Writers for Hire: Stop Prostituting Yourself
Today’s my day to rant.
I went to Upwork to look for a writing project this morning. Saw a PR-writing project for multiple press releases that 50 people have already submitted quotes on, even though the stated budget per 500-word press release is $15!
Seriously?!
What kind of writer does a buyer think he’s going to get for $15 per press release? Are the fifty providers who applied so desperate that they’re willing to compete with charlatans and wannabes to get the gig? At that price, the clueless client will get slapped-together press releases fit only for lining the bottom of a bird cage and the chosen writer will get a couple meals out of it; no savings, no rainy day emergency fund, nothing!
And yes, I get it. Writers in third world countries can live on a lot less than writers in developed countries whose living expenses are larger, BUT WHY WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO DO THAT? Why don’t you charge what you’re worth in a developed country and stop letting rich people hire you for less than they pay to feed their pets? You’re being USED, MISUSED AND ABUSED! It might not feel that way, but you’re being played.
Know how I know this?
There are other American clients on Upwork who say, “I have writers from other countries working for me. They’re not very good. They learned UK English and most of them are substandard. I’m looking to hire a good copy editor to come in behind them and correct what they messed up to make it publishable in America.” And then they hire an editor for more than they hired you to research and write the piece in the first place. They have plenty of money to improve what you write, so they aren’t struggling! You’re the one doing the heavy lifting and you’re being paid peanuts. (Hell, peanuts are worth more than you’re being paid these days!)
STEP UP YOUR GAME AND CHARGE FOR IT!
The trick is to get better if “just getting by for a few dollars here and there” is your game. You’ll never get any better, or make any more money, as long as you’re happy writing poor-quality content for next to nothing.
And if you’re a good writer working for this kind of money, STOP IT! You are bringing DOWN the PERCEIVED VALUE OF WHAT WE DO AS WRITERS and what we do (hold onto your hat!) is worth one to three dollars per word (not a typo! PER WORD) and up!
You are aware, aren’t you, that a great many professional copywriters are millionaires? How did they achieve that milestone? BY CHARGING WHAT THEIR SKILL SET IS WORTH. Most millionaire copywriters charge $8 per word and also get up to 50% of the profits on everything they write IN PERPETUITY! Are your clients willing to pay you that? See if they will. If that’s the case, then writing for less up front might make a little more sense!!! But NOT OTHERWISE!!!
Why on God’s green earth are you standing there with your hat in your hand hoping for a trickle of change to fall into it? You have a valuable skill that took you years to learn! As a freelancer, you have to cover your own costs of doing business and keeping a roof over your head. You have to pay taxes on what you earn.
I’m sick and tired of seeing clients who believe that copy, content and features writing is an easy way to make a living and that they shouldn’t have to pay much to hire you.
“If it ain’t on the page, it ain’t on the stage.”
Without the right words, in the right order, in front of the right people (Ideal Client), nothing would ever sell, or convince, or build fond bonds with customers and clients.
Isn’t it time you either stepped up your game and learned to compete with the top guns so you can earn what they do (if you’re just mediocre) or started charging adequately for what your work delivers to your clients: evergreen words that can convert browsers into buyers and Lookie Lous into loyalists for years to come?
Prostitution only pays well when flesh is being traded (and might I add, usually to the highest bidder, not to the lowest). When it isn’t, you’re the one getting screwed for too little return.
Either get good at what you do so you can charge higher prices, or get out.
Professional writers don’t like being held hostage by the prevailing notion that we can be had for a song. Half of my cover letters and videos go toward explaining the VALUE of what I do.
“Price in only a problem when value is a mystery.”
If your work isn’t valuable, do something else for a living, will you? I’m soooo tired of watching you under-bid, and sooo tired of watching clients fall for it and then, after falling for it deciding “writers are all the same. I can never find a good one for what I want to pay.”
Clients get what they’re willing to pay for. If they’re willing to pay only for something worth lining the bottom of a bird cage, that’s their choice. But they don’t know what they don’t know, most of them. They don’t know what a professional writer charges.
EDUCATE THEM. SERVE THEM WELL. AND THEY’LL BE BACK TIME AND AGAIN.