Comments on: When to Walk Away

By: Wendy J.

Wendy J. — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:19:44 +0000

Sometimes ethics comes into play. Quite awhile ago, I walked away from a person who had requested "reports" in the beginning, but after I started to get the details, I realized this was a homework snowjob.

I did my homework in school. My OWN. Do your own, please.

By: Lori

Lori — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:13:29 +0000

Chantal, that's my new mantra - "When the hourly wage turns out to be what I made washng dishes in college dorms, I just say no." That's golden! And yes, I wonder why people accept these rates, too.

It bugs me no end, Jen. Devon has a great response - "Go ahead then." It's not mean, but it's direct and makes the point that if these people could do it themselves, they wouldn't be asking for help.

Kimberly, way to go! I too walked away from a few last month that weren't going to be worth my time. It has to benefit both the client AND the writer. If it doesn't, then someone's getting screwed.

By: Chantal

Chantal — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:21:22 +0000

I walked away from a blogging job that wanted to pay me $100 a month for a minimum of 16 posts. When the hourly wage turns out to be what I made washing dishes in college dorms, I just say no. But this woman has tons of bloggers and it makes me wonder why all these people are willing to work for so little.

By: Kimberly Ben

Kimberly Ben — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:14:01 +0000

From time to time I still wind up with these types of projects because I didn't consider everything involved (and you are sooo right about that resentment part!). But I'm getting better – I walked away from a pretty big one a week ago that was way under priced for the research involved.

By: Jennifer Williamson

Jennifer Williamson — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:49:37 +0000

I walked away from a big monthly blogging contract that required getting up to speed on a VERY technical project, very quickly. I was all for it--but the client refused to pay for research time. He kept saying things like "but each post is only about 100 words long. I could do that in five minutes." But there was no getting around the fact that this project was more than the writing--and I needed to be paid more.

Doesn't that annoy you, by the way? The "I can do it in five minutes" excuse? I get it ALL the time. I'm starting to think of responding with a snarky response like "then why DON'T you?"