High Turnover Rate: Why Freelance Writers Keep Leaving

Have you ever noticed how some of the same places advertise for freelance writers over and over again?

Have you ever wondered why certain clients can’t seem to keep the same writers on staff and instead experience a high turnover rate?

If you’ve been writing for the web for some time, these questions are not too difficult to figure out. In fact, many times seeing the same sites advertising on all the job boards, almost every day, is very telling. Before you accept a job from a client with a high turnover rate, you might want to research why.

Here are a few reasons why a client may have a high turnover rate:

1. Low pay - Pay has a lot to do with a high turnover rate. Even though a blogger or writer agreed to a certain rate, many times they’ll feel it’s not worth the time spent writing and researching. Since blogging requires a lot more work with promotion and comment moderation, perhaps $1 per post or less doesn’t seem as attractive after the writer has done it for a few weeks.

2. The subject matter less than rocks - I like to use the pallet rack example. One of my early freelance writing clients was a construction website. I got to write about screws, hammers, cement mixers and pallet racks. The pay was OK but I was bored out of my skull writing about pallet racks day in and day out. Many writers take on assignments they don’t enjoy, but when they find a place they like better they move on.

3, The rules change. A lot. – Has this ever happened to you? After working for a client for a month or two his rules change. Perhaps the pay was lowered from $5 to $1 per blog post. Perhaps your employer changed his guidelines so he expects more work for less pay. Perhaps deadlines are coming quicker or word counts are changing. If the guidelines change on a monthly basis, writers don’t feel confident in their client and look to work for someone who makes them feel more secure.

4. It’s a good place to get experience…but that’s it. It’s not that anything is wrong with the client, only that the work and pay are good for an entry level writer. Just like most jobs, more experienced writers like to move on to more lucrative or prestigious opportunities. It’s nothing personal, just time to move on.

5. Management isn’t very nice or fair. Fortunately it’s a rare occurrence, but every now and then a freelance writer might land an opportunity to work for someone who isn’t very pleasant. Who wants to be snapped at all the time? I spent four years working for a “Devil Wears Prada” boss. I’m over it.

6. Demands increase but pay doesn’t. If your workload is growing but your paycheck isn’t, something’s wrong. Writers don’t like it when their clients take advantage.We can handle reasonable requests, but if you’re giving us more work, expect the bill to go up as well.

7. The client doesn’t agree to a pay increase. Everyone has the right to request a cost of living increase. It’s why you get annual raises in the real world. Writers shouldn’t be afraid to re-asses their situations each year and see if a pay increase is in order. From my experience, clients will do everything possible to keep a good writer on the payroll. There are some that balk when a writer increases his hourly rate.

There are many reasons writers move on. The most common reasons are opportunity and pay. 500 articles for $1 clients don’t keep writers for long. It’s the clients who have reasonable expectations and pay a realistic wage who are rewarded with loyalty.