Comments on: Back to Basics: Part 2 Writing Clips vs. Writing Samples

By: Writing Thieves « The Eccentric Eclectic’s Blogs About Everything and Anything

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:22:56 +0000

[...] (http://www.freelancewritinggigs.com/2008/10/11/back-to-basics-part-2-clips-vs-sample/) [...]

By: Gary

Gary — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:50:59 +0000

In my six years as a full time freelancer, I’ve discovered the clients who want to pay the least are often the most demanding. And keep in mind the clients who are small time will pay small time. So you beg a client to double the pay — you go from $3 an article to $6. Why not look for client that pay you $600 per article instead?

Someone that asks you to pump out 10 articles in a week obviously doesn’t care about the writing. Someone that asks you write for free is a scammer. There are some cases where you get something in exchange for free wrting, but that should be decided up front. Writing for exposure is pointless. Do plumbers fix toilets for the exposure? (I’m not talking about plumber’s butt either!)

In six years I’ve only had one job come from a client seeing my name in another publication. And he was an old college buddy, so we had a pre-existing relationship.

If you want to be treated as a professional, act like one. Don’t apologize for charging money, and don’t apologize for sending invoices or following up on payment.

By: Nancy

Nancy — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 20:03:07 +0000

Great post, I wrote an article on “How to submit a writing sample”, but yours is very detailed and informational. Thanks

By: We Get Letters: Deb Finally Reads Her Email | Freelance Writing Jobs

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 14:42:25 +0000

[...] recommendation is to start a blog on your favorite topic so you’ll have a few samples of your writing to show. I would also write a few articles to have on hand for when you apply for a [...]

By: Lawritz Mann

Lawritz Mann — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 12:19:47 +0000

Very good post. Thanks for the great info

By: c.a. Marks

c.a. Marks — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 01:24:10 +0000

OK. newby question here – what is the difference between a “clip” and a “sample?’

By: Kristen

Kristen — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 19:47:02 +0000

Thank you for this post. My work experience/freelance jobs are mainly editing, so clips/samples are new to me. I am actually blogging for free (!!) for a couple of sites to get more writing/blogging clips for paid jobs. And it’s working.

But I never really knew how to tactfully address when a potential client asks for samples. Now I know.

Thanks!

By: Dani

Dani — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:41:41 +0000

AMEN!

“Remember, we don’t ask plumbers to fix our toilets for free to determine whether or not they’re a good fit for future bathroom problems, nor do we ask our doctors to see our sick kids for free to see if their bedside manner meshes with our personalities.”

That is similar to what I tell people about free samples. We are professionals, and as such we have a right to be paid for our work. PERIOD.

If we want to end the problem we can personally create a policy to not do free samples and we can ‘educate’ fellow writers about their right to be paid a fair wage for a fair day’s work.

Kudos and Thanks Deb!

By: Leigh

Leigh — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 17:45:37 +0000

@ Krista: Good for you for sticking to your guns and requesting payment. A client of mine sent one of his clients to me about two weeks ago. I sent her writing samples and she asked me if I would do one small project before we agreed to work on large projects together. I wrote a sales letter for an e-book she wrote, and when I sent it to her, I said, “shall I invoice you through Paypal, or send you an invoice through e-mail?” She wrote back that she was surprised to hear anything about an invoice, as she had “gifted” me her $67 e-book (she sent it to me so I could write a sales letter about it!) and she felt that was an even exchange for the value I provided. Hmph.

By: Phil

Phil — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 17:27:52 +0000

I provide links to appropriate clips.

By: Andy Hayes

Andy Hayes — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:48:09 +0000

Let me be quite blunt: out of all the proposals where the poster was asking for samples (usually a Craigslist ad, no doubt), I’ve heard back from none of them. Perhaps they thought I wasn’t following directions, but in every case I sent them a clip which clearly demonstrated I knew the genre/topic/tone of voice that was required.

Nevermind, I’m doing just fine with more than enough work coming in. Now if I could only make the switch to full time….

By: Fiona

Fiona — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:45:45 +0000

I give clips of other work I’ve done, relevant to the topic where possible.
One trend I’ve started noticing in responses is the “you write 1000 words as a sample and if we like it, we’ll pay for it.” Those always get an instant “no thank you” from me.

By: Hazel

Hazel — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:37:28 +0000

Deb, thanks for this post. I’ve sometimes (not often) written a short email to someone I think is legit but who doesn’t understand what s/he is asking. In the future, I’ll send them a link to this post.

I found creating a portfolio to be the biggest challenge when I started freelancing full time (after many years of working in a job writing confidential in-house documents that I couldn’t use). The writing samples I created to fill that portfolio helped build my business, so that now I’m only sending/displaying published work. This is great advice!

By: krista

krista — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:33:55 +0000

Great post Deb. I must admit I have done free samples for clients in the past, but no more! Last week someone asked me to do ten articles as a “trial.” I asked her three times how much she would pay and she didn’t answer. Ten articles for free?? Ha!