Writing is Depressing

I'm reading through some of the threads on the marketplace where I see horrific sights. People are offering their time and their writing services for a mere $3, $2 or even $1 per 100 words. I've seen some threads that offer their services even lower than that.

I understand that it's a free market, so that's not the troubling part. What's troubling is all of the people complaining about the quality of some of these services. Why has writing become so undervalued and so underestimated that the quality of $5 articles is subject to harsh examination? I myself have been part of the problem because I give in to these clients asking for slave labor writers. I've done so many projects at $2 and even $1 per 100 words.

From my personal experience, the lowest paying clients have been the most unpleasant. They come with a laundry list of demands and are expecting you to deliver some academic masterpiece that the New Yorker would publish. They're hoping that by spamming their website with cheap content, a bunch of organic traffic will come and buy their shit. Every PayPal dispute I've ever had and there hasn't been many, has always been from a $1 per 100-word client.

"So, why don't you just charge more?"

People laugh it off and go to someone else. I have asked over and over how people are obtaining clients that actually pay. I spent a lot of time on Google looking up sites that pay a reasonable rate and I've spent days on Google Maps looking up businesses to cold email. Every person I ask who says they have quality clientele gives very vague advice and doesn't have any explanation of how they actually started making decent money writing.

When you spend most of your time looking for work, that's not a way to live and it's not profitable. Some people can make it on freelancing sites like Upwork/Freelancer but I couldn't get a single proposal. I just wanted to rant a little because as it stands, writing feels utterly hopeless.

My last client wanted an article on a supplement. When I sent the article, they responded back by saying it wasn't written per their requirements. Requirements that they never sent me in the first place and demanded a full re-write. A full re-write that they weren't going to pay for and I naturally said no. I used to check another forum for work but all the native English writers have left and the forum has been plagued with people looking for writers willing to sink lower than $1 per 100 words. The state of writing in general just seems sad. It's so undervalued and it's so hard to convey how important content is.

Charge higher rates, attract a higher caliber client.

It depends on what you write.
I've seen copywriters who make close to 7 figures per year.
Wanna know what their secret is? They specialize, produce more than they consume until they have their own audience.
Then they market their skills to other writers, because they hope to one day have the same success as them.

It's not just like that for writers. The translation field these days is sad too. 10$ for translating 5.000 words.

@HolidayWriterForHire

Simply said: you are looking at it from the entirely wrong perspective. I'd recommend changing your mindset and sooner than later good things will start happening to you.

For instance you are asking: "How can I acquire higher caliber clients?" Instead you should be asking: "What could I offer them than nobody else is able?"

You cannot change the marketplace, all you can change is you.

Hope that helps. I don't want to sound patronizing it's just my opinion which I acquired after I've been where you are at and it helped me immensely.

rednada said:

@HolidayWriterForHire

Simply said: you are looking at it from the entirely wrong perspective. I'd recommend changing your mindset and sooner than later good things will start happening to you.

For instance you are asking: "How can I acquire higher caliber clients?" Instead you should be asking: "What could I offer them than nobody else is able?"

You cannot change the marketplace, all you can change is you.

Hope that helps. I don't want to sound patronizing it's just my opinion which I acquired after I've been where you are at and it helped me immensely.

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Well said

Have you considered there is no point in paying more for the content you are writing? If you are writing general generic blog content for people who have no idea what they are doing... then your writing is barely worth anything because another piece of shitty filler content will work just as well for those purposes. If you write content, specialize in something that is hard to get from a content farm. When I wrote for clients I found that the best projects were longer pieces... it's not hard to get an OK 500-word article from a content farm, but it's a LOT harder to get a good 2,000-word article from a content farm... usually it spirals into repetitive gibberish. Another idea is trying to write for businesses rather than marketers... real businesses tend to know they have to pay quality to get quality, and paying $5 for a blog post would seem absurd to them.

Also consider writing copy because that is really the only thing that pays well... curating content isn't exactly rocket science but you can charge a ton for good copy, because it has far more value to the client. Writing copy is way more fun too, and writing copy opens up a ton of possibilities in IM overall.

@rednada @lacifitra and @Total Noob are right. It's all about differentiation.

Why should somebody hire you over any other writer? Why should they pay you more than they would pay a content mill? What is unique to you that no-one else can offer?

There will be something and that's what you've got to focus on and sell to potential clients.

Try to reach customers who will mainly look for quality, not the lowest price. If they are satisfied with your services, they will recommend you to friends.

Lots of people speak English these days. So companies can just hire some cheapo from a third world country and they write just as fairly as someone from a first world country.

stack paper said:

Charge higher rates, attract a higher caliber client.

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Still it gets boring after some time. If someone is able to continue after years, he must be a dedicated person.

stack paper said:

Charge higher rates, attract a higher caliber client.

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This. You have to be clear about the rate you charge, and then you should naturally attract the type of client that you are looking for. As you said yourself @HolidayWriterForHire you don't want to write for people who are looking for less than $1/100 word content - set your price accordingly and don't worry, those people won't even contact you.

You do also need to think about where you are likely to find your ideal client as well. If you are visiting marketplaces where writers are offering their services for a couple of $ per 100 words then its probably not the right place. Or to put it another way, don't expect to get many clients. Maybe you should look at offline marketing, direct marketing, contacting local businesses and other avenues where you might get the right type of client.

For example, I know a local writer that charges somewhere around 40GBP/100 words. But they're not going to advertise for clients on fiverr - it just wouldn't be the right marketplace.

Also another thing that I've been advised in the past - If you have too much work then you should put your prices up - that way you might get a few less clients, but you will make the same money or more from the remaining clients. Equally, if you don't have enough work, then consider lowering your prices a little then you'll likely get more clients.

HolidayWriterForHire said:

From my personal experience, the lowest paying clients have been the most unpleasant. They come with a laundry list of demands and are expecting you to deliver some academic masterpiece that the New Yorker would publish. They're hoping that by spamming their website with cheap content, a bunch of organic traffic will come and buy their shit. Every PayPal dispute I've ever had and there hasn't been many, has always been from a $1 per 100-word client.

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As I was told on this forum many years ago, cheap prices attract cheap clients.

Well, to be fair: You get what you pay for. Buying an $1 per 100 words article is probably spun content and not really readable.
In this business you should provide quality content and charge quality prices, but if you are going to use a spinner anyway it doesn't really matter if you charge $1 or $1.5

It is true, people who pay higher are happy with the quality as they know that this work worth money. But bad clients with lower paying always try to get the best quality for 1$ and a lot of them are re-selling that to another person so they want to to provide the quality of 5$/100word article to get 1$/100word. Why? Cause they re-sell it for 5$/100word lol.

Zwielicht said:

As I was told on this forum many years ago, cheap prices attract cheap clients.

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Who was the person who told this?

krishnaverma said:

Who was the person who told this?

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I don't remember, it may be from one of my older PM conversations or an older thread of mine back in 2013, since the earliest instance of me repeating the phrase was back in November 30, 2013.

I should really find out who originally said it to me, though. It was top-notch advice that helped me build my business. Simple, yet effective.

I understand how the OP feels. Writing is generally undervalued, but luckily there are some people who value us for the genius creators that we truly are!

Find those clients. They are out there somewhere. Don't give up hope!

I pay my writer more and more for articles as the site grows and earns money. In my opinion it's the only fair way to pay the people who are literally providing the most value to your site. He also does keyword and niche research, many times finding interesting things to put in that I simply overlooked. I'd hire him full-time as a PR guy if I was in any sort of position to.

you only get what you pay for .

articles should be sold on there whole project

so if you order a 500 word article if it bang on £50 no brainer.

if it a 1200 article and bang on
£100 no brainer .

i personaly think paying what the article could earn you better then stupid low content prices.

if the writter no your willing to pay good money for good content you get good articles that convert.(( your never be let down.))

content not about price, content is full research to get converting results.