The Lowdown on Low-Pay Sites, But Are Changes Afoot? By Peter Bowerman
A few months back, I got the following e-mail from a reader, sharing her experiences in trying to land work on online writing job sites like eLance, Freelance Work Exchange, Guru.com and others. Remember, this is my opinion (though echoed by many other readers over the years), and coming from a commercial writer who makes roughly $100 an hour. I’m sure there are a few folks out there doing well with these sites but are they worth it?
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Hi Peter: I’ve have been trying to generate more business through the online sites for freelance work, such as eLance and Freelance Work Exchange, but not having much success with them or the others I’ve tried. In fact, I’ve gotten two rather low paying jobs on eLance. In the end, both projects went well. But, I haven’t gotten any more. Janice
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Hi Janice,
Online freelance writing sites, for the most part, are a waste of time. IF you’re interested in maximizing your writing income, that is. And for just the reasons you mention. Low pay, you’re bidding against a million other writers (which leads to low pay) and chasing your money down. I never mention one word in my book about them because, as I see it, they’re a lousy way to try and make a living. It’s a buyer’s market – too many writers and too few jobs, so those buying the writing are in the driver’s seat.
That means, when it comes to a bidding situation, there will always be those willing to do a project for next to nothing, just to build their “book.” And that’s their right. I just don’t want to play that game. That's why I outline the strategy I do and it doesn't include online writing sites. So, no, I guess I won't give you advice on how to make more money with them because I’ve never used them, and don’t plan to.
I’m guessing you’re not crazy about taking on the prospecting efforts I discuss in my books required to crack the commercial market (i.e., making the calls, doing the direct mail and going to the networking functions). By contrast, using e-mail contacts and sending out resumes on the online sites is easier and less threatening. Maybe so, but it’s also far less profitable. You’re not generally going to find the hourly rates of $60-80+ that commercial writers can command in most major metros. And more than just higher rates is the idea of being paid for all your time.
On an online writing site, to make it easy for both parties, hourly rates are rarely discussed; instead, we’re talking flat fees for unspecified amounts of time. And then the bidding begins. One reader wrote to say: “I played around with Guru and a few others for several months, but nothing – and I mean nothing – ever materialized that was even close to meeting my criteria for how I want to spend my time and get paid for it.”
By contrast, in the commercial arena, even though you may very well give a client a flat fee estimate, you’ve arrived at that fee by calculating how many hours a project is going to take you (factoring in everything: background reading, research, travel, meetings, “concepting,” writing and editing) and multiplying by your hourly rate. Yes, the commercial approach takes more effort but the rewards are so much greater.
All That Said… {mospagebreak}
Things may be starting to change in that arena. In the past year or so, I’ve heard from a few folks who are actually making it happen on sites like elance.com and others. One woman shared her positive experiences with me, and I expressed my surprise, based on all I’d heard, and asked her how she was dealing with the low-ballers, and what kind of rates she was getting. Here’s what she told me:
“You’re totally right about the low-ballers – the people looking for writers willing to work for a penny a word or less. I avoid those projects like the plague. Yes, I got turned down tons of times because I was “too expensive.” I got asked to lower my rate tons of times, but I didn’t because I was tired of writing for nothing. And I still got work.
“There are plenty of buyers out there who understand that you really do get what you pay for, and these are the people that I went after. I then made sure I kept my promises.
“Elance has made strides in culling out the bad buyers by prohibiting them from asking for spec work (working for free as an “audition” of sorts) and requiring deposits on every project posted. And thanks to the new Watercooler Forum on the site, writers are openly discussing rates, bad buyers, business practices, and helping new writers in the process. As a result, I’ve begun to see more and more writers turning down lowball projects, and increasing their bids on others. Is it happening overnight? No. But it’s a start.
“On average, I make $60 an hour, sometimes more, sometimes less when I underestimate my time. I’ll be raising my rates to $70 an hour next year. Making money on these sites can be done. I’m doing it, and have talked with many other writers who are as well.”
Well, okay. While it sounds like things might be shifting in that arena, progress is slow. Check it out for yourself, but know it’ll be an uphill battle (like most business-building, for that matter!)
