Weekend Discussion:When It’s Time to Say Goodbye:
June 29, 2007 by Deb
Filed under Freelance Writing
Cutting Ties to Low Paying First Jobs
When you first start out as a freelance writer, it may seem inconceivable that you will ever have enough work to fill the day, let alone pay the rent. (If you are a new writer, trust me; things will get better.) So, taking a job or two for less money than you’d like is often desirable. Such jobs (and I’m not talking about the $2 or $3 gigs here) can be beneficial because:
- They give you writing experience. The more you write, the better you get at writing. It’s that simple.
- The contacts you make can lead to other work. Many jobs lead to other writing jobs. I met Deb when we worked together on an early writing gig.
- It’s about the money. If you find yourself with unfilled time during your 8-10 hour work day, taking one or two low-paying writing jobs can help to pay the rent, car payment, and cat food bill.
When it’s Time to Say Goodbye
However, the time will come in your career, as you raise your rates to reflect your increasing experience, that these first jobs will have to go. As attached as you may be to them and the people for whom you’re writing, it’s time to say goodbye when:
- You find yourself turning down more lucrative assignments because you’re busy writing for the low-paying job.
- You’re working until midnight to make your deadlines.
- You lack the time to “stretch” your writing career by doing such things as sending queries to higher-paying magazines or working on a book proposal.
How to Say Goodbye
Saying goodbye is never easy, no matter how necessary. A good working relationship is a comfortable thing, especially for a writer working alone at home. Breaking ties means going out and forging new relationships, and that’s always scary. When you quit your early writing positions, remember:
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- Be Polite – It’s a business decision. Be polite, even if your soon-to-be-former employer takes it personally.
- Be Firm – Once you’ve decided that this job is no longer profitable for you, stick to your guns. Staying with the gig will only postpone the inevitable.
- Give Notice – Make sure that you give the person for whom you’ve been writing enough time to find a replacement. This varies and may be longer than the traditional two weeks. I’d limit it to one month at the longest, however.
- Have No Regrets – Growing your writing career means moving on. Don’t dwell on it.
The good news is that your career is booming. Embrace your success and continue to grow by letting go of those first low-paying jobs.
Do you have a story about “saying goodbye”? Share it with us by leaving a comment.
by Sandy Mitchell
Sandy Mitchell has been a full-time freelance writer for three years. Among other gigs, she is the About.com Guide to Cleveland Ohio , her hometown, and writes and edits a site for Suite 101 about mystery and crime fiction. Although she’s grateful to the first people who took a chance on hiring her to write, she’s never looked back after cutting those ties.
See Deb’s other blogs:
This is a topic I know well. Last month I gave up my last low paying content job. Though I felt bad saying goodbye, I knew I made the right decision. It’s nice to have loyalty, but not always at the expense of a career…and a paycheck.
Excellent advice. I definitely think that our writing clients deserve the same respect that other employers deserve. Giving ample notice is a must unless the employer isn’t paying or treating you otherwise unfairly.
I also think that if you’ve had a long term relationship with a client and someone will be taking over your writing assignments, it’s appropriate to offer up your e-mail to the new writer to answer any questions. The few times I’ve done this, I’ve only gotten one or two e-mails each time from the new guy that were quite easy to answer.
By doing this, I feel like I’m leaving the client with a very positive impression of me, leaving the door open for future work with him if I ever wanted it.
At the very beginning of the year I had to let a client go and do that suddenly. Although I know he felt that I left him in the lurch, the responsibilities constantly changed and I felt that I was being taken advantage of.
I managed to finish up his project but I decided not to start a new one that was laborious and low paying.
I dropped a low-paying gig at the beginning of this year. Another nice thing about those kinds of jobs was that although they don’t pay very well, they’re sometimes a more reliable source of income than trying to query nat’l mags and hope for an assignment.
It was tempting to stick with it, because if I was diligent I knew I could make $150 or $200 a month to supplement my regular income (for a high volume of short, time-consuming pieces and no, expensese were not reimbursed).
The beginning of the year seemed like the right time to take stock and re-evaluate my writing projects and I realized that although this one was steady income, it was taking up time that I could be using to break into bigger markets.
Another factor was that my editor had just left and her replacement wasn’t following through on the promises she’d made. That made it easy to say “you know I appreciate the work you’ve given me, but I think it’s time for me to focus on other projects.” Since their accounting department required that you invoice at least ten articles at once, I made sure to leave after I’d written and invoiced the requisite ten.
Hello gang!,
Thank you for all the great advice and job postings!
I’d be satisfied with any writing job…..even low paying.
I wrote over sixty articles for http://www.inspin.com over a year. I received quite a few positive comments as well as some negative comments (but I got more positive comments….the negative comments were aimed more towards my opinions pertaining to the article topic).
They were great to work for. But they are a ’sports information’ web site in Costa Rico. Writers were paid by placing money in a interbet sportsbook and we could either gamble with it or take it out. After the U.S. government really started cracking down on sportsbooks and their payment sources a couple of months ago, the supposedly fired all the U.S. writers.
Since then, I have inquired about many jobs posted here. But I am going against many many other writers with much more experience and skill than I have. It’s been very tough with all the rejections.
The hardest rejections was the writing position that was open on about.com where they were looking for writers to write about a diverse range of topics about Indianapolis where I currently live and have lived for over thirty-four years.
I have many great connections and I knew I could get in any door and talk to anybody here! I even had great references here.
I told them that I’d even be willing to work for less at first until they see whether or not they liked my work.
After I didn’t hear anything from them in over two weeks, I inquired about the position and they told me that they received ten applications and reject four. I was one of those four.
That just crushed me! I really felt like I was more than qualified and I just knew I would do a great job.
The part that really bothers me is, I disABLED and on an extremely fixed income. I really would like to supplement my income.
When I inquire about a position, I try very hard to convey in my inquiry that what I lack in experience I will more than make up for enthusiasm,willingness and dedication!
I have very few distractions (i.e. kids,car payments,house payments etc.) so I could dedicate quite a bit of time on a project. But I still have gotten nowhere.
I have an extremely rare disorder and have had *334* surgeries as I think that all my ‘life experience’ would be great in my work on a certain project…. espically humor,motivation,determination etc. experience related projects. I also have had over twenty-five years of computer and on-line related experience, but I just cannot find somebody that is looking for such a writer to agree enough to hire me.
I had a blog with blogit.com but I didn’t think I was accomplishing much
I apologize for the length,’whining’ and unintentional selfishness. It really is not me at all. But I am just very discouraged and needed to vent.
I’m sure there are literally millions of writers that feel the same way as I do. At least I’m not facing immediate homelessness and/or starvation like many writers do!
Does anybody out there have any advice and/or ideas? I am more than willing to work very hard for very little if that is what it takes!
Thank you in advance.
And thank you very much for this site and daily leads Deb! You keep me going!
Regards,
Sean
Great post, Sandy. I’ve been discussing this issue with lots of my writing friends this year and many of us have reached the same conclusion. Learning when to move on and when to say no are essential parts of growing a writing career.
The truth is, there are tons of low-paying jobs out there for writers.
They are good for getting your feet wet and for discovering if this is what you want to do as well as for building a portfolio. They are also good if you are switching the emphasis of your writing.
They are not good if you feel you that you must turn down a more lucrative job in order to meet your commitment to a low-paying job. They are not good if you are forced to work unendurable hours just to get by. Finally, they are not good if you work quality suffers because of the quantity that you must produce.
Good topic!
I’ve recently come to this point, too — of needing to let go of some old, lower paying jobs. Thanks for your suggestion of giving notice. It will take the edge off of an otherwise difficult move, and I think it will help me feel a little better about doing what I need to do.
Thanks you for the encouragement!
Oops. That should have said thank you.
While I certainly agree there are times to drop a client and move on, I think it’s interesting that no one so far has mentioned going to the client, explaining the problem, and seeing if a pay increase is a possibility. Even if the request is denied, that would confirm to the client that money really is the problem, which leaves the door open for change in the future if the client has more money and wants you back, presumably after discovering the good services you’ve provided really aren’t available elsewhere for anything less that what you’re looking to be paid.
Also, while I can certainly see the distinction if the work takes up all or most of your time, at least in terms of freelance editing, I’ve found it profitable to continue working for my original clients even though they pay at my old rates just because I get so many referrals from them to new clients who pay the current rates.
Definitely good points, Brooke. I’ve been kind of assuming — as I’m sure everyone else is — that giving notice would mean explaining the situation, and likewise that if paying more was an option the client would say so. But you are right to suggest being more direct about needing a “raise.”
As for your referral system, however, the problem with that is that your low-paying clients might tell potential clients, “Yeah, try her — she’s really cheap.” Then you have a problem quoting “current” rates, because they’ll say, “But you do it for so-and-so for only X amount.” Retaining low-paying clients can make it really difficult to move up to the next level, especially when your old clients and your new clients know each other.
thank you thank you thank you for this article!