The Article Writer

I had a slight interruption today, one that brought me to the eye doctor for a scheduled appointment. I am happy to report that my vision is good and I should be wearing a new pair of glasses within a few days. I also sprung for prescription sunglasses — my first pair ever — as I have light blue eyes and the Carolina sun is intense! So, no more “off the shelf” sunglasses for me.

Personally, I use eyeglasses chiefly for driving and for watching television. Beyond that, I don’t use them to look at my laptop’s screen, but I do know enough to look away from the screen frequently to avoid eye strain. My optometrist was pleased to hear that I do just that.

Admittedly, I should have seen the eye doctor well before today. I don’t have any serious eye problems, but eyes can give a doctor an idea about other problems that may be going on within your body, not just eye problems. Diabetes and high blood pressure are two areas that are made manifest during a routine eye exam.

So, if you haven’t had a vision check in some time, do yourself a favor and set up your next appointment sooner rather than later.

I have been writing professionally now for nearly 15 years. The first 11 years I worked as a technical writer for an aviation company, then I started my own business after being laid off from that company. Even prior to that time I wrote newsletters for a nonprofit entity for three years and have always had my hand in some sort of business or personal writing. In short, I am no novice to the world of writing.

Initially, I marketed myself as a technical writer while establishing myself in the realm of web design. Eventually, I tossed the technical writer side of my business and began to slowly concentrate on creative and business writing, specifically for freelance work. Today, as it is probably apparent to mostly everyone, my chief work is article writing for web sites, ezines, and print publications. Sprinkle in the occassional web content writing work and all of this makes up the bulk of my writing work.

People Usually Come To Me

Much of my work comes from people who discover my web site, read samples of my work, and decide to contact me for a quote. Typically, these people are my best customers as they have a pretty good grasp about what I do, the subjects I cover, and the amount that I charge.

On the other hand, I also supplement my customer base with customers I find through a certain online freelance site — Guru.com — and therein lies some of the most challenges. Specifically, because that site is so huge, the quality of the jobs and the people who post them can be all over the place.

Lowballers Are A Killer

You have the bottom feeders who want you to crank out a massive amount of articles for just a few bucks each as well as serious candidates who are looking to build up their business through quality web content and more. It is this latter category of “employers” I aim to work with, but not all of them are what they say that they are either.

In all things, I try to maintain my sense of humor as there is little in life worth getting upset over. Still, I marvel at some of the comments I receive from potential clients, especially when coming to grips over setting a price.

The following are some of the not-so-favorite comments I have received regarding work:

“I don’t have much money to spend, so please keep that in mind when placing your bid.”

Translation: I want high quality work, but I don’t want to pay you for it.

“Please rework your bid. My last person wrote these same reports for $95.”

Comments: Perhaps that is why this person no longer works for you. Too little bit of money for too much work.

“Do I get a discount if I order more articles?”

Answer: Um, any discounts I may have given to you are already included in the price.

“I need these articles in a hurry. I apologize for not telling you ahead of time. Can you do them this weekend?”

Translation/Comments/Answer: No, no, no! Seriously, poor planning on your part doesn’t make it an emergency on my part. I rarely work on projects through the weekend. I have a family and “emergency projects” intrude on the time that I spend with them. Please explain your “emergency” to my wife and children.

Some of the funniest projects I see listed involve those where it is obvious that the person wants a job done for a few dollars and isn’t too concerned about grammar, writing skills, etc. At least they are honest: poor quality is acceptable for them.

Now, if I could only convince the bargain seekers to stick with quality from the get-go…

From time to time an opportunity to take on new assignments comes forward. In actuality, I am asked on a regular basis to accept various projects, but I generally turn them down especially if I am in the midst of a long term assignment as I have been for most of this calendar year.

Still, it is kind of nice to be wanted [smile] and there are times when a project is small enough and interesting enough to bid on. Just recently, I accepted two new assignments and one of them has already been completed and forwarded to the client. I might add that my new customer was delighted with my work and will be using me again shortly.

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