Monday was exactly as busy as I expected it to be. I had a call to Belgium in the morning. Lovely person on the other end of the phone and hopefully the project I’m doing for him will net him the results he hopes for.
Two other calls. The first one missed the scheduled appointment (I’m still waiting). The second one called to tell me they’d be ten minutes late and ten minutes later, they called as promised. That is how you act professionally. Amen.
Someone asked the other day what constitutes fair pay? In her case, she was asking about an article for a magazine – 1,500 words for $200. In most cases, I’d say “Uh, no” but I can’t advise her that for one or two reasons. I don’t know what her hourly rate is and I don’t know if it’s a market she’s been trying to break into.
So how do you choose? You determine first how much you need to make in order to turn a profit. Then you decide how long the assignment will take you to complete. If it’s a blog post requiring very little research and no interviews, maybe. If it’s a magazine article involving interviews and research, it may not be worth it. For me, it’s not. For the next person, who knows?
Let’s say she’s wanting to work in the automotive industry. If this is an automotive magazine and she’s tried with no luck elsewhere, it may be a great way to open a new avenue and build a reputation as a specialist. Just do yourself a favor – if you’re not new in your career, limit yourself to how many low-paying articles you’ll write in order to get those clips. Usually two or three are enough to establish you as someone who understands the industry. Then you can reach out to higher-paying publications with those clips.
It’s always tough knowing how low you’ll go. But if you’ve taken the time to establish an hourly rate, you’ll know if it’s worth it to you. Never sell yourself short just for the job, and please, don’t take jobs that pay you pennies for what other clients are willing to pay acceptable wages for. And please – work for reputable sources that give you clips that employers want to see.
How do you decide if the job is worth it?
I factor in the time needed to research and write, and what I figure the payoff will be, in terms beyond just the financial.
It's got to be something I'm really crazy about to agree to go lower for a one-off AND have something worth more than "exposure" down the line.
I'm willing to do that less and less, though, the longer I write.
I agree that the longer you're in it the less willing you are, or should be, to working for less. It's a little tough at first, but once a writer establishes a toehold in any area of writing, it becomes easier each time out.
For me, $200 an article wouldn't work. But for the poster, it may be perfect in terms of getting a foot in the door and getting a reputable clip. There's that word again – reputable. That has to be part of the decision – is this a reputable publication with actual trained editors and oversight? If so, it may be worth it if the work isn't too hard.
For me it comes down to my schedule. If I have a lull, sure, I'll do a $200 for one or two markets I know really well. I already know what they want, how to do it quickly and efficiently (and unlike some content mill writers, I've never been asked to write a revision). But if I have better-paying assignments, I either won't take those or negotiate a later deadline. The editors of those markets (one a regional glossy, the other a website) know that I need to prioritize based on pay rates and time.
My thinking is if I'm caught up on everything else, why not pocket a couple hundred dollars for minimal effort? (BTW: those are both markets that supply the ideas, so there is zero time spent generating ideas. And one of them kicks in an extra $25 per interview.)
Shoveling is done (some of the wettest, heaviest snow I've ever shoveled!) and the soup's in the crock pot. I wish it were ready now!
I'm similar, Paula, but I find I'm increasing my minimum. Thankfully, I'm at a stage where I don't have to take the lower-paying jobs as frequently.
Shoveling? Honey, I was bailing this morning! We got rain where you got snow!
Oh, we got rain too. Thundersnow, even. If it hadn't been for a couple hours of rain overnight, we would have had well over a foot of snow. Just north of here, in Madison WI, they had 19" while we had a mere 11".
I'll only drop below my established rate if:
– the experience is valuable
– the bank account is empty
I try not to put myself in either situation very often.