Comments on: And Another Thing…

By: PreSchool Mama

PreSchool Mama — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:20:14 +0000

At this point, there’s nothing to add, it’s all been said. I wonder where all these morons disappear to when Deb posts their emails.

By: Camille Platt

Camille Platt — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:53:46 +0000

I completely agree. If someone wants to offer a job for $20, and I am fast enough to get it done in an hour, I just made $20/hr. If it’s not my style or good enough pay for my time, I don’t apply or accept. No big deal. Plus, start-up writers need to get their first pieces published somewhere. I wrote a handful of things for free in college, and they are what launched my career.

By: Kellea Croft

Kellea Croft — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:53:43 +0000

I hoped you would make money from this site, it is a very valuable asset to any writer and you put a lot of hard work into it. I check it out every day and have gathered so much courage to write from reading your posts.
I am now working at restaurant reviews and finding jobs here and there. I have fibromyalgia and cannot hold down a full time job, writing has given me a new lease on life and it is a great amount of thanks to you.
Good onya, keep your chin up… you can never please all the people all the time, so you need to do what pleases you.

By: Rita Connelly

Rita Connelly — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:16:08 +0000

This person should buy a dictionary or at least take 3rd grade math.
Median income means the average income. You get an average by adding up all the wages and then dividing by how many slaries that were used. That means there are some very high above the median and some very low….duh!

By: Hazel

Hazel — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:44:10 +0000

Washington Independent Writers is having an audioconference about rate-setting on Friday. It’s not cheap, but maybe some folks on this list have enough income to support the fee. You can find out more at:
http://www.washwriter.org/
BTW, I was already benefiting from the job postings on this site, but now I am finding it invaluable for discussions like this. Thanks!

By: tjwriter

tjwriter — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:30:37 +0000

Any bumbling fool can look at the housing market as an example and see that location/cost of living affects the value of things. A house in a rural area could go for half of the price of the same house in an urban area. The same applies to a variety of things.

Market price simply means what the market is willing to pay at that point in time. But market could mean the world, the US, a region of the US, a state, a city or even a single household. It depends on the context.

It’s great of you to put together this resource for us, Deb. But everyone should recognize that just because Deb (via Jodee) puts together a list of jobs that fit her wide criteria does not excuse the fact that we must run said jobs through our own filters and see if it is a fit for us.

It’s not hard to discard and move on from the things that do not make the short list. Spending time spewing crap is not productive or helpful.

By: Debbie Yost

Debbie Yost — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:31:56 +0000

Hi Deb,
I subscribe to your site but most of the time I’m a lurker. I check out some of the jobs you list but so far haven’t found any that suit me. True, some of them I pass up simply because the pay isn’t worth my time, but I’m a little confused. Why is this person so angry? I consider your website a valuable service. You put together many jobs in one place so it takes me about 30 seconds to review them hwen it would take me much longer if I had to do it on my own. I don’t have to pursue low paying jobs, but maybe someone would. More power to them. Frankly, if you did make a little money off this I wouldn’t be offended. As I said, you are provided a service. In the end, if people don’t like the jobs you list, why not just go somewhere else? Why be so nasty? It seems to me this person is just trying to drum up business and readership. The internet is huge so if you don’t like something, go look elsewhere.

I, for one, appreciate you and will stick around.

By: WritingHermit

WritingHermit — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:49:52 +0000

I think the writer of that email does not realize that websites such as salary.com are not meant to give you the end-all be-all wage for *anything.” In fact, those sites prove Deb’s point, since they ask not only for your job title, but also your zip code, because *different areas of the country and the world have different median wages.* The Internet does not have a geographical location per se and hence there is no going rate for online jobs. It is incumbent on the job seeker to find jobs that provide them a living wage in their area. For some, that is $10 an hour. For some, it is $20 or $50. Rents vary, as do costs of living.

Also, the whole median wage argument is a bit of slippery slope. You could not really go to your boss in a bricks and mortar business and say “salary.com says I should be earning more.” Lots of things affect your wage — how many want your job, your education level, your skill level, your ability to market yourself. Rather than trying to convince your boss to raise your wage based on your salary.com information, you would have better results proving that you are worth more or even looking for a better paying job elsewhere. Online jobs work the same way. If you see a lower-paying job, negotiate the rate or apply for a better-paying job.

/Rant

By: Laurel - Freelance Marketing Jobs

Laurel - Freelance Marketing Jobs — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:49:37 +0000

Are you kidding? Where is all this venom and anger coming from?

For crying out loud there are so many other crises in the world, in our towns, in our own lives that warrant much more attention and energy.

Life is too short to even waste a keystroke, Deb.

By: Lara

Lara — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:15:16 +0000

I agree, agree, agree with all the positive comments and have to add – I don’t really care if you do get cash for adds, links, postings. Your work has lead me to some lucrative gigs and I appreciate it immensly. If you get a little money from that who cares. (I know you’re not doing it and there is an ethical thing … I’m just saying … it’s really none of my business when I use the leads you pay to be posted. For Free.) The really cool thing about life is we have our own free will. If you don’t like it shut your mouth and hit the road. Carry on, Deb & Jodee!

By: Melissa

Melissa — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:59:38 +0000

Wow…this person is awful! And quite misguided about what a median salary is. Does median not mean that real wages fall on either end, either lower or higher? And that national median salaries use data from people living in NYC (where renting a shoebox can cost $2000 a month) to Alabama (where you can rent a house for $600 a month)?

By: Robin Noelle

Robin Noelle — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:57:13 +0000

Sounds like a troll to me. Some people just love to stir the pot and then sit back and enjoy the commotion. Know that they are in the minority and don’t bother publishing their negative comments as it only fuels them.

Love your site!

By: Christine

Christine — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:37:23 +0000

I simply cannot believe that people have the nerve to bitch at you for the business decisions you make regarding this site. Who cares if you get paid or not by advertisers, and like it said it is none of our business what you make. I know how much it costs to run a site, maintain the server, upgrades etc in not only money but time, and if you have found a way to easily notify us of open jobs while paying your own BILLS then so be it! Good for you. The people that are nasty are just extremely jealous, rude and immature. Again, I thank you for what you do here and I don’t give a crap if you make 100K a year doing it or if you do it out of the goodness of your heart…OR BOTH. THANK YOU!

By: Heather

Heather — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:08:53 +0000

Dear email writer:

I’m a teacher in Iowa. I make only 80% of what other schools in the same town make because I teach at a private school instead of a public school. I make nowhere NEAR the median salary for a teacher in the United States.

I most likely won’t ever visit your website because your insistence that these are “facts” makes you look very incompetent.

So good luck with that website!

By: (army)wife

(army)wife — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:51:31 +0000

“Different writers make different amounts just as different programmers, different school bus drivers and different teachers earn differently.
You really do sound like a corporate sell out. Anyone with half a brain knows that’s not true. Go to Salary.com or Payscale.com, there are definitely median salaries for ALL these occupations.”

As someone with a full brain (I know, I had it checked out prior to writing this) and as someone with experience in the corporate world (I know this as well because my paycheck says so), Deb’s comment is true. I’m the HR director for an electric motor repair company and so obviously, we employee dozens of people with the same job titles: Mechanic, Machinist, or Rewinder. However, not everyone makes the same amount of money. They all live in the same general area, so standard of living is the same. However, what makes a difference is the experience they have and the education they have. On top of that, you have guys that have 20 years of experience, yet they’ll make the same amount as someone with 10 years of experience because the 20 yr guy has only worked for us for 1 yr, while the 10 yr guy has been with us since he was an apprentice. Then you also have quality of work. You can have two guys who have been with us for 5 years, same experience and education, yet guy 1 will make more money because his quality of work is far superior to that of guy 2′s work quality.

And if you really think about what Median means, it can be misleading. I have 6 employees that make Wage 1, and it is the most common wage on my salary sheet, making it the Median wage. However, 6 out of 100 employees really doesn’t mean that much. Especially considering where these employees are in the pecking order. You’ll need to sell your soul to me to earn Wage 1. So the median wage for my company is NOT a wage anyone could ask for on a resume or even hope for in less than 10 yrs of employment and nothing by above average quality of work.

I suspect a lot of this also plays into determinging writers’ wages as well.

By: Spencer Spellman

Spencer Spellman — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:30:34 +0000

I love this website. It’s the first thing I do every morning even before I check my email.
I graduated college december a year ago with a Philosophy degree. I recently just got my second contract freelance job, both through a posting on this website. The first was only a couple months and didn’t pay much, the second is paid per project but comes out to about $20-$25 hourly.

By: Hayli

Hayli — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:24:52 +0000

My mom, who just started in web content writing, would happily take $20 for 600 words, especially if it’s a topic she’s already familiar with and limited research is required. I, on the other hand, would not be able to take that rate after nearly two years of freelancing (but I DID when I first started out). People DO have different payscales and this person’s attitude just sucks. Deb, I’ve seen others try to do what you’re doing, and I’ve seen them fail. Keep up the great work!! We need you and love you!

By: Thomas

Thomas — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:51:05 +0000

It takes little effort to click open on a job listing, and if it pays too little, to go on to the next one.

I try staying away from start-up companies and vague listings. That’s me. But a beginning writer trying to get some clips and establish themselves may find those posts worthwhile.

At any rate, Deb and Jodee take out some of the grunt work by compiling listings here, and I thank them. This isn’t the only site I visit, but I can say I’ve gotten pretty much as much work as I’m looking for by visiting here – some better paying than others, but all the extra money is welcome.

By: mole

mole — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:35:26 +0000

I’ve only been on here for a couple of weeks so I can’t comment on many of the things that the correspondent has covered.

However, what speaks volumes is the grammar and factual inaccuracy.

I liked “$30-£20″

oh, and

“there are definitely median salaries for ALL these occupations”

Well, er, yes. There’s an average salary for any job. Wages are dependent on experience, etc and so will always vary.

To coin a native phrase “Blimey, what a twonk”

By: Marijke

Marijke — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:40:51 +0000

Someone must have peed in his Cornflakes.

People like that aren’t worth wasting brain cells over. I’ve never understood why people who don’t like a particular site continue to visit and insist that it change.

By: Dawn @ Coming to a Nursery Near You

Dawn @ Coming to a Nursery Near You — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:27:23 +0000

Wow – what a jerk. I’m sorry you have to deal with ppl like that

By: Amanda

Amanda — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 08:57:47 +0000

This far down the comments list, nearly everything’s been said already, but I just wanted to add my own support … I’m always amazed that people who dislike a site don’t simply just click away. It’s so simple! I definitely can’t agree with that emailer that there are accurate median salaries for writing on the internet – reasons like the fact that writers are spread across the world, earning in different currencies, working at different times of the day, having different goals in their work are just the beginning. It’s almost a pity, Deb, that you were too polite and correct to tell us who the emailer was – I hope I manage to avoid their rival site. I have a feeling I won’t like it much, anyway.

By: Mariella

Mariella — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 07:55:07 +0000

Oh wow. Some people have so much time in their hands, they can even spare some to write a hate mail! Isn’t it funny that some people think they’re doing others a service be feeling indigant on “their behalf?”

Isn’t it funny that some people just can’t get over the fact that their truth isn’t the only truth in the world?

Isn’t it funny that some people just can’t stop hating on Deb?

Isn’t it funny that some people didn’t even stop to think that that $20 per 650 words offered by LTK could mean the difference between hunger and a piece of bread on the table for some people?

Yup, the world is a funny, funny place. And this emailer sounds so much like a clown. Thanks for the entertainment.

By: Cheril

Cheril — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 06:12:29 +0000

Just this week I got my first two steady jobs from this site so I’m extremely happy and appreciative for the work that goes into this. When I read the ads, there are usually several that I’m not qualified for depending on the topic or experience, some I may not be interested in general, but still I’m appreciative because I’m sure there is a person out there that is perfect for that particular job. As a newspaper journalist who is new to freelance web writing, it’s taken a while to get my feet wet. Writing for the web is different and this website has definitely helped me learn the ropes.

By: Samantha

Samantha — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 04:43:13 +0000

Deb, I know you didn’t post that in order to get people to stand up for you, but man! What a jerk! I’ve only been reading FWJ for a couple of months and I already know two things for sure: 1) You wouldn’t let people pay you to post their job ads here, at least not without mentioning somewhere that it happens; and 2) Posting job ads isn’t really link bait unless you title each posting “Freelance Blogging Writing Job Posting for Freelance Writers or Bloggers Looking for Writing Jobs!” If anything here could account for the fact that FWJ is the first Google hit for “freelance writing jobs”, it’d probably be the name of the site, the URL and every weekday’s listing of job postings! That’s such a weird thing for someone to say. It’s like accusing Starbucks of using its bottled water to promote its coffee.

Also, I’m glad this person told me the going rate. Guess I can stop reading FWJ, you can shut it down and we can all reach out and pluck the $30 an hour jobs.

Hah, sorry, I didn’t expect to get so het up about this!