Comments on: Freelance Writing Jobs for October 5, 2009

By: michele

michele — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:30:29 +0000

#9 copywriter job got flagged for removal on Craigslist, just an fyi!

By: Snarky's Machine

Snarky's Machine — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:45:08 +0000

The first item under Business Proposal/Plan “Grant Writer – Healthcare Field” mentions “performance bonus” which is generally a no no for ethical grant writers. Grant Writers are paid for SERVICES not OUTCOMES. So be wary of any company soliciting grant writers with promises of “performance bonuses” or commissions (ranging from lump sums or a % of the grant award total) because that pegs you as an amateur grant writer and susceptible to be complicit in some unethical grantmaking behavior.

By: JulieF

JulieF — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:50:45 +0000

Anne,
They also will take someone that telecommutes. I asked, then the emails from them went downhill in what they wanted.

It’s a rewrite of every product that ‘is not duplicate content’, they want it in two weeks, and if you do it cheap, they’ll keep you busy with articles…the $8 ones.

By: JulieF

JulieF — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:44:55 +0000

I would say that being asked to write a few hundred for under $3 per AND well over 250 words is far below ‘going market rate’.

I’m well aware that what one writer does is their business, but there’s no way that anyone wants to write 400 words or more for a buck or less. This person has plagiarized content all over their site, says so in their email, and I ran a plagiarism check.

Do you want to work for someone like that? If they’re willing to steal content, it’s a fair bet they’d not blink an eye at stealing your work.

By: T.W. Anderson

T.W. Anderson — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:18:35 +0000

Ah, thanks Anne. I didn’t look into the project, so I wasn’t sure of the details behind it.

California does indeed have an insane cost of living. Add to that the necessity to commute and/or move, and yeah….even if you can make 30-40 bucks an hour with the job it still doesn’t really cover the cost of living in CA.

Thanks for the info, though.

By: Kenna

Kenna — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:42:15 +0000

Thanks Deb for the list.

By: Anne G.

Anne G. — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:49:55 +0000

@T.W – it will vary from person to person and I didn’t apply for the Altamont job. From just reading the ad, the job requires you to commute to an office in Altamont, CA. You’d have to have a job that covers the cost of the commute and housing in CA, and from everything friends have told me, housing in CA, while it has dropped, is still outrageously expensive. I’m betting $8 an article wouldn’t come close to being a reasonable salary, it may meet minimum wage requirements of $8 an hour, but that’s about it. So I’d tend to side with the job not offering a realistic salary given the location and commute requirement.

By: Anne G.

Anne G. — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:43:47 +0000

#7 in the General section – Article Writers Wanted – I got a chain email back directing me to Freelance Job Placement.com. My virus/spyware program blocked that link saying the site has been reported as running a Phishing scam. So another one to be cautious of.

By: T.W. Anderson

T.W. Anderson — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:33:44 +0000

Could someone define “going market rate” for copy-writing? As far as I’m aware every writer has their own “going market rate” dependent upon where they live and what they consider applicable terms, and there’s no such thing as a “standard” rate that applies on a global basis, at least as far as I’m aware.

If it’s below the 10 bucks per article thing, I suppose that’s fine but…I know I make 20-25 dollars an hour doing 3 dollar 250 word articles on a daily basis, and depending on the topic I sometimes get upwards of 30 dollars an hour for them if they are easy-peasy topics like writing about a movie or an actor or something. I’ve got a few clients going, and the lowest paying gig pays me 20-25 bucks an hour, while the highest pays 60+. I think it depends on the writer in question as to whether or not they can make an 8 dollar per article batch of work be profitable enough. If it’s an easy topic and the articles are 300-500 words per, I find it fairly easy to knock out 4-5 per hour, which would put it in the 30-40 dollar an hour range…but then again I didn’t apply for the job so I don’t know the particulars. Just saying for the sake of clarity What is low-paying to one person is high-paying to another…depends on a lot of factors.

By: Cheril Vernon

Cheril Vernon — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 07:08:25 +0000

Good set of job leads today!