Thanks again for a great conversation here everyone

Digital Midge

I realize that some might think it’s hard to get out of the low-paying gig mire once you get started, but that wasn’t the case for me. I just knew how to play my cards well, I guess. That as well as the fact that I always think positively.

Ann G: Billy Dee? That’s fantastic! The point is also sound – sometimes the education offsets the $0 pay. I hope you include that interview on your resume – star power is an excellent resume booster. I have a client section on mine: it lists my major more well-known clients and a few unknowns so that they see that I’m willing to work with any business from small mom and pops up to chains, franchises, international clients, et cetera.

One of my regular jobs is working as a PA for a man who is an Internet marketer. (Please don’t come after me with the torches and pitchforks for this one!) He isn’t my highest-paying client and his business is still in startup mode but in return for my services, he is teaching me about his business and how IM works. I have access to products that he has spent thousands of $$ on, and he is paying me to learn. It’s an eduation that I wouldn’t get anywhere else without spending a ton of money, and I can add Internet Marketing to the list of topics I am comfortable writing about.

If you consistently give your clients more than they expect from you, then over time they will start to give back to you in the form of better assignments and better pay. Satisfied clients can also give you references that will help you land those better-paying jobs, as well as referrals to other people who are hiring.

I’ve earned anywhere from $200 for 1,000 words to 2 cents. I’ve been freelance writing for almost 2 years now, and reviewing books for 8 years. Sadly, I find that book reviewers are becoming a scarce commodity now. I get free books from authors and publishers, but don’t make any money, and the majority of people now feel if there is no pay it’s not worth their time.

I happen to have a gig reviewing CDs that doesn’t pay, but I also get free music CDs before they are released to the public.

In the end, while money is important, you also have to make yourself happy. The job I’m working on today is only 3-cents a word, but it’s for a travel company that needs their press releases rewritten into news articles to send to major newspapers around the globe. In an hour, I got 10 written, potentially more had I not turned on my messenger to see how my brother’s doing. I’ve written a total of $32 worth of news stories in that hour, so the pay for me will turn out to be extremely high.

I also have two jobs that pay 25 cents per word. I landed those based on links to writing samples I had attached.

People tend to shun the low paying or free jobs, but the connections you can make are often beneficial. Years ago, I was asked to interview the actor/author Billy Dee Williams when his new book was about to be released. I wasn’t paid a cent, only received a free copy of his book. That one interview has been one of the best writing samples I have and one of the reason potential employers stop and take a closer look.

I have a feeling that my resume isn’t adequately representing my talents, but am not sure how to deal with it. Maybe I need to hire a free-lancer to tweak it for me?!

sorry you lost your health insurance, but COBRA is a ***#! joke. I had it 16 years ago, paid more for it than my mortgage and it still didn’t cover a lot for my prematurely born daughter — claiming charges were “above what is customary,” when we live in Illinois and all the work was done in Indiana, where medical costs (and malpractice insurance) are much lower.

I’m still chuffed that this executive holds me in such esteem, and that she gave my work style some thought to try to understand me.

And to those who wonder, it didn’t take me decades to build my knowledge base.I’ve only been writing in that particular niche for two and a half years.so with patience, you can see some major rewards.

Theresa: I would love to be able to do the same, but another problem is the zoning in my township. I’m only allowed to work 1 home occupation unless I pay the township $300 to have a hearing for a yes or no decision to be able to work two. Tutor.com sounds nice even at only $11/hour, but per the residential zoning I can either have an artist studio or I can teach. Not both.

As for my qualification, I have over 3 years corporate business writing, ESL certification, am a published international author, and many years of additional writing including newspaper writing. I’d love to be working at the rate that I deserve, but I have no separate income to pay my bills while playing the waiting game.

Oh well, they’ll likely get what they pay for, right?

No matter, I have other work and other quotes to make. I’m good enough to be earning what I earn. I’m not working for slave wages unless it’s a particular project that is dear to my heart and I choose to do so in a voluntary capacity.

I have numerous jobs, one that I started a couple months ago is late paying that first invoice. They swear the check is in the mail, and this is a reputable company, but until I get it, I can’t pay bills. Meanwhile, someone offered me a gig of 50 articles for $450 – just enough to pay for 100 gallons of propane, so I took it.

I’m enough in debt from a three year battle with panic disorder that THREE doctors misdiagnosed as a heart condition that I need all the money I can get to catch up. Sure we have health insurance, but even that doesn’t cover everything when you spent a year in and out of the emergency room and cardiologist’s office having every test known to man perfomed.

My husband and I are planning to start a family soon so I really can’t afford to work for pennies. I know when that baby (or babies, we have multiples on BOTH sides) comes I won’t be able to work at full capacity for a while. I need to stash as much cash as possible while building my reputation as a reliable freelancer. I really have no time for the money games.

Freelancing is a full-time job for me. I wouldn’t allow an on-site job to stiff me, so the same rules apply for contract work. I have one job that pays $11/hour (Tutor.com) and I consider that a labor of love; I work it for about an hour each day. Everyone else is getting charged more than double that rate. Sorry folks, but I’ve gotta pay the bills and prepare for the babies!

It also helps that I’m good with numbbers (been computing batting averages since 6th grade) and support the family with my income — in other words not being profitable is not an option.

I agree with the article on most things, but if you’re in a situation like mine where you have no choice but to find freelance work and you can’t find additional ways outside of the home to pay your bills while the larger gigs come through, then you have to take the lower end ones until the higher end clients start marketing you word of mouth or come back again for additional projects.

I will say though that I am picky about the lower end projects – for example, I only go with the ones that: (1) pay within two weeks (2) have a good company name or client name attached to them. (3) provide me with new skills.

I took one low-end job that literally boosted my resume in days by adding nearly an entire page of national clients. Prior to that project my resume only had the national clients from my off-site sales position and very few writing project ones. Taking that one low paying job not only brought me those contacts, but I also used the experience like an internship to help me to learn about the publishing industry and arts organizations all over the country.

Think about it also this way – if you’re forced to write for low-paying gigs because there are no other choices available in the short-term, at least those gigs will help cover the price of ink, petrol, or even food.

In this economy that money can add up.

As for my current: I found one gig that’s low-end, but will guarantee a steady income for up to 2 years: that’s on average with an outside retail job when I calculate the time to write the articles and the savings on gas. It may not be easy money, but until my expertise and name start getting noticed, I won’t have to worry about starving.

I was invited to write a couple of articles in my area of expertise, which I thought was great. When I saw the pay was $4 per article, I politely responded that I couldn’t do it because it was below my regular rate.

The next email reply from them was that my profile had been deleted.

And I didn’t care.

That’s how I know my confidence is up.

*sneaks off somewhere*

I agree you cannot “separate” freelance from writing in the practical sense. I simply wanted to point out that for many new writers (and even old ones), it is not the nuts and bolts of the writing that poses the biggest threat to confidence, it is the business (or freelance) part.

For example, I have all the confidence in the world about my abilities as a writer. But until recently I always second-guessed my quoting. (Now it’s just sometimes…!) If I didn’t hear back on a proposal I sent out, I thought I’d quoted too much and drove them away. And when I did get the job, I’d wonder if I quoted too little…

I’ve seen this in other writers too. In my experience, it is the business area that freelance writers need the most confidence boosting.

@Malie – I agree 100%. The first book I read about freelance writing was Bob Bly’s — now I think I have about 4 or 5 of his books altogether. He’s a seasoned pro, and knows how to pass that knowledge along!

~Graham

In other words, what’s worked for me is not giving up in the sometimes overwhelming face of thousands of posts out there looking for writers or editors (and seemingly thousands of applicants as well). I also try really hard to be discriminating, as do we all, and searching out the leads on this site is one of my ways. (Thanks very much, Deb.) Knowing my strengths and being able to read between the lines of an ad help me decide what to apply for. I don’t automatically write off ads seeking newbies, for example–but I do automatically ignore ads that are looking for something in which I have not the remotest interest or experience. If I can’t excited about it, I won’t do it well, and I thus probably won’t have a repeat job. That’s just my personal guideline.

I also rabidly hang on to my favorite, long-running gig, which pays exceptionally well, is really fun, and for which I had to undergo three rounds of “interviews” via submitting my writing for inspection. But it was so worth it, and it actually has done more than anything to boost my confidence–I know how much I am appreciated there, and it makes me think even more highly of my own writing skills because someone else is *still* paying me well for them!

Graham ~ I don’t agree that you should separate “writer” from “freelancer” not if this is your FT job anyhow. The two are not different if this is what you do for a living. Most other occupations don’t separate income gains from job know-how. If a social worker, doctor, or construction worker is good they expect the going rate, and hope for above the going rate.

The not confident, or uninformed freelancers, writers; what have you, drive down wages for all of us pretty effectively. I’m ok with making less right now because I want to blog, not do business writing or mags, but that doesn’t mean I’ll take below $20 an hour, or what I can live on, unless I see a bigger gain in the near future.

It’s not that hard to do a little research before applying.

Get serious about making this your job if this is going to be your job. A job does not pay .03 a word because that works out to slave wages by the hour. .04, even .25 a word seems shabby when you can make 1.00 a word with nationals. And considering that wages on magazines haven’t gone up since the 70s, 1.00 pretty shabby too.

If you’re going to write as your career, then part of being successful is finding out about wage info before you apply, so that you get what you’re worth. So that you get what all decent writers are worth.

And while there is still a difference between blogging pay and basic freelancing, I can tell everyone reading this thread that you can get $16-25+ an hour blogging positions. So, at least don’t go for the super cheap gigs, not when there’s better out there.