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Crap Pay on sites like Freelancer and Guru for Article Writing

by collegeguru
38 replies
First of all, first post. Great forum here, I'm looking forward to being a part of it.

I'm interested in getting into article writing. I've heard the money can be good if you can pump out quality articles efficiently. I like writing and I believe I have decent writing skills, so why not? So I made a profile on Guru and Freelancer today and I'm looking at some of these jobs here and the pay on most of these jobs is crap to be honest.

Here's a sample job listing:

"The rate of pay is $0.20 per 100 words. The average requested length of articles 500-600 words. However there are occasionally projects that pay more than this rate. Also the more reliable you are and the faster you can handle projects, the more work you will receive."

That's $1 per 500 word article! Are you kidding me? Even if you could pump out a 500 word article in 10 minutes you're making 6 bucks an hour. That's not even minimum wage. And this guy wants "native speakers of English" too.

Most of the jobs seem to be in this range. Is this the going rate? I thought somewhere around $5-$8 per article was the average rate. Where do I find the good jobs?
#article #crap #freelancer #guru #pay #sites #writing
  • Profile picture of the author Rich Struck
    As long as idiots accept pay like that, other idiots will continue to offer it.
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    • Profile picture of the author flowers4love
      Originally Posted by Rich Struck View Post

      As long as idiots accept pay like that, other idiots will continue to offer it.
      There are article writers in the Far East who take that kind of pay. However, you can hardly say that they are Native Speakers of English. Indeed, some of them have excellent English language skills and can produce quality articles. $6 an hour is in the U.S. very, very low. But when one converts $6 into the local currency in India, Philippines, China etc. then you get a relatively high sum with good buying power.
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      • Profile picture of the author nursewriter
        Unfortunately you will run into this a lot when you are looking for writing jobs. Those who do not write think it's simple to crank out a 500 word article. These same buyers are the ones who are usually the biggest pains in the "you know where." They want you to provide your best writing, seo optimized, well researched, spell checked and edited and they want it tomorrow.


        If you really want to get into freelance writing it is best if you build a website that promotes your services. Write some articles for yourself to use as samples. Then set your own price.

        The hard part is marketing yourself. However, landing just two or three long term clients can really pay off.

        If you really want to make money writing then you should create your own products, ebooks, reports etc. and sell them.

        Don't ever settle for less than you think you are worth.

        Good luck!
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    • Profile picture of the author nursewriter
      Originally Posted by drunkenmonkey View Post

      Actually thats not true.

      I'm from the UK and I have a GIG right now on fiverr where I design logos that other people are charging $100 for ...for $5 or about 3 quid GBP.

      Now I can tell you flat out...I don't exactly need the money...so why do I do it?

      Did you know there are only 28 steps to $1,000,000.

      That means if you do a quality job...people will talk as long as they are kind enough to leave feedback!!!!!

      So that $5 dollars that I'm virtually ripping MYSELF off for could actually be quite a lot more than that.

      I know of more than 1 person on there..one of whom is a personal friend of mine pulling in excess of 3K per month on there.

      My other reason is that I love Photoshop!!! Period.

      DM
      How long does it take you to design the logo? I am not a designer so I have no idea.... but if can design 3-4 logos per hour then you are making a decent amount of money at five bucks a pop.

      However, I do know about writing. Quality writing with great research takes some time. The prices that people want to pay for writing is dismal on a lot of the freelancing sites.

      Even five bucks per article is too low if you want a decent article.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brad Spencer
    Constant Content I hear is great for higher paying jobs.

    Plus, sorry to be slightly promo, but I teach a method (note sig file) about finding high quality clients on our favorite forum.

    Seriously...the key is relationships though. You could also write PLR packs where you create 10 keyword targeted articles and sell them for limited quantities. Work once, get paid 10-20 times for same work.

    Just a few ideas.

    PM me if you need any help!

    Cheers,

    Brad
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  • Profile picture of the author Audrey Harvey
    I agree with nursewriter - it's all in the marketing. You need to be able to show a prospective client why you are worth more than 20c a word. What's your unique selling position? When I was brand new to writing, I picked up some gigs on Elance and even Odesk paying $15-25 an article. Mind you, I have a great deal of experience when it came to the article topics. Where does your expertise lie, and how can you leverage that?

    When I have nothing to do, I apply for some low paying jobs on the freelance sites and bid my usual rate, just to see how fast they decline my bid. So far my record is 5 minutes. I hope though that maybe my application makes them stop and think about the pathetic amount of money they're offering, but I'm not holding my breath.
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    • Profile picture of the author flowers4love
      Originally Posted by Audrey Harvey View Post

      When I was brand new to writing, I picked up some gigs on Elance and even Odesk paying $15-25 an article. Mind you, I have a great deal of experience when it came to the article topics. Where does your expertise lie, and how can you leverage that?
      I agree, Audrey, that if you have a unique niche where the competition have no knowledge about then you can charge your price and get the job. For example niches like specific medical research topics, will bring you better paid assignments. The question is what subjects do you have expert knowledge in?
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  • Profile picture of the author paulie888
    That's just the nature of the marketplace in the places that you mentioned. At the end of the day, you get what you pay for. Perhaps these marketers are looking for writers to create articles only for backlinking purposes, or maybe they're just plain naive?

    It's best not to compete on price, because you'll be competing with writers who reside in countries that probably have a far lower cost of living than yours, so it'd be futile to try to outbid them.

    Try to search out alternative places to offer your services where there is a higher rate per article, and in this very forum you could easily charge $7 and up per article once you make a name for yourself. You could also write PLR articles that you can resell multiple times, allowing you to make more than $10 per article consistently if you're good.
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonmorgan
    That's $1 per 500 word article! Are you kidding me? Even if you could pump out a 500 word article in 10 minutes you're making 6 bucks an hour. That's not even minimum wage. And this guy wants "native speakers of English" too.
    Welcome to the era of third world out-sourced labor.

    Get used to making less
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    • Profile picture of the author Ted_B
      I agree with the above posts, some of the labor rates are ridiculous and it's a bit discouraging. The people who are buying those $1.00 articles don't care what kind of content they put out on their sites, or they don't realize the value of well-written, original pieces.
      I'm registered at eLance and Guru and it's tough to get started when faced with this kind of competition. I know I offer a quality product, but it's tough to convince buyers that have providers giving them 500 "words" for only a dollar.
      Thank you,
      Ted
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonmorgan
    collegeguru, here is how I see it...

    The people who are making money and are also willing to spend money for quality are the extreme minority and those people already have their go-to list.

    The rest are pinching their pennies because they aren't make much more than beer money.

    What you need to do, if you can write well, is get on the money makers go-to list.

    What I would do if I were you, sniff around, figure out who is for real and who are the fake it 'till you make it clowns.

    Once you have your list, contact them one by one and make your pitch. One of them might bite and give you a chance.

    If you're a rockstar writer you might have a solid gig. Once you're on the map word will travel. I hear all of the super gurus like to sit around the hottub with their Swedish bikini model girlfriends talking about rockstar writers... or something like that.
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  • Profile picture of the author Paleochora
    Constant Content. If you can write you can get $50 or more per article there. I have in the past.

    The guys in that video need some things:

    1. Clothes that fit
    2. Plastic surgery
    3. Dancers that are actually attractive
    4. And one of them needs a good diet plan...anyone got a weight-loss site to suggest to him? lol.
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    • Profile picture of the author nursewriter
      Originally Posted by Paleochora View Post

      Constant Content. If you can write you can get $50 or more per article there. I have in the past.
      The problem with constant content is you only get paid if someone buys your articles. This could take a while. Not a good idea for someone who is needing consistent payments to pay bills.
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      • Profile picture of the author DannyDarwin
        Originally Posted by nursewriter View Post

        The problem with constant content is you only get paid if someone buys your articles. This could take a while. Not a good idea for someone who is needing consistent payments to pay bills.
        And looking at the prices of the articles that actually get sold, it's even more discouraging.

        "An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away? Try Coffee", $3... yay
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  • Profile picture of the author Andrew Rodney
    If you establish yourself as a good writer you can make far more than that. You can get $100 for article. Write a few and make name for yourself.
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    • Profile picture of the author flowers4love
      Originally Posted by Andrew Rodney View Post

      If you establish yourself as a good writer you can make far more than that. You can get $100 for article. Write a few and make name for yourself.
      Writing is just like any other commodity. You have cheap clothes and you have super expensive designer's clothes. You have an unknown musician and you have a famous philharmonic pianist with CDs being sold worldwide. To become a top notch writer earning $100 or more per article you need to work hard and have a lot of good luck.
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    • Profile picture of the author x3xsolxdierx3x
      Originally Posted by Andrew Rodney View Post

      If you establish yourself as a good writer you can make far more than that. You can get $100 for article. Write a few and make name for yourself.
      Do you earn this much per article you write?
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  • Profile picture of the author JMB Marketing Group
    Originally Posted by collegeguru View Post

    First of all, first post. Great forum here, I'm looking forward to being a part of it.

    I'm interested in getting into article writing. I've heard the money can be good if you can pump out quality articles efficiently. I like writing and I believe I have decent writing skills, so why not? So I made a profile on Guru and Freelancer today and I'm looking at some of these jobs here and the pay on most of these jobs is crap to be honest.

    Here's a sample job listing:

    "The rate of pay is $0.20 per 100 words. The average requested length of articles 500-600 words. However there are occasionally projects that pay more than this rate. Also the more reliable you are and the faster you can handle projects, the more work you will receive."

    That's $1 per 500 word article! Are you kidding me? Even if you could pump out a 500 word article in 10 minutes you're making 6 bucks an hour. That's not even minimum wage. And this guy wants "native speakers of English" too.

    Most of the jobs seem to be in this range. Is this the going rate? I thought somewhere around $5-$8 per article was the average rate. Where do I find the good jobs?
    Hi Collegeguru,

    Welcome to the Warrior Forum!

    You're correct, the pay scale is not very attractive, especially if you live in the UK, US or Canada. However, this seems acceptable to people that live in Countries where they can live off of this price point.

    Therefore, the first thing I would suggest is to fill out your About Me Page. Let people know who you are, what you do and where you are from . It will make people feel more comfortable communicating with you.

    Second thing I would suggest is to visit the Offline Marketing section here. There are tons of Warriors there that need articles written for their offline clients.

    However, I suggest that you try to add some value there first BEFORE offering your services or contacting anyone.

    Just my 2 cents worth here!

    Wishing you much luck and wild success with your article writing venture!

    JMB
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  • Profile picture of the author x3xsolxdierx3x
    I wouldn't use a site like that, collegeguru. Clearly, there is a market there though. For some, it may be great payment considering their culture and living conditions, but, I'd consider it seriously undervaluing my skill and ability (and, judging by your writing just in your post, I think you would be capable of more, as well).

    Originally Posted by collegeguru View Post

    First of all, first post. Great forum here, I'm looking forward to being a part of it.

    I'm interested in getting into article writing. I've heard the money can be good if you can pump out quality articles efficiently. I like writing and I believe I have decent writing skills, so why not? So I made a profile on Guru and Freelancer today and I'm looking at some of these jobs here and the pay on most of these jobs is crap to be honest.

    Here's a sample job listing:

    "The rate of pay is $0.20 per 100 words. The average requested length of articles 500-600 words. However there are occasionally projects that pay more than this rate. Also the more reliable you are and the faster you can handle projects, the more work you will receive."

    That's $1 per 500 word article! Are you kidding me? Even if you could pump out a 500 word article in 10 minutes you're making 6 bucks an hour. That's not even minimum wage. And this guy wants "native speakers of English" too.

    Most of the jobs seem to be in this range. Is this the going rate? I thought somewhere around $5-$8 per article was the average rate. Where do I find the good jobs?
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  • Profile picture of the author collegeguru
    Thanks everyone. There's a lot of solid advice here.

    I registered here about 2 years ago...I'm glad I finally decided to make a post!
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  • Profile picture of the author 82ana
    I'm sure people have already mentioned this but the article marketing field is pretty saturated. There is a slew of writer from developing countries working at prices that are unbelievable (unless off course you read the content). Then there are the at home moms (sorry gals) trying to scrounge up money for a pair of boots or whatever and than there's the real quality writers.

    The ones who are not just native english speakers but have style and flair so they can engage readers. I've paid $3 for a 500 word article and $20 for the same and been satisfied with neither.

    Provide consistent quality and great customer service, people like me would be happy to pay $20 for a 500 word article but if its written in 10 minutes... never again.

    Best on your journey.
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  • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
    Originally Posted by collegeguru View Post

    Most of the jobs seem to be in this range. Is this the going rate? I thought somewhere around $5-$8 per article was the average rate. Where do I find the good jobs?
    In my experience?

    From the people with crap jobs.

    Most really successful outsourcers burn through a lot of bad writers looking for a good one. They pay dirt cheap rates to anyone and everyone until someone is actually worth a damn, then lock down that writer with a much higher offer and all the work they can handle.

    The end result is that they get a lot of high-quality writing at a bargain price until the writer figures out where to get an even better rate. And at the time, they're honestly the best that writer can do, so everyone ought to be happy.

    Not that they are. The writer always ends up grumpy that the client knows he's getting better value than his rates reflect. And the client always ends up grumpy that the writer knows he deserves more money and is trying to get it elsewhere. Each of them eventually feels that the other, on some level, is trying to cheat them out of what they deserve... but they knew that going in.
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    • Profile picture of the author x3xsolxdierx3x
      I think an ounce of luck, and a whole ton of skill and research is required to command a higher rate. Lately, I found a site called cracked.com, and at the viewership some of those articles are receiving, I think it would be a REAL easy case to make $100+/article, at least.

      Those articles aren't just articles though. Many of them are flat-out volumous masterpieces spanning several pages, with 10+ pictures. I've contemplated giving it a go, but I do believe a significant amount of time would need to be invested in just research (let alone write).

      Has anyone ever had an article accepted by cracked.com?
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      • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
        Originally Posted by x3xsolxdierx3x View Post

        Has anyone ever had an article accepted by cracked.com?
        I'm a registered writer over there, but haven't actually sent in a proposal yet. Thing is, I've been a Cracked reader for well over thirty years, since long before they were a website... so submitting to Cracked is a Big Deal to me and I don't want to screw it up.

        It's not like the regular article directories, though; this is a professional-level periodical with all the same requirements and expectations as any print magazine. The bar is a LOT higher. A lot of the folks who are being happily accepted at major article directories are going to find that they simply can't make the cut.

        I don't think you'd have that problem, but competition is brisk, and comedy is hard.
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        "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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        • Profile picture of the author x3xsolxdierx3x
          Originally Posted by CDarklock View Post

          I'm a registered writer over there, but haven't actually sent in a proposal yet. Thing is, I've been a Cracked reader for well over thirty years, since long before they were a website... so submitting to Cracked is a Big Deal to me and I don't want to screw it up.

          It's not like the regular article directories, though; this is a professional-level periodical with all the same requirements and expectations as any print magazine. The bar is a LOT higher. A lot of the folks who are being happily accepted at major article directories are going to find that they simply can't make the cut.

          I don't think you'd have that problem, but competition is brisk, and comedy is hard.
          I've been reading, and deeply analyzing some of the components of these articles for the last few days. These articles are flat-out masterpieces. I've been salivating at the challenge, though. I just reviewed the profile of a gentleman who has some 36 articles published, many of which occurred in the few days. His writing is stellar.

          I have a Warrior mentality (suitable for this forum, I suppose)...sometimes I just like to defy the odds and do things just because I get that thought in my mind. It's not so much about the viewership or the brief popularity as much as it is about doing something that only a small % of people could ever really do.

          Now, to think up a title...
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  • Profile picture of the author JMB Marketing Group
    Originally Posted by collegeguru View Post

    First of all, first post. Great forum here, I'm looking forward to being a part of it.

    I'm interested in getting into article writing. I've heard the money can be good if you can pump out quality articles efficiently. I like writing and I believe I have decent writing skills, so why not? So I made a profile on Guru and Freelancer today and I'm looking at some of these jobs here and the pay on most of these jobs is crap to be honest.

    Here's a sample job listing:

    "The rate of pay is $0.20 per 100 words. The average requested length of articles 500-600 words. However there are occasionally projects that pay more than this rate. Also the more reliable you are and the faster you can handle projects, the more work you will receive."

    That's $1 per 500 word article! Are you kidding me? Even if you could pump out a 500 word article in 10 minutes you're making 6 bucks an hour. That's not even minimum wage. And this guy wants "native speakers of English" too.

    Most of the jobs seem to be in this range. Is this the going rate? I thought somewhere around $5-$8 per article was the average rate. Where do I find the good jobs?

    Hope this thread helps you out:

    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...blog-post.html

    Cheers,

    JMB
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  • Profile picture of the author AdamSlade88
    "Crap Pay on sites like Freelancer and Guru for Article Writing"

    Are you kidding? I just payed a writer $200 on Guru to write me 5 articles (700 words). Another reputable guru member quoted me $600 for the whole lot. That's obviously way outta my budget but people pay that kinda money for articles on Guru
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  • Profile picture of the author TimG
    For that rate you are better off just advertising on Fiverr. I just started playing around with it. Not for the article writing aspect but for article analyzing where I analyze a poor perfroming article for a person and let them know how they can improve its performance.

    That might be another opportunity for you to look into.

    Respectfully,
    Tim
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  • Profile picture of the author Andrea Wilson
    Maybe they were looking for newbies who they thought will be accepting a low paying gig like that. I obviously think no native speakers will accept that rate. Erm....I haven't seen any decent writers in Freelancer yet. Better be off in Odesk, there are still decent offers in there.


    Andrea
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  • Profile picture of the author the6thplayer
    Yeah, there are hardly 5-10 jobs that pay $5 for an article of 500 word and the employer thinks that he/she is doing a great favor by offering such a "high" rate!!!
    Most of the employers want number of writers to be part of their group so that the original project can get divided. Their strategy is to suck every drop of your blood for the least possible payout. And you will be surprized to know that when it comes to pay the amount, they never pay the said amount!!!!

    HIGHLY DISCOURAGED.....
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    • Profile picture of the author paulie888
      Originally Posted by the6thplayer View Post

      Yeah, there are hardly 5-10 jobs that pay $5 for an article of 500 word and the employer thinks that he/she is doing a great favor by offering such a "high" rate!!!
      Most of the employers want number of writers to be part of their group so that the original project can get divided. Their strategy is to suck every drop of your blood for the least possible payout. And you will be surprized to know that when it comes to pay the amount, they never pay the said amount!!!!

      HIGHLY DISCOURAGED.....
      This is why writing articles for individuals should only be your first step. You have to expand into more lucrative ventures like article marketing, blog/site content creation and/or selling PLR articles, for example. Do not make the mistake of staying stuck writing individual articles for others indefinitely, because your income will never really increase by much if you stagnate in that phase.
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    • Profile picture of the author clint48
      I am not a writer, but I have never understood why a person would write articles for someone else. Why not use your own articles to build a list or sell a product. You would make more than $6.00 an hour. The reason people pay you to write for them is because they know they can make more from using your article than they are paying you.

      Clint
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      • Profile picture of the author x3xsolxdierx3x
        Has anyone here taken a trip over to Borders or Barnes and Noble (or Amazon) and looked for books about how to make more money writing online and offline? I've done quite well writing for lifetime residuals, however, I know there are ways to command much much higher rates.

        "The Wealthy Freelancer" and the "6-Figure Freelancing" are both pretty good books (so far)...lol
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        • Profile picture of the author Sarah S
          If you're really serious about writing for other people, I'd recommend checking out "Ghostwriting Cash" by Tiffany Dow and Craig Desorcy. I've found it to be extremely resourceful for people that really want to be successful as writers for internet marketers- and earn top dollar doing it.

          Just because other people are willing to write articles for pennies doesn't mean you have to sell yourself short. Your time and talents are worth much more than that, and internet marketers who are only willing to pay $1 for a ghostwritten article (ghostwritten, not PLR), have no respect for the writers who produce those articles.

          Everybody deserves to get paid fairly for their work, period.
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      • Profile picture of the author aandersen
        Originally Posted by clint48 View Post

        I am not a writer, but I have never understood why a person would write articles for someone else. Why not use your own articles to build a list or sell a product. You would make more than $6.00 an hour. The reason people pay you to write for them is because they know they can make more from using your article than they are paying you.

        Clint
        IMO, there many reasons.

        It's an easy way to break yourself into selling something online

        Some writers under value themselves and lack the confidence to make good money

        Some aren't entrepreneurial minded and have no desire to run an IM business (the feel the small writing income is good enough, and much easier)

        Some aren't very good writers and can't write content that actually makes money, so the sell their crap to people that buy in bulk for spamming the SEs

        Some use the service to get clients into their sales funnel and upsell more profitable products and services.


        I'm sure there are many more reasons, but I think above all others is instant gratification. If you write for yourself it can take time to see money coming in, but if you take a freelance job, you can be paid right then and there.

        Smarter writers eventually move on and start writing for themselves, while others stay in the rut of writing for others until they get burned out.
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        • Profile picture of the author StanCan
          Some people take advantage of the fact that a dollar goes a long way in third world countries. There will always be writers who'd take that rate and I see no end to this trend. If you're just starting out as a freelance writer, it's a bit hard to compete with workers who'd readily accept $.50 gigs.
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