membership today.
Hate them. When I was first starting out, I kept hearing on this one forum about how writers were booked two months out and making thousands on sites like Elance and Guru. Reluctantly, I parted with my hard earned money to secure the highest paid membership (first no-no of freelancing – paying for work)and was horrified at what clients were willing to pay for projects that require skillful writing, thought and strategy. I also found the bidding process quite tedious. After a month of losing bids to low-ballers, I wised up and requested a refund.
Thanks for the shout-out, Lori. I'm an anomaly with regard to freelance-bidding sites. For several years, I made really good money through one of them (and when I say good, I mean higher than my average hourly rate now). Of course, I was fortunate enough to establish myself there when it was still 100% free to bid. Ironically, as the site continued to raise membership fees, the quality of the jobs got worse and worse. What also got worse and worse was the way that bidding site treated its service providers. I've never detailed on my blog what ultimately led to my leaving. Perhaps it's about time I got around to doing so. ;o))
On a final note, I don't think ANYONE can make good money on those sites these days. I've watched a lot of my former competitors who raked in thousands of dollars a month practically slash their prices in half to stay alive there. That's somewhere I'll NEVER go.
I've never even considered a bidding site. And I'm way too cheap to subscribe to a service where you have to grovel for work ("Oh, pick me! I'll do the job for half the price of the next lowest-bidder! Pretty please!").
Finding work isn't always easy, but it isn't that difficult when you put in the effort and go about it with a plan. Plus, you tend to seek out places you would like to work with, not mystery clients who are often hiding behind blind ads.
Okay. I stink at math. We all know that. But at $1 per article, how many "articles" would that idiot have to sell to pay his membership fee?
"Just seventy-five articles and my subscription will have paid for itself!"
I signed up with one of them years ago. My regular client acquisition stats were something like closing the sale on every one or two out of three prospects I spoke with. On the bidding site, despite bidding on about 50 jobs with custom proposals, I got nothing for my trouble. Never again.