The Death of Freelance Writing: Outsourcing and Microjobs

If you’re a freelance writer and aren’t used to being ignored, neglected, and generally given short shrift, you must not have been in the business very long.

~Poppy Z. Brite

Freelance writing pays my bills, but I know that it won’t always be so.  As you know I have been covering Fiverr as a reviewer and user for some time.  I have been ever-watchful of the types of clients who approach me, the questions they pose to me, and I look daily into the Buyer Request list to ascertain what are the expectations people have of writers, as well as, the expectations writers put upon themselves.  Today I stumbled on this ad:

Hi, I am looking for article writing work. I can write 2 articles of 400- 500 words article on daily basis in only $3 each

Yeh.

I don’t have to tell you that his name was foreign.  No American, Brit, Canadian, or Australian could work for $3 for 1000 words.  Why?  Fiver will take $1 leaving him with $2.  Paypal charges their percentage beyond that.  He is now writing 1000 words for about $1.35.

For me to write 1000 words well I would be writing for close to an hour after research, writing, proofreading, and editing is done.  Writing for business promotion and branding is not easy work.

Who in the United States can afford to work for $1.35 an hour?  If an employer tried to pay you that they would watch a lawsuit come over them so fast their heads would spin.

Now, as a voluntarist at heart, I believe that people have the right to work for pennies if they want.  As a communitarian I believe that communities have the right to get together and say “no, we don’t want to work for pennies” and I would like to urge Fiverr users to come together and do just that.

Here’s why: if you don’t you will find that within a short period of time you will either need a career change or work 24 hours a day to make $24.

Yesterday I wrote a blog post titled: This is What Your Client Thinks of You.  I cut and pasted from an article written by a man who sells ideas on how to cut costs and enhance a company’s profit margin.  In the article he admits that what they are asking people to do is insane and implies we’re all stupid for going with the insanity.

He isn’t wrong.  We are stupid to accept these types of wages…if we do.

They are stupid for purchasing because that $3 for 1000 words will be 1000 words that are not worth $3.  Why?  Because it will be written using Google Translate.

People want funny and engaging copy.  Not dry articles that make use of an online translation tool.

Unreasonable Customers Part II

Fiverr is possibly the best thing or the worst thing to happen to professional freelancers.  Odesk, Elance and that Guru place were used by freelance writers to get a fair market rate for their work.  Large companies used those spots to try out writers that were professional and capable.  Fiverr came along and suddenly paying $10 to $20 for a page of web content seemed like it wasn’t such a good bargain anymore.

Of course anyone who has a keyboard can call themselves a ghost writer.  Anyone with a keyboard can write a press release.  Not everyone with a keyboard writes well.

No joke, the other day on Fiverr a writer from somewhere overseas put out an ad for himself on the Buyer’s Requests that stated “I Professional Writer Who Will Write 1000 Words for You on Any Subject Just $5”.

I used one of my buyer request offers to write him and explain that the verb “to be” is his friend and if he’s trying to sell himself as a professional writer he’s made 2 huge mistakes:  1) Grammar mistakes in a headline about professional writing , and 2) charging only $5 for 1000 words.

I’m not xenophobic.  I don’t dislike people who move to America and bring their culture, their food, their food, and their food with them.  I dislike having to compete with people whose cost of living is 600% less than our own because it brings down the value of what I do to the point where I will no longer be able to compete.

This is not their fault.  I fully blame the Federal Reserve System which has clamped these monetary shackles on us that makes a gallon of milk cost close to $5.

Now, I can certainly argue that some clients will notice that they are purchasing a pile of garbage for $5 and not choose that individual again, but the relative perception will still be that writing is only worth $5 if we don’t take a stand now to change that.

My housemate, lovely gal that she is, changed her gig offerings to make her overnight press release 275 words in the hopes that people would buy the add-on $5 gig.  This was under my advisement and I pointed out that it has worked for me and others.

So what happens?  One of her clients refuses to accept the order even though she gave him 330 words because he needed 500.  She kindly explained the gig to him and then wrote the extra 200 words anyway and apologized for having to ask for more money the next time.

Gurl.  Seriously, gurl?  This is insane.  When you do this you not only make it harder on yourself but harder on others.

He hasn’t gotten back to her yet, but I predict that he will not give her an “outstanding” review.

Client’s expectations must be managed.  I have cancelled orders before because they persisted in asking me to do more than we agreed upon.  When that happens you know they will also be nitpicky and screw you in the review.  Fact.

Learn how to cultivate the right clients on Fiverr.  That’s my tea for the day!

Fiverr Review: Day Whatever

$500 week on Fiverr.

Fiverr Reviews are always so hard for me to write because I live in a house with three other people who are using it and we all have different experiences with the website.  I’ve talked a lot about the perils of freelance writing and I hope I’ve also spoken with an equal measure of positivity when it comes to my clients who have all been gems.  I don’t know what has happened, if my Fiverr Profile just connects with people, but I have certainly had a super positive experience on Fiverr insofar as attracting really great customers who also tip

It’s now the 8th of the month and I’ve already made $500 on Fiverr.  If things continue to progress as they have I will walk away with a $2000 month on Fiverr.

God, if you’re listening–thank you.  I needed it.

I’ve seen a lot of people writing ebooks on how to make money on Fiverr and then I check their Fiverr account and they have like 12 reviews so I’m not sure what’s going on there, but maybe those 12 reviewers tipped the heck out of them, or maybe they’re a software developer.  I can see where there are a lot of add-ons a web guy could rake in on.

Now, at this point could I tell you how to make $500 a week on Fiverr? Nope.  I can’t tell you how to make $2000 a month on Fiverr as a writer, either.  I am comparing notes with my roommates to figure out what we’re all doing differently.  Sadly, the kindest and best writer in our group has had nothing but bad luck not just with the software but with the clients and has made less in her four months on Fiverr than I’ve made this week.  It makes my heart break for her.  She’s a better writer and a better person than I am.

My thoughts at this point is that I’ve put out more gigs, I have a theme, and I try to use the Mr. Scott approach with my clients where I give them a single day turnaround on a 5 day order.  I’m still figuring it all out but when I know, I’ll tell you.

Ghost writing as a freelancer is really unfun some days because it’s too inconsistent to use as the primary means of paying bills.  You live and die by your email reminders.  Today I feel extremely blessed and not to get too preachy, but I did pray to God and ask for help.  Jesus, for whatever reason, seems to like me even though I am a super cereal hot mess!

Lest you think he doesn’t like you, take heart.  You showed up here today and read this.  Right now you know that it is possible to dig out of a financial hole if you have a good schtick.  You know that as a freelancer you can make $500 a week on Fiverr.  The possibility is there.  You are also free to write me and ask for advice because the truth is, we’re all God’s hands, all God’s angels.  If we can help each other, we should.

Have a nice day and thanks for reading.