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Contemplating the forget-me-nots
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When people embark on a
career* as a freelance writer there is often a dewy-eyed expectation of ‘the
writing life’. The elements change from person to person – apart from the money
part! – but the holy grail of freelancing is reaching a point where people
contact you to say they love your work and they want you to write for them.
It all began one sunny
afternoon when I was passing through LinkedIn, scattering comments like
wildflower seeds. I have a varied ‘community’ across a lot of different
business sectors but what links us is a fondness for humour and language.
Somewhere along the line I’d
said something funny and someone I didn’t know well responded to my comment
with a suggestion that I write for them. Before you can say ‘slide into my DMs’
we were thrashing out the details. At least, I was.
Day 1 Client tells me about
his business interests and his lifestyle. I check out his website and formulate
some ideas.
Day 1 I send the client two
draft pieces for them to consider and ask about their budget.
Day 7 I send a follow-up
message in case they had any queries.
Day 11 I check whether the
client wants me to send anything else.
Day 11 Client responds one
minute later to say they’ve been busy but they’ll read the content today.
Day 13 As there’s still no
response from the client about my content or their budget I thank them for
their time and move on.
Day 13 Client responds four
minutes later, says my work is very good and can they have my phone number.
Day 13 I ask the client what
their budget is per piece / word / project.
Day 13 Client replies: I
don’t set budgets I just say yes or no. (In my head I hear the voice of Lou
Grant.) Client prefers one of the two draft pieces and also compliments my
podcast work.
Day 14 I quote an
introductory discount rate for the finished piece, for first rights.
Day 14 Client replies
within the hour with a two-word response: Too high.
Day 14 A few hours
later I thank the client for their time move on.
Day 14 Client
responds fifteen minutes later: I think people that write have to realise that
small publications don’t have the readership or the income to afford material
like this so unless you’re willing to work for much less money, it just doesn’t
make sense.
Day 14 I thank client
for their response and remind them that I asked twice about their budget and
instead they left it open to me. I add that it doesn't make sense for me, as
working writer, to work for much less
money unless there are other drivers such as a longer-term arrangement,
doing it for fun instead (guess again), or if the organisation is a non-profit.
Then, with one eye on this blog post, I ask what rate they were hoping for.
They never respond again.
Now, it would be easy
and churlish to criticise a client for their response times, their lack of transparency
and their dismissive attitude towards working writers. It could be funny too,
but that’s not the intention here.
There could be
several reasons for the pricing disconnect:
1. Non-writers
think it takes very little time to write quality material
2. The
client was used to people writing for very little money
3. The
client thought that writers are ten-a-penny and someone else would do it for
the exposure
4. The
client was desperate
None of which are my
problem.
As a footnote, I
checked out their website, just to make sure my work hadn’t been appropriated,
and it’s no longer available.
If you’re on LinkedIn
and you’re looking for a writer, here’s where to find me:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/professionalwriter1/
*
May contain
traces of cynicism
