What is wrong with my writing?

Not entirely your fault here, you just pulled in a customer who was looking for top quality articles for $15 bucks. It would obviously be presumptuous to assume I know what she wanted to use these for, but from her complaint and your writing I can guess that she was looking for something more descriptive.

Your writing is very basic, kind of read like a school essay actually. The details were not very good, points were repeated often, and the writing does nothing to invoke the imagery that piece like this should create.

Now, this isn't really your fault, that's not the kind of thing you should expect from a $5 article. If you intend to stay at that price point (and I never recommend that a writer does if they can help it), your writing style will work fine. 1 complaint out of 2,500 articles prove that. If you want to move up the ladder though, your craft is going to need a bit of work.

I agree, you get what you pay for. And if that's what you pay, you shouldn't expect a thesis

But take courage RyanGillam, I starter on Freelancer (which I suggest you rather use for finding jobs b.t.w) and I was frustrated not getting articles for more than $1-3 to write. I started getting lucky and got some $5 articles for reviews etc. Today, I don't write an article unless it's for myself, or it's for a customer that pays $50.00

That's my article and hourly rate (which is still too low for me).

You gotta value yourself and like Joe Robinson said, up your game, better yourself.

I would suggest you start to read Freelancing/writing blogs to help you better your craft and learn the business side of things. I am going to suggest some blogs you read (and I'm not spamminjg here):

Copyblogger
ReadWriteWeb and
Get Paid to Write

Google them. Some of these are close friends of mine and they'll take good care of you.

One complaint in 2.5k sales is perfectly acceptable. Remember you cant please everyone and that sometimes people have alterior motives for complaining.

Keep writing and most importantly keep honing your skills.

TC

I read your first article, as I am also writing articles of this type. Of course, I only have around 400 articles so far...so I have to keep improving my writing skills. It seems to me that the article is perfectly fine. I suppose she could have given you more exact details about what she really wanted from you instead of the harsh reply. But, as Joe said before, this is one single complaint in 2500 articles so...I understand you are feeling quite sad about it, but I think you did great!

I read your short article on Las Olas Isles.

I don't think it's worth $15, or even $5.

I think it's worth at least $25.

Raise your prices... and look for better clients outside Fiverr.com

The key is to find the clients who'll make more than $25 from your
work.

That's my advice

All success
Dr.Mani

I rarely disagree with Dr Mani. I have only read the first paragraph of the article on Las Olas Isles.

There is a punctuation error in the first sentence and a glaring error in the second sentence where you say the area has been "drenched". It might be underwater, but I doubt it.

Having said that, I don't think the article is in any way bad, or substandard for $4. I'd happily pay that for it, if it was my niche. I wouldn't pay $25 for it because, as someone else said, it kind of sounds like an essay.

You get what you pay for, and as everyone else said, 2500 happy customers can't be wrong!

Edit: PS - you can't be "incredibly" unique, "more" unique or anything else. Unique is unique. You can't qualify it!

I read the first article. One thing that jumped out at me was that you said "in my opinion" in the middle of the article. Generally, ghostwriters shouldn't inject their opinions into articles, unless:

1. You are 100% certain the business owner shares this opinion with you, and...
2. The business owner said it was ok to share opinions in the article.


That's just one thing in addition to all the other good advice you've already received.

Cheers,
Becky

I read the first article and thought it was pretty decent. Nothing amazing but I would be quite happy to pay $5 for it if it was my niche. I think you could probably up your price a little, try at least $10 next time and see how it goes.

To improve I think you could add a little flair to your writing to make it more interesting and enjoyable to read. Anyway, I think she was harsh and just wanted some free content.

If she had pay $50 for these articles then she would have a lot more right to complain!

I stopped reading after the first paragraph. have you got your figures right? 2500 articles in 3 months? That is around 27 per DAY. If you have been working this hard (not smart!) then it's small wonder that your quality has been hit.

Honestly, work less, work for more. work smarter

I can just back Dr Mani here. Try to come as quick as possible from Fiverr. The article looks way better to be priced as low as $5 a piece. Still you get only $4 for that piece right..

If you do not get a good freelancing platform you have to think of selling your services directly from your blog/website which makes more easier for your long term customers as well. By this way you can ignore those middle men and their confusing terms which do not protect you freelancers..

Thanks

I can just back Dr Mani here. Try to come as quick as possible from Fiverr. The article looks way better to be priced as low as $5 a piece. Still you get only $4 for that piece right..

If you do not get a good freelancing platform you have to think of selling your services directly from your blog/website which makes more easier for your long term customers as well. By this way you can ignore those middle men and their confusing terms which do not protect you freelancers..

Thanks

That is alot of work for $15.. man thats hard work.

Of the lower end (doesn't that sound negative?) writers asking for advice here lately, your writing is actually decent. I didn't read any of the articles you put up because the writing in your post tells the story. This sentence, for example:

"I have written over 2,500 articles between fiverr and other websites as well as companies I have approached myself in the local area."

I understand what you've said but you haven't said it as elegantly as it might have been. That comes down to proofing and editing. That sentence could be a lot clearer. I don't know how long it took you to write 2500 articles but I've been writing professionally for quite a while and I reach my limit at five or six articles a day. I think I once wrote nine in a day and I was pooped. My point is, it's not about quantity, it's about quality.

Another thing I see a lot is people trying to be something they're not. Your writing seems to have a sense of "forced authority" about it. I think this might be what fin is referring to. The trick to writing anything is to be yourself. I don't care what the topic is. You can almost always write it your way and still get the point across while pleasing the client.

People think that because they're getting paid they have to assume this air of respectability by sounding like professors or something. That's not the case. 99 percent of my writing is conversational and friendly in tone, even very serious stuff. And it never put clients off in the least because it very often makes dry material interesting and even fun.

What I'm talking about is finding your voice. Paul Myers has an excellent report on finding your voice. I don't know how you'd go about getting it other than signing up for his list or just asking him.

Another thing. Despite the issues you had with this client you're a better writer than someone who feels he needs to sell massive amounts of work for small money in the back alleys of the Internet. Get the hell off fiverr and those other bargain basement sites and start charging what your worth. Good luck.

Agreed with Kristabelle. I cant believe people do any writing like this for $5, that is such low compensation. Regardless of a few mistakes, 5 bucks is basically a coffee - she should be pretty darn happy.

Sorry to hear about this. In any industry, not just service, you are always at risk to get a bad customer.

I think this is the case with you. I usually filter out my customer by sending her a sample of my work before doing the full job. If the customer is happy with the sample that I sent her, I would start the work.

If not, then I will just move on. Don't be too harsh on yourself, move on and keep learning

it could just be a cheap customer. I didn't read the articles and I just assuming this based on your sentence structure in your post. Although it could use some work, you are still better than the majority.

I would still take this opportunity to brush up on your skills and read about grammar, sentence structure and overall writing tips to improve your game so that you never hear that again.

Good luck!

It could be that she's trying to cheat you for free work?

Your writing seems adequate for $5 an hour assignments.

Maybe this is yet another reason NOT to earn your income writing articles for internet marketers online???

Don't worry mate, you are good. Facing rejection is a part of every business, some people will like your service others won't. Don't let it become a big deal.

I understand harsh criticism can turn you off at times, but during these tough times remember your past successes and be grateful for the.
There are so many people here who aspire to write for living, but few of them can. Your numbers are impressive, you have written 2500 articles. Don't let small things bother you.

To your success
Anoop

1 negative feedback out of 20,000 is a pretty amazing ratio if it's true.

I for one have the same experience as yours when there are clients who out of the blue complain for the work delivered to them. It is part of the game. You are in the writing business. You should be tough in facing criticisms whether they maybe constructive or destructive. One thing is for sure, you can not please everybody. Even if you are the best writer in the world there will always be people who may not like your writing style.

I know such complain make you feel so low that you want to scream and shout for anger why on earth of all the clients you have, there is this one person who even bother to complain when 100% all the time you get praises. Well, this is the harsh reality. It is just you have experienced one of those days wherein you fail to deliver what the client expected under her own standards.

Just move forward. There will be other clients who will complain. This does not mean that it would be the end of the world and you stop writing. Make it as a stepping stone to improve your writing skills and learn more about how to write on a specific niche, and the terminologies use, etc.

You've already received a lot of good advice so I won't repeat what others have said.

One minor thing I notice in your articles is the frequent use of "very" and "really". I only notice this because it's one of the things I have to watch in my own writing. I find my articles read better if I go back and edit those words out as much as possible.

Rose

You wanted to know what is wrong with your writing. Here are some quotes from one of your articles to give you some ideas:

In this sentence you have a non-essential phrase, "commonly referred to as ‘The Venice of America’". Such phrases should be set off with quotes before and after. You have only the opening quote.

This statement is actually not true. Everybody was not ordered to tear down their home, as can be easily seen when you look at listings for that area. Many of the homes for sale were built in the 1940s. But in any event, if homes were ordered to be torn down, this is such an unusual occurrence that it requires explanation.

The phrase "plenty of more" is clumsy. You could say "more," or you could say "plenty of," or you could say "many" which is probably a better choice. Further, you have two ideas in this sentence, Mediterranean-Style versus unique properties, which would be better separated.

Again you are mixing things which really don't belong together. A property which sells for $900,000 is not in the same category as a house that sells for $10,000,000.

You say, "...but with what you are getting for your money it is no surprise that they are priced this high." Language can be used more efficiently. For instance you could say: "These homes provide exceptional value."

This gets a bit repetitive. Further, these sorts of superlatives (fantastic, wonderful, awesome) are so overused that they really don't communicate any information, so should generally be left out of your writing.

This is quite wordy. The phrase "both generally regarded as some of the best places to join" could probably be expressed more simply as "favorites."

A lot of fivver people are not going to like this, but she may be right. Without looking at your post, I wonder what kind of service you promised on your fivver ad. Did you say it was great, etc, then she has to expect it to be great. I bet you didn't say "I will give you $5 worth and that's it", so did you over promise a bit? I use fivver and if someone says it is the best, I expect the best or it is off to refund city I go. Yes, I am a hard guy, but I did not make the promise.

Well, I'm glad I happened to notice this and recognized the name RyanGillam. I have purchased several articles from you on Fiverr and I was always pleased. I also told my daughter about you and she purchased articles for our business also.

You have done a great job on the articles you wrote for us Ryan. All content that we buy is run by our editor and changes are usually made. This has been true for years and even back when our purchase price for articles was much higher. Sites like Fiverr have made it possible for us to purchase more articles from skilled writers at a very low price.

For her to get the articles at that price she should have known that they have not been edited. It is common sense. You have not over promised on your Fiverr gig. If anything you have over performed.

Don't let this one person discourage you. Keep writing. You are skilled and I think you must enjoy writing. We all have room for improvement...always! You will get better and better. Taking a class in writing can benefit just about anyone.

I still haven't figured out why people think that an article that probably took at least half an hour to write, is only worth $5, much less why anyone in their right mind would complain of such work not being perfect. Add in the time it took discussing matters with the client, editing, etc., and my God, really?

Even if you wouldve received the $15, is it really worth 1.5 hours of your time, especially vacation time? Personally I think you should raise your prices so your more likely to encounter clients that aren't "cheap", and appreciate the time and mental energy one puts into writing these articles. But that's just me.....

Don't doubt your gift because of one negative response!! Turn it into motivation to keep writing and improving. We all are a work in progress.

Hi,
Welcome to life, where, even Madonna has said if she's performing in front of 400,000 screaming fans and she overhears one person in the front row say 'how lame this ', she will obsess over it for days.
Life is like this; some people only talk in destructive words, some people use them deliberately for self entertainment, some people use them as part of their daily text but don't listen to what effect they might have.
Whether its deliberately cruel or not, these things are always a good hint to ask 'how can I lift the standard of what I do?'.
Writing is an art form, as such the main backbone if you like every writer should be asking is this, 'am I communicating what I wanted to, as efficiently and effectively as I intended?'

Its up to you if you want to write PHD type articles.

here's a hint; go to one of the article sites, I use textbroker.com and look at the section where a buyer can see the quality of writing they will get for each price point, its very interesting. To see the examples laid out like this is very clear where your own writing is at, or can aspire to be at if you want to earn the higher money.

I read scripts in hollywood for years, and about 1/2 of the 50,000 that come per annum look like the author never went to school, all of a sudden my efforts looked credible because I really tried to be as good as the best, where as a lot of folks just plain don't try.

There's nothing wrong with your writing. The problem is, some people out there just walk into your road with negative and destructive attitudes that could harm your feelings. Try to learn from here hard words and keep going, getting success, and if someone else comes with this kind of attitude, just ignorite.

My writer had the same issue too. She was ripped off 2 times before she told me. The best way to do it is to cancel such large order as soon as you get them. No point working with someone who wants heaven for 5$ and not to mention has a negative mentality.

I suggest that you read a book on copywriting. It will teach you how to write in a way that is more visual and enticing.

All in all your work is fine though. It would be above what I would expect if I hired someone to write for 5$.

Sometimes the people you can work with on fiverr can be less than impressive, I know the type. I would recommend trying to get 1-2 long term clients, that want a few articles a week, check out warriors for hire section.

Tell her you will give her a free article and in the PDF send the word B**CH.

lol.

Read through the article on Las Olas Isles and for the money it's fine. You say the client asked for 'formal and sophisticated'. I think you managed the former but sophistication takes research and rewriting both of which require time. And she wasn't really paying you for that time.

If I'd gone onto fiverr looking for someone to write to such a brief, I would have expected to do some polishing work on it myself. The fiverr fee would have covered research and laying down an outline; the sophistication I'd have to add.

In a nutshell, I think the client was either greedy or had unrealistic expectations. Make sure you retain the copyright on the article. You may be able to use it elsewhere.

I think your witing is very good. I don't think they should of refunded her money for the articles.

Seemed perfectly fine to me. I'm a writer. I thought maybe they could have been slightly more keyword optimized. Writing is a quantity, not quality, business. If you're making money, then you're doing it right.