What I’m reading: The Devil’s Tour by Mary Karr
What’s on the iPod: Keep Yourself Warm by Frightened Rabbit
Men’s Health Editor-in-chief David Zinczenko impresses me. He’s made a lucrative career out of showing us healthier food options in his popular Eat This, Not That series. I’m a fan of both his suggestions and his style. It’s a simple plan for improving your lifestyle.
And it’s applicable all over the place, especially in writing. If you examine your career choices in the same way Zinczenko teaches us to examine our food choices, how much better would your career be for it?
So in an attempt to help you improve your career choices, I’m going to start a small series here – Drop that job for this job. Consider it your free virtual coaching session.
Let’s look at this week’s job:
Freelance Writers for Business News Content at Leading Demand-driven M
(Company name) is looking for professional grade writers who can share their own perspective on the facts of current business topics. Writers are required to write according to (Company name)’s style guide and are trained by Business Channel Manager on topic selection and ways to increase readership for maximum pickup from the search engines, other media sites, blogs and social networks….
Topics include:
• The economy (U.S. and International)
• Markets
• Company News
• The DOW
• Global
• Small Business
• Media
Payment:
Writers can earn hundreds or more per month and are paid:
Per Article: $2.50-$10 for any articles posted on (Company site) that receive a minimum of 250 unique page views and Monthly Bonus: $25-$100 based on the popularity of their writing throughout the month
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If only we were all so popular! Alas, the insanely low pay scale doesn’t even measure up to minimum wage. But let’s give the writers the benefit of the doubt – a “professional grade” writer should be able to earn about $5 an hour for 2 articles (or a whopping $20 an hour for the higher end of the pay scale). Popularity is another, loosely defined promise (how many page views before you see a single bonus dollar?).
The attraction is obvious – instant cash (or so it is assumed). Those already employed by such places would argue that there isn’t anything else out there. Some have accused other writers of bogarting the good jobs.
Instead of going through the process of getting trained and then working endless hours just to get a few bucks, why not try this:
Business Fleet Magazine
Bimonthly magazine covering businesses which operate 10-50 company vehicles. Needs nonfiction how-to, interview, new product, personal experience, photo feature, and technical articles. Pays $100 to $400 for articles from 500-2,00 words.
—
Let’s assume the first client’s articles are 500 words in length. How does it compare with the sample magazine article?
– The pay at #1 is 90 percent less than the pay at #2. That’s assuming the writer is getting $10 for it, not $2.50.
– The pay could come faster with #1 (assuming it pays weekly, which is not stated in the ad).
– The writer must write more than one article (a minimum of 10 articles) with #1 in order to earn $100. That could mean 3,000+ words written for $100. With #2, the writer writes 500 words for that $100.
– The article written for #1 must receive a minimum number of page views (250). If the writer’s article gets 249 page views, that writer gets no money. The article written for #2 is paid upon either receipt of article or publication. There are no page-view requirements.
– The article at #2 is vetted by an editorial staff. The article at #1 may be, but it’s unclear.
– You do run the risk with #2 that your article idea won’t be accepted. The same holds true for #1.
For all those writers who say there aren’t any viable options to the low-paying jobs – is that really true?
What project do you have currently that you could improve on? How have you improved your earnings potential in the past?
16 responses to “Worthy Tip: Write This, Not That”
It has taken me many years, but I have finally learned to say no to jobs that don't pay fairly. I work in a field, direct response copywriting and magalog copywriting, where there are a lot of wanna-be's and newbies looking for their shot. As a result, many of them work on spec or for low pay to get a foot in the door. Unfortunately, this has taught many clients that they can negotiate down. Earlier this year, I had a prospect who was a big name in the magalog world come to me and ask me to do a project – for less than half my normal fee. "To get my foot in the door" with them, of course. No matter that I have a solid portfolio, track record, and good reputation in the field. To a newbie, the $6000 fee they were willing to pay was generous. To me, it revealed they didn't value everything I was bringing to the table. So I said no. And I'm so glad I did, because shortly after that a dream client came along who is wonderful to work with, has oodles of work for me, doesn't quibble over my fees, and treats me like a trusted partner instead of a hired hack. If there were one thing I could say to a newbie, it would be to let go of those poorly paying jobs and go after better jobs. Every time I turn down a job (almost always with a pang of regret and fear) something far better comes along. I think we must send out some kind of vibe about how we value ourselves, and the universe takes heed and rewards us accordingly.
Excellent response, Eileen. I agree completely – the vibe we send out to clients matters as much as the words we use to negotiate. I remember one call recently where the client was asking my rates. I stated them with confidence because I'm at a point where I know I'm worth it. He wavered, not me. And he waited until email to really negotiate. It didn't matter. The price I quoted was fair and he eventually saw that.
You were so smart to turn that down. Sure, it was $6K left on the table, but if it was half what the job was worth, you made the best decision. I had a job like that once back in my newbie days. It paid $5,200. It was the hardest $5,200 I have ever made, and in the end I was grossly underpaid. I learned then – never compromise on price. You'll resent the client and yourself.
I think we've all had a lesson like that, Lori. As unpleasant as it is, it's a lesson that sticks.
One technique I use to improve my earnings is to look at the average earnings per invoice for the year. When I started out, it was probably less than $100. Today, it's $2600. That's everything averaged together – from the 50% deposit on a $14,000 magalog job, to a $50 courtesy review of a client's one-page letter. It's an imperfect measure, but as long as I'm seeing an overall positive trend, I know I'm going in the right direction.
That's a great method! And it's so motivational.
I'm going to try that. Thank you. 🙂
well I wrote a much longer comment but blogspot ate it. Grr. oh well, I guess I didn't need to say all that anyway. Thanks for the post Lori, and your experience, Eileen.
Have a great weekend, ladies!
I have to be totally honest here. Way back, when I first started, my mindset was that I had no experience, so I needed to get some. If I had seen both of these ads back then, I would've looked closer at the #1 ad simply because I was thinking, at that time, that a magazine would require a certain amount of experience at something.
The magazine ad doesn't state that requirement, but I would've looked at the pay and the part that says 'technical articles' and I would've assumed that you would need a ton of experience to get hired for it. So, I would never have given the #2 ad a thought. For that reason. The instant pay is certainly desirable, but the experience thing was more my issue.
It took a couple of years to realize what exactly could represent my experience for that job. Some ads ask for someone with a degree in a field, which I now know that it doesn't always have to be an obstacle, but I didn't know that then.
Does any of that make sense?
Makes perfect sense, Wendy. And I would agree with you in theory. But I think if you do the homework, study the magazine, and write a query based on your research, you stand the same chance as any other writer.
The thing is many writers wouldn't take the job at $100, as you well know, unless it's a quick write. So these markets may be more open than we think to new writers.
Magalog is my new favorite word.
Lori, next time you traipse the globe, force Eileen to write at least two guest posts: One on magalogs (just because I love the word) and another on simple motivational techniques like she mentioned above.
FYI, I just saw DS is now seeking "Independent Writing Contractors." Almost makes them sound respectable.
The project I could improve on is the trade article I'm doing for a publisher who likes to micromanage. I'm pushing back, though. When one of the sources they wanted in the article said his company wasn't a good fit (this is more like an apples and carrots situation than apples and oranges one), the editor said to include them anyway. I already had more sources than I need for the assigned length, so I spelled it out: The source knows his company doesn't fit; I already have too many sources based on your own sources-to-word-count ratio, so why waste my time and his? She agreed with me.
I'm also logging how much time I spend transcribing the interviews so the next time they try to assign something I can argue for a higher rate. I'm thinking something like, "Hah! That won't even cover the transcribing costs!"
@Paula … You're making me blush. 🙂 How do you transcribe? Do you use any special equipment? My first career was with the government as a translator/transcriber and I had special equipment with the foot controls. I recently had to transcribe the audio from an infomercial DVD, and I outsourced it partly because I couldn't find an un-clumsy way of doing it.
@Lori – GREAT idea for a series. I agree with everyone so far. It is almost freaky with how often I have given up a "great" paying job and shortly after, got an AMAZING paying one. Funny how that happens 🙂
Also, I have found that attitude and excitement go a long way when there are prereqs for writing assignments. I didn't know a thing about health insurance (but it was on a topic I wanted to learn more about) so I put in a LOI and ended up getting the job.
"The thing is many writers wouldn't take the job at $100, as you well know, unless it's a quick write. So these markets may be more open than we think to new writers. "
EXACTLY! Don't write yourself short just 'cause it's a (!!!!!) print magazine (is it print? doesn't matter). If you can pull 10 articles on doo-hickeys out of your butt, it's quite possible that you could write one great, polished query AND AND AND it could be accepted! Do it!
Thanks Lori! Best post I've seen today.
Allena, I've never had to pull doo-hickeys, well, you know… LOL But I know what you're saying. You're right – AND AND AND it could! 🙂
I love when you visit. 🙂
Paula, you're thinking like I'm thinking. Eileen, you up for a guest post? I'd love to hear more!
Sal, very true. The attitude with which we present things can often squelch any argument. Well, except for those who are going to argue just for the principle of it. But there are plenty of times my confidence has halted any "Are you kidding?" responses. You just feel it, don't you? You can sense when they're dying to lower your price, even if they don't say it directly.
Eileen, I'm super low-tech. I have one cassette hooked to the corded phone with one of those devices that the phone line plugs into, and has the wire that connects it to the recorder. Once the interview is done, I have a second recorder at my desk that I used for playback.
(Yes, corded phone. Yes, cassettes. I did say low-tech, did I not?)
I just play/type/rewind and repeat endlessly. A couple friends borrowed real transcribing equipment to test out before they invested, and both found it cumbersome. I guess there's a learning curve before using it becomes second nature.
I don't quite trust myself with digital recorders. Right now I have a stack of four interview tapes waiting to be transcribed so there's no danger of accidentally recording over something.
Good news: transcribing the longest interview of this batch just took me 97 minutes. It only felt like 3 hours.
Ugh. The playing/rewinding/typing thing would drive me bonkers. I got myself a $50 digital recorder to record some collaboration and brainstorm type meetings on a business trip last month. Best $50 I ever spent. I won't be transcribing them, though. They're mp3 files, and I dump them on to my computer the same day I record them so that even if I do accidentally erase them from the recorder, I have backup. The first time I re-listen to a session, I take notes about what it covers, and it's easy enough to replay that section when I need to.
Exactly, Eileen. Paula, spring for the digi recorder. It's totally worth it and still can attach to a corded phone if need be.
I like that the digital recorder costs about the same as a good cassette recorder. But remember when I said I'm low-tech? I'm not even sure what kind of memory space mp3s take up…. Right now each time I have to download a big file or photos I wonder if I'll have enough memory for it.
My cousin may have a used Mac for me – it's an old iMac they've added tons of memory to (he said they had something like 5,000 photos stored on it). On Thanksgiving we'll see if it has the OS I need. If it does, then I might be able to try the digital recorder. That's assuming I can figure out how to transfer files from one computer to the other without a CD burner.
See? Low tech. But cut me some slack. I just got a DVR yesterday. Cable company is giving me 6 months free DVR service. I'm still trying to figure out all of the options. It took the installer 90 minutes to get it set up. Why? On Demand wasn't working. Apparently I was supposed to have been getting that all along, but they had "traps" on the lines to filter the signal. When the pros have trouble with technology, it doesn't bode well for me.