I’ve been sharing Upwork project postings on my Facebook pages recently to show my friends and followers how ridiculous buyers are being when it comes to their estimated writing rates. Most buyers seem to be wanting to pay writers peanuts for hours/weeks/months of work and decades of experience.

 

And  peanuts are worth more these days than many buyers on Upwork are offering!

 

After seeing the third such project description, one of my friends wrote, “The pulps paid better than that back in the 1950’s and 60’s!”

 

That’s no exaggeration. They were.

 

“Pulps” refer to any publication sent out on perishable, cheap paper.

 

And the writing that pulps contained was equally perishable and cheap.

 

So even if a buyer is looking for perishable, cheap copy or content, they ought to be paying far more than the pulps did seventy years ago!

 

But most buyers are looking for long-lasting, evergreen copy and content. And they want what we produce to convert browsers into buyers (when they’re paying copywriters) and readers/visitors into loyalists (when they’re paying content writers).

 

When it comes to writers work-for-hire freelance portals are about the skin-flintiest businesses in existence.  Too few people want to pay what copy and content are worth these days and the portals don’t do a thing to educate visitors about the value of hiring professionals. (The vast majority of writers on freelance portals aren’t tried-and-true, testimonial and portfolio-proven professionals. They’re hobbyists and wannabes. And some of those are charlatans.)

 

Well, here’s Harlan Ellison’s response to people who want something for nothing from writers:

 

I’m with Harlan on this… although I must admit to using less-colorful metaphors when I educate people about how insulting it is to be treated like what I do for a living is comparable to a wannabe’s output.

 

“If it ain’t on the page, it ain’t on the stage.”

 

Writers are the people that get the ball rolling.

 

Before there can be employed actors, producers, directors and crew, there has to be something in the script that tells them what they’ll be doing.

 

Before there are sales, there have to be words in a script that show the target audience what’s in the product or service that they want or need.

 

Before anyone can build a fond bond with an audience, words have to be exchanged to build the know/like/trust factor that’s so crucial to turning Looky Lou’s into loyalists and Fretful Frans into raving fans.

 

It just blows my mind that people who hire writers don’t “get” why paying a professional wordsmith is absolutely crucial to their success.

 

And to get a professional wordsmith, you need to be willing to pay what professional writers are worth.

 

We didn’t come off the copywriter conveyor belt yesterday.  The good ones have been in business for years, and have been published writers even longer.

 

We don’t fall for flattery, “exposing our greatness to a broader audience,” and other nonsense.

 

We respond to money, like any other business owner.

 

We need what we ask for to continue to compete for business in an era of clueless buyers who think a cheap writer is just as good as a professional. We spend half of our time educating buyers that we’d love to serve if only–if only!–they’d understand the enormous, evergreen value of what we produce and its ROI (return on investment).

 

No copywriter worth his or her salt costs his clients money–we MAKE them money far in excess of what they lay out to pay us!

 

It’s a sad fact:

the pulps of the 50’s and 60’s paid better than most people think they ought to pay these days.

 

And that’s obscene!