Advice about my Freelance Client

[mtshastawriter]

I am interested to know what you all would do in this situation?

I have been freelancing for a company for a while now. I was contracted (minus the actual contract...) as a technical writer tasked with writing these application documents. The pay was originally posted as $150 a doc, but since they had a lot of interest on the posting, they lowered the pay to $100.

I have always felt like they are expecting too much work for the pay but to date have done about 40 docs for them. They tell me that I am their "top writer" etc...

As time has gone on, they have decided that rather than just write these documents, they now want their "writers" to be the contact for their clients and gather up all of the information required to write the end document. (Typically an 8-15 page document.) This means spending time e-mailing and phoning their (mostly frustrated) clients and adds a lot of time, long-distance charges for me, etc... to the work.

While I need to work, there are a lot of other options out there for me to choose from. I am thinking about being done with this client but can't seem to just say goodbye to the money...

I tried to renegotiate with them when they added this new aspect to the work last week, but their opinion is that someone will write them for $100...

Their only concession to me was a promise to send me more work, on a more regular schedule. I was to get 5 docs on Monday and yet again they sent me only 3....

I don't know what I should do at this point. And, I am open to any and all suggestions on the topic....

(ETA: They do pay me for my work. Not on any predictable schedule, but they have always paid me for work completed.)

[runewell]

If supply goes up and demand stays the same, price does down.

Decide if it's worth $100/pg or not and proceed accordingly. How much work used to go into a $150 document and how much will go into a new $100 document?

[mtshastawriter]

They have always paid me $100 a document (not per page), which I believed to be on the low side for freelance technical writing. (After all, I pay taxes on that $100...)

With contacting their clients directly for info, etc... it brings my take home down even farther and makes my hourly wage less than $20 an hour.

[Savoir Faire-Demogague in NJ]

MT,
The real question is, can you secure work with another client and get the money you want.

[Deleted]

I hire out quite a bit of work because I own a bunch of websites. I typically will undervalue the work that writers do. I kinda think most have a pretty inflated image of the services they can bring to the table.

But $100 for technical writing, seems INCREDIBLY low. And on top of that, you need to talk with the client? I've always thought that technical writing is one of the few forms of writing that is possibly worth higher fees. After all, if you're specialized in cell phones or something like that, you're going to be able to write far better reviews than some guy that doesn't know much about them.

I'd tell them to get lost. I'd rather focus on volume, instead of something like that. I think it's easier to write 10 articles of 500 words for $100 than write something like that.

[oreo]

I have a friend who is a freelance technical writer and he experiences the same thing (he's been a technical writer for over 20 years but only freelance the last 5 or so). The only freelance jobs he sees are a lot of work for little money. Frequently when he lands one of the contracts, they sneak in more work for the same money and they are wishy washy on paying him. I think the 2nd post nails it--supply is high and demand is low so you get low pay.

You could look around and try to find a better gig if you aren't happy with the money but the new gig might be short-term, for less money, and you might have to argue with them to get paid so you'll need to decide what is best for you. Another option is you look for a full time job which at least would provide some tax payments and benefits. But then you lose the flexibility to pick and choose what you want to do, you may not get to work from home, etc. Its still a tough market out there. If you don't see anything better out there, maybe hang in the for a bit longer and hope for improvement in the market. It HAS to happen eventually, right?

[Deleted]

Just as a commentary on the state of freelance writing, this is a hot topic pretty much at any internet marketing forum. Writers ALWAYS feel they are being underpaid. I think with so many people unemployed, the supply of writers has really shot through the roof. The mistake that a lot of writers do is they use a relatively high rate as the basis for comparison. So if they got a once a month gig for $500/article for a magazine, they now think that discounting that to $250 for online writing would be a steal.

Needless to say, people hiring writers don't see it the same way.

[mtshastawriter]

davebo - Need a writer? Can't fault a girl for asking.

Yeah, I am starting to come to the conclusion that while this was a good gig in the beginning, it is now losing its appeal and ability to earn me a decent hourly wage. Frustrating, because I think if this company was more on the ball the work would be good.

I do have other clients, this one was just supposed to be my "major" one with the most reliable work. Doesn't seem to be ending up to be though. And, I am getting to the point that I think I am ready to move on.

My desire is to work from home as long as possible. Part of this is due to the fact that I live in the boonies and most jobs here pay less than $10 an hour. But, I have a paid-off home, so my monthly expenses are fairly low. Working from home, even doing basic stuff, I earn more money than I would commuting somewhere locally.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

I would keep working for them WHILE searching for something better. When something better comes along, jump on it.

[qofcc]

If you can build up your base of other higher paying clients to the point where you don't need the income from this one, then you'd have more negotiating power to tell this one that you can't take on their work for $100 because you'd have to turn down a job for $150 to do it. At that point, they may decide to raise your rate if they really like you or they may take their business elsewhere. At this point, I think you should stick with it. Even at less than $20/hr, you still have the flexible hours and no commute and you're paying your bills. It doesn't sound like you have a better option and a bird in the hand...

[runewell]

I googled technical writing freelance and found a site where mulitple ppl bid on how much they want to write an article meeting the stated requirements. I suggest you try something like this and maybe you'll get a better feel for what your skills are worth. At least it should increase the opportunities.

Here was an example. Sounds like whoever wrote this should pay someone to write for them.

www.ifreelance.com/project/detail.aspx?projectid=63680

Project Number: 63680

Category: Writing / Editing / Translation

Subcategory: Article Writing/Editing

Title: Article Re Writers Required 200$/week

Description:Serious article re writers required capable of completing job requirement.
Re Wrtiters must be able of fulfill these demands.

1. Must Genrate informative content.
* Content should be 100% orignal.
* Should Pass CopyScape.
* Should Be over 450- 500 words.
* Should not carry any grammer errors.
2. Writer must be able ot genrate 50-70 articles per week from provided source.
3. Articles must be human written(not spinned or by use of any other software).
4. Duration of Job would be under consideration as over the quaility of services pervoided.

Thnaks.

(Intrested bidder must send message while bidding)
Estimated Budget: Between $250 and $499

Expected Delivery: **No Preference**

Bidder Location: **No Preference**

Work Location: Offsite

Project Phase: Bidding

Last Modified: 05/18/2011 08:51 AM PDT

[happyscooter]

Maybe no grammar errors, but what about spelling?

[happyscooter]

Re Wrtiters must be able of fulfill these demands=writers
1. Must Genrate informative content.=generate
Content should be 100% orignal.=original
Should not carry any grammer errors=grammar
Writer must be able ot genrate 50-70 articles per week from provided source=to generate

[happyscooter]

Duration of Job would be under consideration as over the quaility of services pervoided.=provided
Thnaks.=thanks
Intrested bidder must send message while bidding)=interested

[happyscooter]

mulitple

MULTIPLE

[mtshastawriter]

I have worked for the bidding sites in the past. However, most people on guru.com etc... are looking for third-world writers who they can pay like $2 an article.

I have found that clients posting on places like Craigslist tend to pay better and be more realistic on pay for US workers.

[Clever Username]

Sounds like whoever wrote this should pay someone to write for them.

I'm not so sure this isn't an intentional tactic by the job poster.
The errors are so obvious and so easily caught.

Everyone knew a few girls in highschool who fell in love with Project Boyfriends.
Sounds like the same thing here.

[endofera]

Loosing = losing