Let’s Talk Numbers

With the onslaught of what I think are the worst possible “job” offerings out there right now, I think it’s time for us to talk once more about valuing yourself. Kathy Kerhli, whose Irreverent Freelancer site is one of my go-to sites each day, has dug up a winner for her Middle Finger of the Week award. Click on this link and read it. Go on, I’ll wait…

Did that get your blood boiling? Yes? That’s because you have a brain. The person posting that pseudo-job was not only offering to pay crap wages, but he was insulting about it. If it’s so easy a high schooler can do it, then why bother to hire a professional writer? Why not do it yourself, pal? I’ll tell you why – because he’s not interested in getting crap back. He wants quality, but he’s not willing to pay for it. He’ll just try to make you feel bad about yourself should you not meet what I suspect are his unbelievably harsh demands.

You wouldn’t take that gig, would you? But you would take one where the poster says something like, “I haven’t a lot of money for this, but I promise to pay you more once I get this site up and running.” Why? Because the person asked nicely? Is that nice tone going to pay your bills? No? Then stop it. Stop taking crap jobs right now.

People like the poster Kathy pointed out make it easy for you. You can see the jerky behavior coupled with the low fee and you figure “Screw that!” – as well you should. What you don’t see are all the other ads, masquerading as “real” jobs with “future” potential or “ongoing” work that pays just as little as the jerky man’s job – sometimes even less. And for some reason still unexplained, you take those jobs. I know some of you do because I’ve seen you “outbidding” each other in those online shark tanks. Tell me – when you decided to start that writing career, did you really intend to spend days on end writing for $4 an article? No? Then why are you?

But you need clips, you say. Put up your own website, I say. Why sell yourself short or give yourself away to strangers? If you wouldn’t walk into a local business, work for ten hours and walk out without payment, why in God’s name would you do it for strangers on the Internet?

Find your lowest price point. Set it in your mind. Got it? Now, go out and get some real work.