Avoid Being Underpaid

AVOID BEING UNDERPAID
This is where the real work of writing comes in. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be a journalist to do this. You just have to think like one. One caveat: many employers out there underestimate the time it will take for you to complete a writing project, because they don’t figure in enough time for research. Because of that, many potential clients have budgets that seriously low-ball you.


Many people are also working with a faulty paradigm: If an article is short, then it takes a writer less time to complete. The truth is, writing informatively and short can take even longer than rambling on and on. The 18th century British author Samuel Johnson famously delivered this apology to a correspondent: “I did not have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long one instead.”


Research and editing take time. If a potential client wants you to write five articles and pay you $100, turn him or her down unless they are a friend or you’re willing to take the work in order to build a portfolio. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself working for far less than minimum wage. I speak from hard-won experience.