Even us oldies get skunked sometimes. Agreed to do a piece for a woman in Canada who was starting an anti-aging website. Back and forth–cut her a break of $350 for 700 words, two sources. Half of my usual…After the customary back and forths with her, getting the people, interviewing etc, oh, she is not sure she can pay–why am I more than everyone else…well, maybe…No….on and on. So now I am stuck with the research–and the place I was sure would want it…Learned today–went under.

And to clarify, it wasn’t me using Craigslist. But you’re right (as someone else pointed out), their reaction was likely because she posted in the wrong place, and that’s valid. Still, as you can see by the above comments, the original scenario spawned a rich discussion that moved far beyond the particulars of that original situation. And that’s always my goal with the blog. Thanks for weighing in!

And RJ, you’ve gotta draw your line somewhere, and glad you have. But, read my #20 comment. Most of the folks on this board are working on a much higher financial plane of freelancing – the “commercial” field. Here’s to having you join us there!

PB

Those types of jobs are still available, but I will not take them. I don’t care if I never get a job again, I will not accept less than half a cent per word for my time. That is just me. If someone else wants to, that is up to them.

I agree that it is up to the individual, but at what point does that lower the rates for the profession of freelance writer? I wish I knew. Bidding sites, job sites, internships, all of these can lead to low pay or no pay.

Personally, I will not go there. I know that my rates are not high, but there are to people looking of high quality at less than what a newbie should be paid in my opinion.

One last point. The person, in question, posted their ad in employment. Inherently, employment requires pay. People are entirely within their rights, according to the Craigslight system, of labeling as “misclassified” an “employment offer” which does not pay. So the question isn’t philosophically whether it’s OK to work for free to create creative samples. It’s more about whether the posting was misclassified, since someone seeking free services is not offering employment

I’m going to run on over there and drop a quick comment in there leading back to here…

PB

I’m not a flagger–I just don’t have time to care once I see that I won’t get paid–but one of the reasons that these ads do get flagged is that they are posted in the paying jobs section as opposed to “Gigs” or “Volunteers”. It does give me heartburn to see some “startup” magazine wanting free writing for its pages. I always want to email them and ask them if they thought it would be fair for me to have a “startup” shoe store and expect Nike to send me free shoes just until I start making some money? But I don’t email them because I’m too busy making a living.

I can’t tell you have many people have told me I could make money from these sites. I don’t mean 10,000 dollar type but some money. I have posted ads on Craigslist, elance, Odesk and Ki-work. Each site (except Craigslist) takes a bit of time to register and pass tests to even have a fighting chance. I looked over the ads and bids and thought how could you make any money. Yet again I hear of someone who made $500 this week out of the gate.
When I am in a dire financial position because of the sudden layoff I am looking for the patch that will stave the flow while I build my foundation. I do have a base with my site and ecourse but not enough to be called a living right now.

I do have your books. I am taking them off the shelf now.

I think I can say with a pretty fair measure of assurance that most of the folks weighing in on this post don’t go anywhere near the online job sites. If your goal is to maximize your income, they’re basically a total waste of time. Sure he stated a high end of what he’d be willing to pay, but only if he didn’t get lower quotes. As soon as he did (and on those sites, you can pretty much count on a lot of low-ballers), even a quote that’s half of his high end was obviously too high. The only way to make decent money as a writer is to pull yourself out of that bidding environment and start approaching companies directly.

In the NYT piece referenced above, the writer Michelle Goodman summed up that sentiment with this line: “Better to invest your time cultivating relationships the old-fashioned way: by getting to know other business owners and independent professionals. I’d rather submit a solicited bid to a company I’ve taken the time to sniff out than cozy up to one that’s crowdsourcing.” Amen to that.

Gotta say it: if you’re ready to make a decent living as a writer, and you haven’t checked out my books, I invite you to do so at http://www.wellfedwriter.com/books.shtml.

PB

I keep hearing about people making lots of money on the sites but have not gotten one gig. I look at rates and bids and try to be competitive. Very frustrating.