Comments on: The Phrases That Do NOT Pay

By: kerry dexter

kerry dexter — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 11:54:14 +0000

another one I see often (I write about the arts) is that the compensation is: swag, review copies of books and CDs (you get to keep them!), concert tickets, and the chance to interview famous people.

By: Lori

Lori — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:34:25 +0000

How'd you guess, Krista? ;)

I'm betting B, Sheri. And yes, I've heard that one waaaaaay too often. Jen knows - she and I have been around the same block (along with Katharine and Devon).

Thanks for the advice, Katharine! I'll look into your site and make some adjustments. I don't mind an extra $100. An extra $2? Not exactly worth worrying about. LOL

Yes, A Hole Guru, anything "allowing" you to work from home is usually a euphamism for "but payment? Ha!"

By: Krista

Krista — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 08:50:09 +0000

Very thorough list, Lori. Have you been doing this writing thing long? 😉 I've found that jobs ads describing the opportunity as "fun" or "something you can do in your spare time," and those that state "we are a great group of people to work for" are usually low paying for some reason.

By: Jennifer Williamson

Jennifer Williamson — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 22:34:47 +0000

That's so true, Sheri. Once you establish you'll work for low rates once, they'll expect you to again–no matter what you say.

By: Sheri

Sheri — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:36:54 +0000

Let's not forget an oldie, but goodie that has sadly conned me in the past: "give us a break on this project…'cause there's lots more work coming down the pike later." This means 1 of 2 things:
a. You WILL get LOTS of work – and be offered pennies for it.
b. OR you'll do one job and never hear from them again.

By: The A-Hole Guru

The A-Hole Guru — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:02:36 +0000

Tack on "Google pays" to "work at home" and apparently you got magic. My mother thought she could make some money on the side when she saw those ads. She'd smack me in the face in my youth when I thought maybe there was something to those kinds of offers.

By: Katharine Swan

Katharine Swan — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:33:10 +0000

In my experience the search bar doesn't work. It takes too much commitment from readers -- they have to search for something, and then they have to click on an ad. Too many clicks required.

When I first started it took me about a year to reach the $100 minimum for payout. I know it's not a lot, but I figured, hey, a hundred bucks a year for something I'll do anyway? Sure! It paid for my website hosting for the year, after all.

By: Lori

Lori — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:16:40 +0000

I also have the Google search bar, Katharine. I used to have a number of ads, but there was next-to-no ad revenue, so I reduced. It's there if folks want to click, but I'm not going to waste time and space on something paying so little.

Oh gawd, Amie. That's just messed up! They've turned that phrasing to the point you can't remember if you're getting paid to be accepted or to be rejected!

By: Katharine Swan

Katharine Swan — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:23:17 +0000

Oh yeah, I hate all of those!

In regards to the ad revenue, though, Lori, all I see is one little ad that appears on your main page about halfway down. It's not on post pages, and it's very small and very far down. That might have something to do with it. Ads tend to be more successful when they are above the fold.

Now, I'm not making big money from my blogs, but I do get on average about 75 cents to a dollar per day. Still wouldn't be enough to justify working for a share of someone's ad revenue, but it's worthwhile for my own blogs, something I would be doing anyway.

By: Amie

Amie — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:06:51 +0000

Those are all cringe-worthy!

I saw an ad today for a "commission-based" writing project asking interested parties to submit 500-700 word for review--if accepted, the author would be notified and offered the opportunity to accept or deny the offer. But before a writer can just start submitting articles for review, they have to submit a sample 500-700 word article . . . "if the article is accepted, the author will be contacted and informed of their acceptance to the program . . . no payment for the initial sample article will be paid to the author and all sample articles upon submission are considered the property of Content Collaborative." Why would you have to send a sample article to be "accepted" into a program where they can accept or reject anything you write anyway? Wanna bet no writer ever gets a "non-sample" article accepted?