Comments on: And Yes, We Should All Be Outraged

By: Angie Ledbetter

Angie Ledbetter — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 05:35:00 +0000

Those who work for less than nothing make it harder for everyone else to make a real living wage. gark!

By: Katharine Swan

Katharine Swan — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:27:00 +0000

Lori, I hear you on the first scenario. I’ve actually had a few of those where I’ve refused to work with the client again, because as good as the pay looks on paper, it’s simply not worth it in the long run!

By: Lori

Lori — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:15:00 +0000

She probably rents a condo complete with a pool. LOL

Very good point, Katharine. There have been articles I've written that seem to have paid well, but nearly put me in the hospital from the stress. :) Then there were the ones that paid very well that took no time at all to complete. More of those, please!

By: Katharine Swan

Katharine Swan — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:57:00 +0000

Susan -- I was actually wondering how one lives and has a pool on $1,100 a month. Clearly hers is not the only income.

If anyone contacts the show please let us know what happens!

By: Katharine Swan

Katharine Swan — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:53:00 +0000

Lori, you said something that I think hits on the most important point: How many hours is she working in order to get to $1,100?

In general I don't think per-article or even per-word rates tell the whole story. You could be getting $1 per word, but if you are a very slow writer or if there is a ton of research work involved, it still might not be worth it. But if you're writing short, simple (i.e., blog-type) articles for $20 each and you can churn out two in an hour without giving yourself a stroke, that's not a bad hourly wage for someone fairly new to the business.

Of course, no amount of math can make $1 per article look good. And since most people are going to be a little generous with their estimates, she is most likely doing most of her work down around the lower range. :o(

By: Lori

Lori — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:54:00 +0000

Eileen, great point. Most ads these days are for gutter-low wages and phenomenal amounts of work.

By: Eileen Coale

Eileen Coale — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:32:00 +0000

Even people who should know better take blatant advantage of writers. I recently answered an ad for a writer (something I almost never do), because the one doing the hiring was one of proponents of the "making 6-figures a year copywriter" course. But they wanted a 500-word article with starting pay at $50. Better than $20, but still egregiously low.

Note to self: don't even BOTHER with ads!

By: Lori

Lori — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:42:00 +0000

Daniel Sieberg. He’s actually quite nice, but come on. If the media spreads this type of notion, even those spreading the stories will be adversely affected.

By: Amanda Nicole

Amanda Nicole — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:30:00 +0000

Oh my LORD. I wonder which “reporter” uncovered that story? For shame.

By: Anne Wayman

Anne Wayman — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:49:00 +0000

Has anyone contacted the morning show and offered to be interviewed?