Jenn, you've hit on it. There's a lot of that mentality – that the reality is $5 gigs. Not my reality. In fact, it's reality only if you accept it.

Ashley, I have one of those sitting at home. She's just wanting ANY job, but in the past five months she's been on a handful of interviews. Worse is the fact that many of these places are advertising one thing and when she shows up (even AFTER phone interviews), they suddenly pile on sales or the "Oh, but now we're going to work weekends, too" crap. I'm helping her target her own preferred employers, but they don't teach that in school, do they?

Work harder, Joseph. Then you can upgrade to that six-burner range. LOL You're right – incentives help a ton.

Paula, I started pre-Internet, too. It taught me how to dig and how to find mentors and connections locally.

Granted, only two assignments are in the $1/word neighborhood, but none are anywhere near mill prices.

I'd earn more money selling junk at a one-day garage sale than in a month's worth of mill work, and I have the reputation of always being the one who makes the least in garage sales.

Piggybacking on Jenn's comment, I just want to say I'm glad I started freelancing before everyone was online. I never expected good jobs to be waiting for me. I knew I had to seek them out. Frankly, when you're finding your own markets to approach, the competition isn't nearly as tough as being one of 1,000 people who reply to a job or market listing.

When we decided to redo the kitchen (run away!) instead of taking a vacation this year, I knew we had to book a lot of extra work to pay for it. And, amazingly, the work was out there! It mean astoundingly packed deadlines for the next few months, but it's possible, and it proves that if you have a definite, very specific goal (I need to pay for the kitchen, I want to add the New Yorker to my resume, I'd like to eat this week) it is an amazing incentive.

Just do a quick search from the start, at a bare minimum. Look for others in your specialty area sharing rates on their websites. What are they able to charge? What kinds of projects and clients are showcased in their portfolios? Can you get a feel for how they're marketing themselves? If you find people who are now where you want to be a bit down the road, you might feel inspired and get a better idea of reality.

And Lori's absolutely right. That reality isn't $5 gigs. That's a hobbyist's game at best — not for those wanting to build a freelance career.

Even some of the forums that are supposedly for professionals have far too many people whining about low paying jobs — and taking them. And making the excuse that they don't have time to write.

I'm just OVER it.

Write or don't write. It's a choice. It is YOURS. But don't damn whine about it.

I was at a similar place once – I was feeling that what I was seeing was all there was. It was after I'd had a few clients come my way that I realized that wasn't true. Once I'd finished their projects, I went back to the passive job listing search. That lasted ten minutes before I was fashioning my own noose. It was a lightbulb moment. 🙂

You received a great incentive – someone voicing an opinion you knew was bull.

Being told that I should be happy for $2 an article because I work from home was enough incentive to stop what I was doing and try a different path.

I'm sorry, but I just have to say this: "I was blind and now I see"