Writing Pay – How Low Will You Go?
Writing pay is a hot topic at the online freelancer water coolers. A lot of people have plenty to say about lower paying gigs posted on bidding sites and on freelance job lead blogs.
I’ve touched on the subject several times and seen a wide array of responses — some rather heated. I maintain that only you can set your writing rates and there are various factors that will help you decide what’s right for you.
A lot of people have opinions but most won’t tell exactly how much they make writing. Most agree that price per word isn’t the only consideration.
Some other factors worth considering include:
- Where you live. Cost of living is a big factor for most.
- Your expenses. Writing part-time vs. full-time and writing as a second income vs. a primary income are factors.
- What value you place on your writing work.
- How busy you are. You might not take jobs below a nickel a word most days but if you need to put food on the table and can write 10 x $10 articles in a day and get paid immediately, it’s good to have that option.
Today’s post is inspired by the actions of another freelance writing site. Jennifer Mattern has drawn a line in the sand and no longer posts low-paying writing gigs for other writers on her All Freelance Writing Site. Clint Osterholz posted the “inaugural” post yesterday. Jenn’s site will no longer list gigs below $50.00 (and that’s no $50 project fee for 25 x 500-word articles, either!). $50 per article is the minimum. It is definitely nice to have another filtered source for writing leads. (Check it out: higher paid writing job leads ). Jenn’s site aims to help writers stand apart in a crowd. I agree that differentiation is the best way to help you grow professionally and financially.
I’m not embarrassed to say that I started off at a penny a word. (I am, however, embarrassed to say that I just spelled the word embarrassed wrong three times before getting it right. One r, two s’s. No. Two r’s, one s? No. Sheesh! More coffee, Dana? )
When I got started, I was in awe of the fact that I could make money writing articles and blog posts for the internet. Granted, most of the articles weren’t in-depth and took little time to put together but it didn’t take me long to look around and see what other freelance writers were making.
It’s healthy economics to strive for a larger income each year and being paid a nickel, dime, or dollar per word rather than a penny is also going to do something for most people’s sense of worth as a writer.
What one writer sees as acceptable pay, because it amounts to a decent hourly wage, will make another indignant. It’s definitely personal. What I do firmly believe is that no matter what our average rate is, we should all strive to continuously move forward.
While I love what I do, I have decided that my time is now worth more than a penny a word. In fact, I’ve decided that about every six months, my rates need to go up. I’m an entrepreneur, after all, so I get to set my own rates. And while I’ll always do my best to give customers writing work they’ll be happy to pay for, those who want to pay better and make my life easier will definitely get more out of me.
How Much are You Really Earning?
While most anyone would want to get paid high rates, it’s also important to realise that some higher paying gigs really aren’t higher paying when you factor in research time. You also need to factor in enjoyment and ease of doing business as well. I have a lower paying client but it’s almost an all-I-can-write buffet and she pays on a schedule. I have another client that drives me around the bend sometimes but she pays much better. I try to balance things out as much as possible.
There are times when I’ll take a lower-paying assignment to fill a gap but my aim is to find work with clients that value my experience and expertise and who are willing to pay a fair rate. It’s also important to me that my work makes it a pleasure to stumble from the bed to the computer every morning. Three and a half years after earning my first payment for writing, I still wake up with anticipation each morning because of what might be waiting in my inbox.
My Two Pennies:
Good on All Freelance Writing for taking this step! Having as many sources of writing leads as possible is a good thing. And what they’ve done…setting themselves apart from other freelance writing sites…is a great thing! If more of us differentiate ourselves from the rest of the crowd, we’ll naturally command higher rates, anyway!
(photo credit: www.sxc.hu/profile/rigor789)
Share this on: Facebook / StumbleUpon / Delicious / Twitter
Or get updates via our RSS, EMAIL or Podcast feed.
10 Responses to “Writing Pay – How Low Will You Go?”
Comments
Read below or add a comment...
Leave A Comment...
Copyright Info
Get Paid To Write Online by Sharon Hurley Hall is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Copyright for posts written by guest authors remains with them.Useful info
Connect with me
I couldn't agree with you more, Dana. Earnings level is very much an individual choice and having that balance between work you can do easily and work that might be more challenging but pays more can help make a freelance writing career a joy. Like you, I started low, but have raised my rates over the years and will do so again in 2010. Not only is it a good idea to keep pace with inflation (if that's possible) but writers gain more experience every year and that's worth more to clients.
Hello Sharon, my name is Ty and i love to write. I enjoy writting for the peace of mind it gives me, the ability to use my imagination and create characters and themes. Writting gives me a sence of power that I have never experienced, it’s like i can get lost in my own world and noone knows where I am or where I am going. That’s an awesome feeling.
I want to learn how to get paid for writting and where do I start. Can you please give me some advice on what I should do and how I can get started?
Thank you,
Ty
Good balanced post on the topic Dana!
I like that you factored in the amount of time spent.
Not too long ago I wrote a $50 article on a topic that was so technical it took me all day to write. It doesn't take a math genius to realize that my hourly rate on that one was not so good. (I'll be more careful about what I accept next time.)
Thanks for the interesting discussion.
My recent post Read This Before You Write Your Next Press Release…
@Laura , I've been there! I had a $50 article not long ago that took 4 rewrites to get just how the client wanted it and this week a job that should've taken me an hour for $60 took about 4 hours. Then again, not long ago I took a job that I thought would take the better part of a day and made great money in less than 2 hours (and took most of a day off!). Sometimes there's just no way of knowing how long / hard something will be until you get into it.
@Sharon: Right. There are clients that I had in 2006 that would definitely benefit more from hiring me now more than they did then because of the knowledge I've accumulated in the past few years!
My recent post Examiner.com Now Accepting Canadian Writers
Dana,
I just completed a survey on freelance writing rates. Unfortunately, I didn't get as many responses as I'd hoped, but the results were interesting. I've posted them at http://lillieammann.com/2009/11/21/freelance-rate... and will be following up with a couple more posts on pricing.
This excellent post will be one of the resources I link to.
Hi Lillie!
I haven't seen your lovely smiling face in way too long! Off to read your post now. Cheers, Dana
My recent post Examiner.com Now Accepting Canadian Writers
This is a great post! Something else that occurred to me though while reading it was that you need to take into consideration what you were earning in your last job before becoming a writer.
My first few writing jobs paid maybe $8 to $10 per article. But since they were easy and I could write maybe three or four short pieces in an hour, I was making about four times what I did in the lousy job I had while I was building up to go full time as a freelancer.
Everything is relative and that's why no two writers will ever agree on what constitutes a good fee. We all have different requirements and goals, but as you say we should all aim to constantly increase what we are paid for our writing efforts.
My recent post Blog update – problems with Feedburner RSS feed
Thanks, Allison. I agree with you.
But, I was making about double what I make now in my former life. The thing is, though, is that I was treated terribly by the company so money isn't everything
Sometimes I look at the balance sheet and sigh remembering my old bonuses and the co-worker outings and other perks but really…the lousy coffee, office politics, being tied to a clock in my little cubicle, pantyhose budget, friday afternoon conference calls that ran past 5:pm, lack of consideration for my having a life outside the place, and being treated like plankton on the corporate food chain wasn't worth the extra cash. But I'm not bitter. LOL.
Really, I can't imagine going back to that life. Ever. I would if I had to but God Bless the Internet!
My recent post Examiner.com Now Accepting Canadian Writers
I’m glad to see the All Freelance Writing Site will only begin listing higher paying jobs.
My key suggestion for breaking into higher paying assignments: specialize in a niche. It’s what I’ve done, and it’s allowed me to make a middle-class income.
John Soares´s last blog ..<a href=\
Thanks for your two pennies, Dana, and thanks for avoiding the flaming rhetoric. My business almost breaks into two parts, the cheap, fast, easy copy I write to make quick money and fill in the gaps and the better paying, more involved, complex stuff I do for regular clients. Hopefully, as time goes on, I will have more of the complex stuff and less of the easy stuff, but for right now, sometimes I NEED those smaller, low-paying jobs. Being willing to work to make extra money when you need it is not a bad thing.