Comments on: Cheap, Cheap…

By: Lori

Lori — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:46:00 +0000

Or maybe a $300 or $3000 article client… 😉

By: Leigh

Leigh — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:47:00 +0000

Good points made by all. I turned someone down the other day because they wanted to pay me $3.50 for a 500-word article. Sure, the article would have taken me about 10 minutes to do (a topic I know a ton about, and a very general article – nothing specialized), but it’s not worth it to me anymore. I would rather take the time I spent to make $3.50 marketing to bring in a $30/article client or something like that.

By: avid writer

avid writer — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:55:00 +0000

I agree, Devon, clients really don’t respect your work when you charge to low. I definately learned this lesson. In fact many clients looking to pay only $5, $10 for articles honestly aren’t even expecting very much, even though they won’t admit it. They just want cheap content which is what you end up with at those prices.

By: Devon Ellington

Devon Ellington — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:37:00 +0000

I take on pro-bono clients if I believe in the organization and it's well-organized, with as few internal politics as possible.

I've worked quite cheaply, usually to get my foot in the door in an area I know little to nothing about, and either negotiated higher rates as I've learned, or moved on.

I also look at the potential income the client can make from the piece. If they can make several thousand dollars, but only want to pay me $10 -- I don't think so.

Who is your employer and how does this particular company fit into your overall vision? A company that actually has something to do with my future is going to make me think twice, where some fly-by-night website isn't worth my time.

Common sense is the key.

Honestly, right now, unless I could knock out the piece in under 5 minutes, I can't afford to work for such low rates. I'd use that time for an entirely pro bono client in whom I believe.

Very few employers will bump your pay if you agree to work for a pittance. Whether they admit it or not, if they're not paying enough, they don't respect the work, in most cases.

There are always exceptions. You've got to look at the overall company.

By: avid writer

avid writer — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:53:00 +0000

Lori, I started freelencing full-time writing 250-400 word SEO articles for $10 an article. I didn't even know what SEO was. About a month or so later I found a client on Craigslist who offered much more than that. They are an SEO firm, provide regular work and taught me a lot about SEO and latent semantic indexing.

It took me a while to let go of my $10 an article client at first because I felt like 'a bird in the hand beats two in the bush.'But I was really holding myself back from being able to take on more challenging projects that paid better.

I also wrote for a B2B online client that paid $15 a 450 article with a byline. Being able to refer clients to those clips has been quite helpful, but my biggest problem with taking these jobs seemed to be knowing when it was the right time to let them go.