Comments on: Writers Worth: A Dirty Little Secret About Pricing

By: Lori

Lori — Fri, 24 May 2013 11:55:13 +0000

Nikki, I'd love to see that exchange! Sounds like they were trying the old emotional manipulation to get you to agree to some crappy payment terms.

By: Nikki

Nikki — Thu, 23 May 2013 20:21:00 +0000

You know,I kind of did start to question things. I did get some good information though the whole thing was (I found out later) geared towards being a virtual assistant but they touched on other aspects of service businesses and pay was of course one of them.

Here's where I knew I would never work for (nor would they ever hire me) – when I balked and one of them immediately said that she never got an hourly rate as a magazine writer or newspaper writer and the other moderator of this hangout said she'd never hire someone like me. I will have to email you the link to the whole thing. It was enlightening…

By: Lori

Lori — Thu, 23 May 2013 12:09:11 +0000

Nikki, that's the kind of thinking that drives me mad–there's only one way and we say it's this way. You know better. Did you then question everything you heard in that hangout? I would. If someone is spouting the ONLY way to do something, I then wonder what other stupid notions they're wedded to.

By: Nikki

Nikki — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:25:56 +0000

oH MY HEAVENS... I just got done participating in a Google+ hangout on setting up your service based business and the going thought was "pay per post". I argued against it and of course caught flack.

Stop thinking that you're only worth the post itself. You're worth so much more than that but you just have to decide it first.

By: Lori

Lori — Tue, 21 May 2013 20:01:36 +0000

It always surprises me when the "big guns" get cheap. I once jumped through mountains of hoops for a major insurance company, which then went on to give me exactly ONE writing job. Worth $500. Definitely not worth the hassle.

By: Walt Kania

Walt Kania — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:22:41 +0000

Lori:

As I recall, we negotiated upward a bit, but never quite to what the other company paid. They were stuck on some scripting fee based on 'per minute of video' which is irrelevant and arbitrary. I moved on to better clients after a while anyway.

By: Devon Ellington

Devon Ellington — Tue, 21 May 2013 16:52:21 +0000

So true, Walt. You have to believe it first in order to manifest it.

Thanks for the reminder.

By: Lori

Lori — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:17:54 +0000

Walt, you can't see me, but I'm standing and applauding. Loudly applauding. You've hit on exactly what holds us back from earning what we deserve -- our own heads.

So I have to ask -- what was the end result with the bigger-assed company? Did they come up in price or were you doing it for their price?

I'm totally with you on article price. I'd no sooner write a technical article for $200 than pick my teeth with a poisoned dart. The bullshit thinking that "the economy" will support just one price is ludicrous. The market will support what your talent and requirements demand, in my humble opinion.

I'm like that $1,200-a-day writer. I'm not getting out of bed for less than I'm worth.