Understanding the Freelance Writing Market

There have been some amazing discussions lately going on right here at FWJ about writing at content sites, and about other aspects of the freelance writing market. They have to do  with working for corporate content producers like Demand Studios.

There is some controversy about Demand, and about freelance marketplace sites like Elance, and about the rates writers can make at these sites. There are freelancers – a vocal minority, it would seem – that object to FWJ (or anyone else) promoting these kinds of writing sites. They argue that rates are too low, and that it “devalues” the entire market.

While I won’t go into the merits and flaws of any site today, I do want to look at this part of the argument. I think it’s plain wrong. This idea of “devaluation” is, frankly, a myth.

You see, the freelance writing market isn’t special. It works just like the other markets in a free, capital-based society. The same principles that determine the price of bread, or a car, or brain surgery determine the price of freelance writing.

Here are three basic market principles, and how they pertain to the freelance writing market:

The product (your writing) is worth whatever a buyer is willing pay for it.

I know this is going to be an ego blow to some folks, but the bare fact is this: not everyone writes as well as everyone else. Some people are better writers than others. In the efforts to grow my business, I’ve paid $3 for an article. The result was atrocious. I’ve paid $10 for articles, too, and that work was better. To me, it’s worth paying more for the product if I know it’s a quality product. People who pay for your writing services are no different.

Some products (types of writing) are more valuable than others.

Not every type of writing is worth the same as every other type of writing. A 1000-word sales page is worth more than five 500-word keyword articles to the buyer, even though the time it takes to create them might be the same. Those keyword articles bring them traffic; that sales page brings them money. This is part of the reason that some folks, such as Michael Stelzner, choose to specialize. (For more on this aspect of the issue, check out the debate, Generalist vs. Specialist: Which Is Better in a Tough Economy? between Peter Bowerman and Michael Stelzner later this month.)

A buyer never pays more than she has to.

This is the area where the critics almost – almost - have an argument. They argue that freelance writers who work for lower rates bring down the market. They argue that those writers should be charging more – because the product is worth more.

That part of the argument is true. Unfortunately, some folks don’t know how much their product is worth. In some cases, they may not have the desire or talent to get better rates, simply because they’re not asking for them.

That’s a whole separate discussion, of course, but the short answer is this: sometimes, buyers get a good deal. However, this doesn’t devalue the market. Just because you can buy a particular toaster for a better price at Best Buy than you can at Sears doesn’t mean Sears won’t sell their toasters. In fact, they sell plenty.

Devaluation is a myth, folks. Yes, low-paid writers (good ones, anyways) need to ask for more for their work. But even if they don’t, it doesn’t create some huge drag on market prices.