Hey Clients! 6 Tips for Placing Ads for Freelance Writers
May 30, 2008 by Deb
Filed under Freelance Writing
At the urging of the FWJ community, I’d like to offer tips for clients who are looking to place ads for freelance writers. You see, we’re busy people. Looking for work takes as much time as fulfilling an actual assignment. As an employer, we’re sure your time is money as well. To make life easier for all of us, perhaps you can consider the following when you’re writing an ad for freelance writers:
- Details count – Please don’t be frustrated if you don’t get what you’re looking for after placing a vaguely worded ad. Tell us what you’re looking for. We’d much rather read a wordy, detailed ad than one listing only a contact address. Knowing what we’re writing and what the gig entails will help us better set a quote or decide if what you’re offering is worth it. Plus, the more details you throw out up front, the less likely you are to have a lot of back and forth emails from people you probably won’t hire any way. This is especially important if you want a quote.
- Spell check is your friend – Please proofread your ad. It doesn’t give us much faith in your ability to hire a writer if it doesn’t look like you can write yourself. We know many of you hire us because we’re better writers, but still, typo laden ads don’t instill confidence.
- Let us know who you are – We get it. You don’t want us flooding your phone lines and private email address with applications. Still, if you’re hiring you should be able to throw us some kind of a bone. Give us a website, a company…something to go on. By allowing us to learn more about you, you’re also allowing us to see if we’re a good fit. It also allow us to research your brand and tailor our cover letter and submit clips suitable to your needs.
- Give us an idea of your budget – It’s frustrating to have to submit a quote without knowing a little about what you’re willing to pay. You don’t have to give an exact figure. Give us a range.
- If you want us to write up a tailor made sample, you have to pay us for our work. Otherwise clips from published works should be enough to give you an idea of our writing style.
- Please let us know if we didn’t get the gig. We know we won’t land every gig. Even if it’s just a form letter saying "I’m sorry but the job is filled" at least we know you received our details and you chose someone else. There’s nothing more frustrating to a writer than to play an endless waiting game.
- We’re not mind readers – If you’re looking for something specific, spell it out for us.
Ok guys, have at it. Here’s your chance to tell the people who write ads for freelancers what frustrates you in a job ad, and what we can all do to make the process easier.
Thank you so much for posting this! I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to try and write a professional cover letter when you don’t know who the client is or what they want. I would add one more tip to you list: please include a name or position in your contact info, such as “human resources” or “advertising dept.” Without any idea who we are writing to, we’re left with the tired old “Dear Sir or Madam” or worse, “To Whom it May Concern.”
I want to add – I’ll make a definitive list in another week or two after receiving everyone’s tips for clients.
And here’s another – Price realistically – If you’re expecting a researched and polished thousand worder, don’t offer $3.00.
Great list Deb, especially point #1. The more detailed the ad, the more time I tend to put into my application because I know what they want and can tailor my application accordingly. I’m also much more likely to apply to a more detailed ad. At least tell us what kind of writing you want, words, deadline etc. Just telling us you want a freelance writer doesn’t tell us much.
As a professional writer and as someone who has hired writers I have a problem with tips 3, 4 and 6, but I will only comment on number 6.
As a writer I only expect to hear from people if I get the job or if I am told I will be contacted by a certain date. Once I submit a query or job application, I move on. I never wait to hear from someone and I no longer send follow up letters. And when I am hiring someone if I get a poorly written cover letter I delete the email then and there. If people don’t follow directions (such as forgetting links to samples or a quote) I also delete. (I use to contact such people and ask for the missing information, but they never responded. In fact two people I hired for jobs never responded.) If you have many applicants even sending a form letter takes time. Years ago I got over 600 applications for a grant writing job. It takes time to read cover letters, resumes, link over to sites, and read a few samples. You learn how to quicken the process. I no longer even ask for resumes because I realized I wasn’t reading them. It would be nice to let people know you are not hiring them, but in the real world this doesn’t happen very often, even when you send a SASE to well-staffed magazine that don’t accept emails.
Informative post!
I agree with the posting but, as someone that has been on both sides of the fence on many occassions, I would have to add to the writers: if you want a detailed job description, don’t flag it on craigslist or otherwise try to get it deleted. The more details I give, it seems the more likely I am to have the job removed because someone decides he or she doesn’t like it.
I also agree with Louise that, as a writer, I don’t expect to hear back from a potential client if I didn’t receive the gig. Nonetheless, I do respond to all of my applicants as a matter of courtesy.
Maybe it’s because I’m new to freelance writing, but I always appreciate some notice when I don’t get a job. As someone who applies for about four jobs a day I only hear back from about one out of every twenty. For me hearing back actually boosts my ego a bit. It lets me know that my emails were at least read. Not hearing back always makes me wonder and even discourages me sometimes.
Amen Deb! Thank you for this!
I’ve only been freelancing for a little over a month; but I’ve seen enough to know exactly what you’re talking about. I don’t understand how anyone expects to hire a halfway decent freelance writer if they post a project that says “I need content for my site”, and that’s it. Or someone who expects “50 quality, original, 750-1000 word articles”, all for less than $100.
Throw us a frickin’ bone, here!
Thank you for the list Deb. Details of the freelance position do make it easier to apply to a position. It is unfortunate that the detailed ads get flagged on craigslist.
I don’t know that I expect to be told if I’m not being considered for a position. For other jobs, only people that are interviewed are told, whether they obtain the position or not,so perhaps it is too much to expect a reply to 100’s of applications.
I like your list Deb. Especially #3. I always hate applying for a job with someone who remains anonymous to me. For all I know, they could be in the baby-eating business or something ridiculous that I’d be morally opposed to working for.
I know why people don’t like to give these details, but I always find it more professional when they do.
Oh my goodness, Deb. Thank you so much for posting this list! I especially agree with items #3 and #6.
I have recently stopped sending clips and resume information unless I have some specifics on a job opportunity, or I am given a website/company name to check out. It makes me uncomfortable to never receive a response or acknowledgement of my email from someone- or some company-I know nothing about.
I recently had articles accepted by a reputable website-a site I was able to check out fully, take the time to read through, and know for certain that I was right for the job. The site pays well, communicates well, and mails a contract. Being patient for such work was well worth it, and I won’t be spending near as much time looking over job postings that don’t give enough information-not when I have the opportunity to write for sites like this.
If an employer is unwilling to let me know who they are, they should not expect detailed information or samples from me. In my 18 years of working-both in service jobs and in the professional field-I have yet to fill out an application for an unknown employer.
As for #6: employers can set up automated responses when they receive hundreds of applicants-I have received such a response myself. It at least gives us the courtesy of an acknowledgement. Other sites will say something like, “If you don’t hear from us in 8 weeks….you can assume we have filled the position.”
I understand it takes time to look over lots of applications and writing samples. But as Deb pointed out-it takes LOTS of time for writers to look over postings and seek out work.
I wish that employers would always be clear about requesting a resume and samples. I’ve seen ads that don’t ask for either. I assume they at least want a resume but then if they don’t ask for it and I send an email with an attachment, I worry that they may be the kind who freak over attachments or have those emails blocked. Sometimes I’ve actually sent responses asking, “Would you like me to send a resume and samples? I didn’t want to send an attachment without clearing it with you first.” If I don’t hear back, I don’t know whether I wasn’t right for the job from my cover letter or whether the employer just thought, “Idiot, why didn’t she just send them?” and discarded my email. So I guess I just want employers to be as clear as possible about what they want and how they want it, even for something as basic as a resume.
Skippy – you can just copy and paste a sample in the body of an email … unless it is a pdf.
(or link to it if you can)
Great list! I like #5 the most. I see so many postings asking for samples written just for said job posting yet seldom an offer to pay for that sample. Either pay us for the sample we write just for you or look at clips of our work.
Deb,
I think the responses to this, and other recent posts, are interesting because they point out the diversity of readers of this site. Some think “no” responses are important, others don’t expect to hear back if they don’t get the job … Some are willing to write for low fees to get started, or to supplement their income, and others expect to be paid what they consider a “professional” rate…
That also points out the challenge of redesigning the site …
I hope you’ll be able to retain the sense of community on the site – it’s important, at least to me.
I wish you good luck!
Hazel
Along the lines of #1 – I applied for a job a couple of months ago looking for writers for a furniture Web site–someone who could write short descriptions based on pictures of items his store was selling. The guy immediately emailed me back saying I was a perfect fit, but he needed to know if I had ever worked in antiques. When I said, no, his response was that he needed someone who had at least five years experience in antiques. Obviously I wasn’t a perfect fit anymore.
Make very sure you list this up front so that you aren’t wasting our time or yours.
And another pet peeve I have, especially as of late, stop using your job postings to boost traffic to your site. I’ve seen a huge number of people posting links to their site saying they need writers and then one actually had the audacity to tell me that he really was all set, but his site wasn’t getting enough traffic and he used Craigslist hoping to draw people in. He knows that I reported his post and hopefully Craigslist banned him.
Oh and here’s another one that just was discovered. I took a job a month ago creating celebrity bios for a Web site at $10 each for under 200 words, work they promised required no more than half an hour. I did two and stopped because they were taking over an hour to do because the site was always glitching causing you to restart your entry.
They’ve just sent an email out this morning saying that effective 5/27, they were cutting the payments to $5 and that they’d changed the contracts and we should do the same on our copies. Now my editor is hurt that I refuse to accept the salary cut.
First, telling us four days after the fact that you’ve changed the payment terms is wrong. Asking people to work for half price when the work load is the same is plain rude.
When you post an ad, make very certain that the salary you are offering is going to remain at that level or increase. Decreasing it is a waste of everyone’s time.
If you offer a salary, don’t expect writers to stay on if you suddently decide to change it.
Like the getting more traffic scam, I think some ads are simply means of gathering email addys for spam. I have one email address I use only for applying for work, and I cannot believe the amount of spam that account gets! It gets more than all of my other email accounts combined.
Anyone else have this problem?
Great post, Deb. I especially liked tips # 2,3 and 4. There are many ads I haven’t answered because of poorly written, poorly spelled ads – it just gives the impression of being unprofessional and questionable.
I always check out sites when they are listed in the ads to see if the employer is a good fit for me, and frequently decide not to apply after viewing a site. Saves them and me time.
And a budget range saves time as well. I need to make a certain amount for my time to pay bills. I don’t need to spend time gathering links and resume and writing a customized cover letter only to find out that the pay is too low.
As for notifying me if I don’t get the job…well, so many employers don’t any more, even when you are applying by mail or in person. A sign of the times perhaps. But it does seem like an autoresponder that notifies the applicant her material was received would be helpful.
Thanks again, Deb, for continuing to educate us all.
GREAT post.
Another point: I applied to a job that asked for three clips, and was using a Craigslist email address. Well, it turns out there are limits on the size of emails that a Craigslist address will accept. So, you’re out of luck if you want to try to attach three PDFs to a job application.
So, please make sure you’re using a technology which will actually allow people to send what you’re asking for!
(I’ve set up a website with my clips now which I would use instead… but I’ve read on other writer websites that some editors think it’s an imposition to make them click on a link for clips. We can’t win, huh?)
Also, Louise – the people you hired who never responded – did you contact them by email? Email doesn’t always get through. That’s one of the reasons we all wish we’d at least get automated responses to our applications.
Love this post!
I personally love #6 – time is of the essence and to leave people hanging is unprofessional.
However, this is in so many industries, it is systemic as it is frustrating.
It is especially crucial to know if/when you’ve been shortlisted. In this industry, we’re always looking for the next gig, so we have to plan our time wisely. If we know we stand a chance at a particular job, we have to think about time management.
Overall, notification as to whether or not someone gets a job is just common courtesy to me!
Thanks again for this post!
~v.v.
The Sarcasm Cafe’
http://sarcasmcafe.multiply.com
Can you hear the thunderous applause? LOL! This is a pet peeve topic for me and I had been planning on writing a post on it too. Thanks for pulling this together! I don’t use Craigslist but the problems you noted are universal. I would also add that including several needs in one post is a bad idea. For example, I have seen posts that ask for web content, design, sales letter, grant writing, brochure, and a powerpoint presentation. Um, yeah and would you like fries with that order too?!
It doesnt bother me if a potential employer does not contact about not getting a gig.
However, it does bother me when I send a magazine query and I am left hanging.
I’ve gotten used to not getting a replies from potential clients. Not just from Craigslist, but from people who have contacted me first.
I definitely agree about listing a budget. Though in a couple of cases, I’ve bid according to the budget listed and got a response asking if I would accept something much, much lower.
Finally, for people who are posting ads for larger projects–scripts, novels, ebooks–please do not call me a fraud or unprofessional when I ask for a deposit.