I hate to call anybody a liar, but some of the people that place jobs on freelance writing bidding sites are just that. Over the past several years I have been burnt several times by these people, but finally, I am beginning to see through their simple tactics. The fact of the matter is this: there is nothing wrong with what these people are doing (within reason), but at the same time, they are lying to writers who may not know any better.
The most common lie that I have seen is this. A buyer posts a job stating how many articles they need as well as a tag line that reads, “This is a low paying job, but the next one will be double the pay.†Like many, I fell for this several times thinking that I would eventually get a raise in pay. Do you think that this ever happened? The answer is no. Although there may be some buyers who honestly plan on paying more, the majority have no intentions of doing so.
Another common lie is the ever popular, “Write me a sample article on a specific topic, and if I like it, I will give you more work.†This may sound fair enough, but this is far from the case. Do you know what these people do? They get as many samples as they can, and then they simply use those instead of actually paying to have the work done. This is a deceitful act, and one that is going to get these buyers nowhere in the end.
Bidding sites are a great place to find freelance writing work, but unfortunately, there are some buyers who have to ruin it with lies. The best way to avoid these buyers is to be extremely cautious with the jobs that you accept. And of course, never agree to write an article unless you are going to get paid for it!Â
As a freelance writer, many people would guess that I have little to no communication with the outside world during the workday. While this is true to a certain extent, I probably send and receive anywhere from 25 to 50 emails per day. Additionally, I usually talk to at least one client a day on the phone.
Although dealing with angry clients is more common in some industries than others, freelance writers are no different than anybody else. The main reason that I am writing this post is because of an email that I received late last night from an angry client.
Last week, this client prepaid $200 and then sent a request for a few web content articles. While this is not something that I mind doing, especially because I have worked with him in the past, I would much rather be paid upon completion for a project like this. Regardless, I sent an email to him saying that everything was a go, and I would get started right away.
After sending the first article over for review, I waited for a couple of days without a reply. At that time, I sent yet another email with the article attached. On a side note, it is always a good idea to check up with clients if they do not reply timely about a project you emailed. Remember, email is far from perfect.
Anyway, he sent an email back to me that read, “What the #*#* am I supposed to do with this? I can’t get it open.†I was surprised to read this response after I had done so much to make sure that he had received everything in a timely manner.
The funny part about this situation is that it has been almost 24 hours since I cordially responded, and I have yet to hear back from him.
Dealing with angry clients is part of the freelance writing game. As a general rule of thumb, no matter how bad you are treated, you should never retaliate. You are a professional, and there is no reason to stoop down and lose your overall level of integrity.
If you are like most, you have experienced this problem. You reach a certain income level, but for one reason or the next, you cannot seem to fly any higher. For myself, as a freelance writer, this is one problem that I seem to deal with every few months or so.
The first couple months of my freelance writing career I was happy to make any money. After all, a few bucks here and there were better than nothing. At that time, I was doing tons of work, but only being paid peanuts. But again, it did not matter because I simply wanted to get up and running. My first major goal was breaking the $1,000 barrier on a monthly basis. Luckily, after my first two months I did this for the first time. In fact, the first time that I broke $1,000, I almost hit the $2,000 mark as well.
In my dealings, the best way to get from one income plateau to the next is to cut back on lower paying jobs, and do whatever it takes to find higher paying ones. Personally, I feel that this is a much better idea than adding more quantity to your workload. This may work for some people, but being able to do less for more money is always a good thing in my book.
To do this, I began to cut out web content articles that were only paying a few dollars for 500 words or so. I replaced these with jobs that paid almost twice as much, and bang, I was on my way to the next level.
But remember, you should not get rid of lower paying clients until you have better ones lined up. After all, if you are just scraping by, you never want to throw any money out the window.
Right now, my situation is more comfortable than it was when I first started on this venture. I am making a good full-time salary, but even then, being satisfied is never an option.
Don’t get frustrated if you are having a difficult time hitting the next income level. Instead, devise a plan, and carefully chart your progress!
