At the beginning of this month, with much trepidation, I decided to give a bidding web site a chance.
I signed up for E-lance with every intention of giving it an honest shot.
I’ve bid for several projects, placing mid-ranged and reasonable bids. All went to outrageously low bidders.
Today, after three weeks, I’m canceling my E-lance account.
Here’s why:
These are snippets of jobs from the today’s daily email notification:
- Looking for writers to do 10 articles of 400 words regarding tattoos with different topic. Paid via Paypal at $1 for each article. No plagiarism whatsoever and must be 100% unique.Please submit a sample.
- I have a series of 14 articles of 1500-2000 words on management and leadership that I want ‘chunked’ down into 400-800 word articles. I don’t mean ‘edit’ as in boiling down the 1500 words into a 400-word summary – I mean breaking the 1500 word article into sub-topics and making each a standalone article.
- I need around 200 Articles about great Programming Scripts and semi-reviews of tutorials they dont need to be to long maybe 1-2 paragraphs. They need to be original. You dont need to do them all at once. I would need about 3 a day until all 200 are complete. I will pay 50-75 cents per article as it should take more then ten minutes to write one article as information on scripts and tutorials is in overstock on the internet.
- I need 100 articles written and submitted to ezinearticles.com Article topics will be on “Acai Berry For Men”
Article length: 250-300 words I will give you a keyphrase for each article which must be used in the article title aswell as the article 2-3 times. You will need to submit the articles to ezinearticles.com with YOUR own account. If you dont have an account, you can open one easily. I will provide pre-written resource boxes. An article will be deemed “completed” once it has been reviewed and accepted into ezinearticles.com If articles are not accepted, there is usually a simple problem which needs to be fixed and they can be resubmitted – this will be YOUR responsibility. Shouldn’t happen much though
I am looking to pay around $150 for the job. - Job simply involves writing 100 little blog snippets a day – each post will be 100 words. This is easy to do and 20 an hour is very achievable. Flexible in terms of the days worked and looking for about 400- 500 snippets a week at approx $60 per week.
Now I don’t mean to pick on Elance. As far as bidding sites go, they seem to run a pretty good operation. My beef isn’t with the bidding sites so much as it is with the writers.
As long as writers are willing to whore themselves out for less than one-half a penny a word, things will never change.
I know that there are folks bidding from other countries that are ok with that kind of wage, but in looking at the bidders, there are far fewer of those folks than one would think.
I wish I could organize a freelance writer’s strike. What do you think? Writers Opposed to Piss Poor Offered Rates (WOPPOR) How about organizing Writer’s Tea Parties? Maybe some folks could draft a Writer’s Declaration of Independence? – Alternatively, we could go to our windows and shout, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!!!”
I may starve for a while, but I’ll keep my dignity in tact and perhaps make a small contribution to putting an end to this despicable smudging of the craft.
I’ve been looking around those sites to try and make a little extra income and it occurs to me why the hell would I sell my words for $1 when with no too much more effort, I could put them on my own site and earn $1 a month for them for many months down the road?
.-= Tracy´s last blog ..Men’s Pocky =-.
I couldn’t agree more. I won’t have anything to do with bidding sites. I only have so many minutes in the day. I’d rather write for my most important client (me), penning something that may pay dividends down the road, rather than a penny a word. NO WAY. Not now. Not ever.
.-= Writer Dad´s last blog ..Writing With Purpose =-.
Great minds think alike! I’m relaunching my Life & Style site and just posting everything there – if I have to figure out how to clean some crap off the floor, well then hell yes, I’m going to take pictures, write it up and post it there instead of writing a 400 word article for some low quality site for $.75.
.-= Tracy´s last blog ..Men’s Pocky =-.
I agree. Totally. If you decide to do a writers tea party or a strike, lemme know! I’m totally in.
It’s insane how people would actually write for a dollar an hour or less! INSANE! Personally, I have more self-respect than that and believe my writing is worth more than a dollar for a good article. Sheesh!
—Which may have a lot to do with why I don’t make a living off of writing for now
Great rant.
.-= Ashley´s last blog ..It’s in the details… =-.
“400- 500 snippets a week at approx $60 per week.”
Are you kidding me?!
How disrespectful!
.-= Sarah Mae´s last blog ..Suffering =-.
Hey Sarah Mae, could you shoot me your email? I have a question for you. tracy (dot) oconnor at gmail (dot) com.
And big apologies to Mr. T for taking over his comments section! I’m incorrigible!
.-= Tracy´s last blog ..Men’s Pocky =-.
You’re so awesome Tracy that you should own all the comment sections on the Internet anyway. I’m sure George doesn’t mind. : > )
.-= Writer Dad´s last blog ..Yo Recuerdo Mi Papí – I Remember My Papi =-.
OK, I must be very very slow, always knew I was slow but this just shows me up as a serious slow-poke.
“each post will be 100 words. This is easy to do and 20 an hour is very achievable”
That’s 2000 words an hour, plus administration around the work (filing etc). Damn, it would probably take me an hour to proof and edit 2000 words, and only then if I was being sloppy.
Tracy!
I love ya! You know I do! My blog is your blog! Serious.
George
The many things we go through as a freelance writer. The niche I am in as a freelance writer. I would not accept nothing less than $0.05 per word.
$1 an article is a joke! Who would work for that?
.-= Deneil Merritt´s last blog ..Flashback Monday – Recap Of Last Week Posts, Blog Updates, Resources, & Latest News =-.
Sean,
Thanks for dropping by. Great perspective, me thinks. Really, we should be our most important client.
BTW, choked up at your last post. Poignant, well done. I’m sure Papi is proudly watching.
George
Ashley,
I say go for the self respect. From my perspective, the folks at VISA have waited this long, they can wait a bit longer…
So nice to have you back in circulation.
George
Hi Sarah,
That is the one that put me over the edge. And you know, if it had been just one or two like that I could be forgiving, but there are pages of projects just like that.
George
Hi Andy,
I know. I mean, I’m no mathemagician, but even I can tell that is about 4 degrees right of ridiculous!
Amazing.
George
Deneil,
I know, buddy. And it’s amazing to see how many folks will do that over and over again.
George
I’m not a freelance writer, but man I have to say that’s some crap right there. Especially the first one. That one made me laugh.
Now you could always lean out the window and scream. A lot of people will have no idea what you’re screaming about, but I bet it would be funny. Make sure to take some video of that for me hehehe.
.-= John Hoff – WpBlogHost´s last blog ..WpBlogHost Domain, Blog Security, & Hosting Promotions – Get’em While Their Hot =-.
Sorry, forgot to subscribe to comments. You know you can add subscribe to comments “without commenting” with the plugin too for when dummies like me forget to tick the box.
.-= John Hoff – WpBlogHost´s last blog ..WpBlogHost Domain, Blog Security, & Hosting Promotions – Get’em While Their Hot =-.
John,
hehe. Point well taken.
Hey, I can’t access your site for some reason. Tried FF, IE and safari and none will connect.
Ideas?
George
I’ll check the logs to see if there was a problem with the server, but I just checked and it appears to be working now.
Still having problems or has it corrected itself?
Thanks for the heads up.
.-= John Hoff – WpBlogHost´s last blog ..WpBlogHost Domain, Blog Security, & Hosting Promotions – Get’em While Their Hot =-.
Have you been reading my blog and not commenting, or is this just synchronicity at work?
I’ve been doing a series on this subject over the past week or so. From Google advocating use of Amazon Mechanical Turk for content on the cheap to what I call the exploitation of independent contractors, I think you and I would get along swimmingly.
Although I do blame the companies offering the sweatshop wages more than those accepting it. The bidding sites are populated with people from India and other countries where $1 an hour isn’t really such a horrible thing. I can’t blame the foreign writers for wanting a piece of the action. I can blame the companies who want to hire American writers at the same rate they pay writers for whom English is a second language.
Hi George,
I looked at Elance and a few other sites awhile back and was amazed at how low the pay was for freelancing. As I look at the examples you provided, I’m thinking, “there’s no way I could crank out that many words in that short of a time” (and have them be read worthy). I’m guessing that’s why much of what we do find online is so poorly written.
Let the Tea Party begin.
.-= Barbara Swafford´s last blog ..Do “They” Have The Right To Know =-.
Christina,
While I must confess to occasional lurking, I hadn’t been doing so over in your neighborhood (my parole officer says I’m not allowed to lurk over there any more)
Excellent points, heading over to have a look right now.
George
Not only do I get angry at people who accept these jobs but also at the people who post them. How can they devalue such an important service? And these same people will want you available via IM the entire time you are working.
The same thing happens on bidding sites with the type of work that I do. People will want a custom theme built for $50. And people will accept the work – although it almost always people from other countries. I did use some of these sites early on but only for an acceptable rate. And I did find some people who now contact me directly. Fortunately, I haven’t had to review the postings recently but I do consider it a back-up.
But writing and VA positions seem to be taken advantage of more than others. I saw a VA one for 40 hours/wk for $500/month. Figure out the rate on that
wow, I landed her from WriterDad’s tweet. I do not typically look for writing work outside of the fitness realm but I am just amazed at this. These are real ads from ELance? People seriously work for pennies?
Hi Barbara,
That is kind of my take on it as well. If my name is going to be associated with it in any manner then I’ll apply the same standards across the board and I’d have to sit at my computer for 24/7 getting these done!
Cheers
George
Kim,
Wow, I see this cuts across all lines of freelancing. I’m usually pretty mellow but this subject really does get my goat. Work for pennies? N-aaaahh!
George
JC,
Thanks for coming by. I’m sad to say it’s just a small sample of the projects over there. If I spent a half hour looking, I bet I could come back with a half dozen that are even more outrageous!
Cheers
George
that just shows how much in the dark I am about the freelancing world currently. Perhaps it’s because I spend more time writing my own stuff and content for other fitness websites than I am out seeking jobs writing on a plethora of topics.
If this is the way the freelance writing world is going, we all might be better off writing for ourselves.
However there will always be a need for great work and if people really want something great, they will pay for it.
I do believe that is true, JC. I have had clients that pay what something is worth, and they get quality stuff every time.
George
The world of freelance art is plagued with similar “opportunities”. Lots of people out there offering portfolio-building jobs, not so many offering rent-paying and food-purchasing jobs. I’d rant, but my husband is the artist, and he puts out a much better rant than I do.
Send B over!
Rant! Rant! Rant!
.-= Tracy´s last blog ..Men’s Pocky =-.
Sashka,
Thanks for coming by. I didn’t know this issue cut so sharply across creative freelancing lines.
Feel free to send hubby over for a nice, long rant.
Cheers
George
You’re right. Many jobs offered pay way too low.
But I think it’s also important to recognize, that if the pay was higher that many of those contractors trying to get low paying writing would simply disappear. Some would start paying out higher wages. Many would just stop all together.
I mean… I still believe overall if writers didn’t whore themselves that the wages would go up. But, perhaps it wouldn’t be the magic pill it may seem. Because many of those who hire for crappy pay would simply not hire anymore.
So you’d end up with fewer jobs, but higher paying ones.
.-= Bamboo Forest – PunIntended´s last blog ..Why You Must Step Up to the Plate Regardless of Your Skill =-.
Bamboo,
The point is valid. I believe the pool would shrink, but I’d still feel more on a level playing field. I think it may not be bad for those low paying contractors to go away. with their expectations so unreasonably low, they have no idea how things really are and I’d bet that most sink within their first six months anyway.
Thanks for coming by, Ryan. Always good to see you here.
George
With these types of offers, I’m starting to understand why so many of my articles end up copied and placed on other sites. This type of low pay is encouraging plagiarism, as there is no way a decent writer can keep up and make money.
Frustrating – especially since I did look into joining some of the freelance sites.
.-= RC – Rambling Along…´s last blog ..Celebrating today =-.
Hi RC
It is very frustrating. I want to write, I want to provide quality material to my clients. I also would like to feed the fam – I don’t think it’s too much to ask.
George
You are so right! And it’s not just bidding sites but many others place such a low value on writing and writers. I’m sorry but why would I let someone whore me out for nothing when I can do that on my own (wait, what? lol) But really, I put that same effort into writing my blog, and I’m also building my platform and personal brand. I’m not rolling in the dough but I am securing sponsors here and there so it’s working out for me. I’d rather write for free on something I believe in because I value what I do.
.-= H.E.Eigler´s last blog ..Monday’s Muse – The Blog Meme for Creative Moms =-.
Hey there, you!
That is exactly what I mean. it may hurt me pocketbook a bit in the short run, but overall I’m better sticking to my guns.
Cheers
George
This is a common “problem” on freelance sites, but i can tell you this for a fact. Your experience doesn’t mirror the experience that a lot of people have on freelance sites. Have you considered that it may be your style of bidding or your “out of line” expectations of how many jobs you will be awarded on average? If there are 15 people bidding for each job, and if your strategy is identical to everyone else, you will win one job in 15. This simple math escapes so many freelance writers. Still, thats probably a reason they aren’t freelance mathematicians.
I think Kim may have it right. The buyers are the real problem. It may simply be that this area of the market is such a ‘bottom of the barrel’ type thing that if you’re trying to make a living writing it’s best to ignore entirely. It will still occur (cause there is always someone willing to work for free if only to ‘break into’ the business) but folks in real need of writing talent sooner or later have to learn about quality.
.-= Fred H Schlegel´s last blog ..Who Needs Innovation Training? =-.
Hi Barry,
Thanks for stopping by. I think the point of the post may have been lost in translation. I wasn’t ranting about not being the winning bidder, the post was about the extremely low expectations that project posters have in terms of what they are willing to pay. This is exacerbated by the folks willing to bid such outrageously low rates.
I would not have bid on any of these ones listed because I wouldn’t work for those sweatshop wages.
Cheers!
George
Hi Fred.
That’s me from now on. I’ll just ignore those sites and stick to the things that I know are right for writers.
George
Judging for the sample you posted the advertisers for articles are talking down to the writer and it all seems so demeaning. I think if one is going to sit down and write a quality article; regardless of word count, they should be paid for their talents.
.-= Debo Hobo´s last blog ..Money Matters: Get Paid To Travel- Diving Instructor =-.
George…there are a lot of bargain hunters….no doubt, but I think you’re throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Hey Barry,
I don’t I could completely disagree with you on that point. I guess I’m kind of ok with that.
Cheers!
George
I wrote a post on my blog a while back about my experience as an exploited and desperate freelance writer. This is a very real problem. I’m so pleased to see your post is getting a reaction.
.-= Paisley´s last blog ..Women =-.
Debo,
Nice to see you here again. It is kind of disheartening to think about.
You know, you see bidding in all kinds of industry, and no savvy business owner would bid less than their operating costs, let alone with no profit margin…
George
Paisley,
Exploited. Now that’s a word that fits.
George
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There is something people are not considering but the Internet makes possible for a 16 y/o in some third world country whose mother tongue could easily be English or French, compete with everybody else.
And when your father makes perhaps $200 to $300 a month, earning $10 a week might seem right.
.-= Miguel de Luis´s last blog ..Blogging Vacation =-.
I write for an on-line parenting magazine and get paid $25 for an article. I am one of the team writers, but Lis also pays others $15 (or ad space) who write for articles they submit. Lis has been told she is over paying her writers! She is trying to get her magazine off the ground and was working additional hours to pay everyone else. She’s doing all she can right now but wants to do more. Thankfully there are some out there that understand how much time it takes to write an article. Sure I can throw a blog post together in an hour or so, but for something that requires research it takes me several hours or days to get it done right. That’s part of the reason I haven’t really pursued any other writing jobs. The market is oversaturated with too many people who want to write.
.-= Debbie Yost´s last blog ..Writer’s Block =-.
Ho.lee.crap! That’s some bullsheet right there! I knew people were getting ripped off for their services but I didn’t realize it was that bad.
I think in a lot of cases, the writing you get from many of those authors is mediocre at best and some of the stuff I’ve seen come out of those freelance sites isn’t worth more than a few pennies, but that doesn’t make it fair to the people who bust ass and churn out consistently great content.
I also think that a lot of people bid extremely low when they first join those sites to get some feedback or ratings so they can start bidding higher but I’m not sure how one would overcome that.
Whatever though – I’m going to stick to writing for myself. And when I hire people to write, I pay what they’re worth, even if it means a few extra bucks out of my pocket.
.-= Cassie´s last blog ..Can You Write? Make Money In 5 Days! =-.
Hi Miguel, Thanks for coming by and contributing.
I hear what you’re saying there, and that is one of the things that makes bidding sites so difficult. During my short stay at Elance, it didn’t look like that was the case too often, but I know there are a lot of bidding sites where the scenario you describe is common.
George
It’s the same with sites such as Textbroker…..and why I left there. It seems almost impossible to sort out buyers who are willing to pay for exceptional writing and those who just want content, no matter the quality, for the lowest penny possible.
Strike away!!
I hear you – this sucks and has pissed me off for years. We have to believe that quality sites/businesses will pay for quality content – they do. My mentor used to say that when she offered cheaper sites, she got cheaper clients. When she started charging what she knew she was worth, she got clients that could pay AND highly valued her expertise.
.-= Julie Roads´s last blog ..Entering a Shit Storm? Pack a Strong Umbrella =-.
Hi Debbie,
I write for two other blogs, one pays $15 for 200 word arts and $35 for the 400 word arts. The other pays $20 for 500 word arts. I will do those kinds of assignments all day, I’ll be happy to do them, and I’ll promote the hell out of the sites. That’s how things should be done, IMHO.
Good for you in writing for the parenting magazine. I bet you’ve got a lot of loyalty to them and would do whatever you could to help them succeed.
Right on.
George
I’m so glad to see I’m not the only one thinking this same thing. As a new freelancer, I was told to use elance but was floored by the basement pricing- seriously? I’d rather write for my own blog for the penance of ad money it earns. At least I wouldn’t be selling the copyrights to my writing for pennies.
Miragi,
Content monkeys. I think some folks would take any three coherent words strung together.
I think a strike is in order – I will not be a content monkey
George
What, George? You just totally contradicted yourself. If you’re accepting $15 for a blog post – then you’re part of the problem!!!
.-= Julie Roads´s last blog ..Entering a Shit Storm? Pack a Strong Umbrella =-.