I believe I have touched on this topic before in one of my earlier freelancing articles. As I advertised and hired freelancers either for my own business or on behalf of my clients, I came across unrealistic freelancers who demands. Yes, you heard it right, demands. Here are some of the ridiculous requests / unrealistic claims from freelancers.
Disclaimer: Mind you, I am a freelancer as well, and I know how tough it is to protect yourself and still remain competitive, but some of the below requests just made my jaw drop.
“I am inexperienced as a writer, but I have been blogging all my life. I think I deserve a rate of USD$25 for a 500-word article.”
First of all, there is no such thing as you deserve a certain amount because it is all about demand and supply. Even you think you are good enough to command a certain amount, please don’t tell it to your clients’ face in your cover letter. Rule of the thumb, if you don’t demand in your CV to a real world potential company, you don’t demand as a freelancer as well. At least not until you crossed the first interview.
“I love writing. I have been blogging for many years. No, I don’t have any samples to show you, and sorry I can’t reveal my blog because it is personal.”
I prefer freelancers to be upfront with their work samples. If you are as passionate and as good as you claim you are, you will not worry about showcasing your work to potential clients. In the freelancing world, you need to know how to sell yourself and without your showcase, how would clients know what they are paying for. In the business world, it is so competitive out there, there is no time for trial and error.
“I owned several mobile phones, and I always change my iPhone once every year. I am the most suitable person to write a technical article for you.”
This is the same goes for statements like I recently got married, so I qualify to write for wedding articles, or I love travelling so I can write great travel articles. Loving something doesn’t mean that you can be a writer or even auto-qualify you as a great writer. It is great that you have passion on the topics that you write, it also means that it not a chore to you but this does not justify high pay demands.
“I am e most prolific writer in my school, and I has win a lot of award in xx and yy. I thot yr blog is wonderful and i hope you gave mi a chance to write for u.”
Good for you! I love to give new writers a try as long as they come with the right attitude. However, as mentioned earlier, submit your cover letter to me as for how you will present your resume to a potential employer. That means your English in your cover letter, and email will be judged by me. No slang, no spelling mistakes, no grammar errors and no short forms or abbreviations. It just shows how contradicting of your claims to be an award-winning writer versus your use of the language.
“I can only submit 5 articles per week, and if you have any urgent work needs to be completed, it has to be less than 500 words, with a given deadline of at least 48 hours and extra charge of USD$10 on top of my usual fee. I can only be contacted during 9 am to 3 pm (my time) otherwise, your replies will only be attended tomorrow. Your payment needs to be within 12 hours of my article submission. Otherwise, I will refuse to work with you further. Don’t waste my time if you are not looking for a serious writer.”
Freelancing is all about flexibility for both freelancers and clients. It is not hard to vision that we will not be able to collaborate well in the long run. Don’t put yourself out there as desperate but don’t make it impossible for us to hire you either.
“I ghostwrite for Forbes, National Geographic, New York Times, Vogue and Esquire. I will write for you for USD$50 every 500 words. Please do not waste my time to negotiate my fees.”
Great that you are upfront about your fees being non-negotiable, it saves me time from guessing your rates as well. That being said, I don’t think you are that good a writer as you said you are because if you are a great writer, the companies that you claimed you are ghostwriting for, will have hire you to be in their team of permanent writers. USD$50 is not a realistic amount for a general writing genre when anyone can hire 5 freelance writers with that amount or even better, a professional writer sitting in our office. Unless you specialised in rare topics such as medicine or law or botany that require in-depth knowledge of the subject, I’m afraid your rates are out of the league with genres like romance, travel, IT, fashion and lifestyle. FYI – these are the genres that generate most work.
What are your thoughts on the above? Please do share them in the comments below.
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MiddleMe 
I’m an Indi Author of suspense novels, and short stories.. I absolutely love to write.. I’ve only been blogging for a few months, and have recently began to toy with the idea of freelancing. To be honest I don’t have a clue on where to even start, so this post is extremely helpfull!! I love it, and am sharing to keep on my page for refrence 😍😎. .. thanks for the tips! … oh and happy Valentines Day!!
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Thank you so much, Didi! And your comment made my day! I always love to help others out whenever they are in need. There are plenty of freelancing articles in my website, please feel free to browse through all of them to get a great start to your freelancing career!!
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Thanks!! I definitely will! 😄
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Reblogged this on Didi Oviatt and commented:
An excellent read about freelancing!
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Nice article. Reminds of a company where I interviewed for the post of a content writer.They rejected me saying that I don’t have any idea about the tools used in this business. I know it’s hard to come up with original content all the time, and most people are either paraphrasing or spinning text using different software/tools available online. The funniest part of this story was the email they send me to confirm my availability for interview. It had tons of grammar and spelling mistakes. At least I write error free articles.
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Haha. That’s really funny. I don’t think tools are 100% reliable and creativity is still dependable largely on human.
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Thanks so much! You have no idea how timely this info is for me. I am aiming to earn money with my writing skill but, having a hard time finding my niche. The reality is my passion is in delivering the message, but, in the process, money is a necessity if for nothing else for proof of the effectiveness of the message. Do I make sense?
Have now changed the title of my blog to Mental Insanity–Innovative Approach to Conquer It. I am building & preparing to launch my marketing but have not clear in my mind yet exactly what is it that I am doing. Duh! Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Much love, thiaBasilia. 🙂 BTW How is Princess Audrey? Email me, keep in touch.
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Hey, Thia!! You totally make sense to me. 🙂 As for your marketing, you could do a survey on your target audience to see what they would like to look for in your blog. That will help you greatly in your directions and set goals for your blog as well. Audrey is growing up, big and strong!! She’s eating every hour and I’m a walking zombie cow! Haha!
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Are you insinuating weight gain? No Problem! Apple Cider Vinegar & Honey. Quinoa, coconut flakes, avocados lots of fruit & vegetables.
Organic everything going in your belly, instead of SUGAR, rice or bread.
Coconut, avocado, olive oils. Lemon water first thing in the morning!
Hahaha! Incurable wanted be a ‘doctor’! xo xo xo!!!
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Your diet advice couldn’t come at a better time. Thank you so much, Thia!! I’m downing a lot of fruits and veggies.
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You wouldn’t believe what happened to me yesterday. Suddenly! I was not feeling good at all! Migraine! No migraines for 10 years or more. Why now? Couldn’t keep my eyes open. In the past I would have run to the emergency, it was that bad but! I talked to Father, “You are my Healer. You know what is going on with my body and You know why? I wait on Your direction.”
Before I got ill, I had been taking honey, lots of it. Plus turmeric and all those great things that have been benefitting me but, I read about a mixture of turmeric, ginger and cinamon. So, in my eagerness to get super healthy, I boiled the mixture Store it in a big jar I began to drink cup after cup of it. Ah! This will be the magic cure for all my ills until…my head began its act! hahaha!
After my plea with Father, It came to me not to eat but to drink hot water only. After a while? Fix a cup of hot water a little coffee and a tea spoon of apple cider vineger! Wow! I’m good as new now!
The moral of the story? Your body will tell you what it needs. Yeah, all those things I mentioned are excellent. Just listen to your body as to the amounts.
Better yet, Fear not. Call on high. Father is in you and with you. He’ll show you the way! That I am sure to say! Much love, thiaBasilia 🙂
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Great post!
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Thank you!!!
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You are welcome, Kally!
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Great article! Thank yiy
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Thank you! (Autocorrect isn’t helpful sometimes)
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Thank you, Charlene!! And welcome to MiddleMe!!
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Thank you for sharing this out!! Have a Happy Monday!
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Great article. I’ve been freelancing for a little over 5 years now and I’ve never approached anyone like that. It’s amazing that anyone that has that kind of approach gets any business.
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Thank you! I’m happy that you have enjoyed the article. Welcome to MiddleMe, fellow freelancer!
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These examples are a hoot. You did great job of collecting a sample of what has probably been sent to you. They illustrate a point much better than mere explanation could accomplish. Thanks for sharing them with us.
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Thank you for the encouragement. I love to publish articles that are useful to my readers.
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Reblogged this on Alessandria today.
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Very helpful.
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Appreciate your comment, Nissi.
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