Presenting...

Complete Writing Solutions


That's right, ladies and gentlemen. November 1st is here. Evy's birthday was last night, I made some home-made biscuits and gravy with Bulgarian sausage this morning, and just finished putting on the finishing touches of the actual website to make it for today's official launch deadline.

The launch of Complete Writing Solutions ties into our plans for expansion in 2010. The last two years have seen my freelance business grow significantly, and Evy and I are going to be working together in conjunction with her many other projects to move Creative Writing Solutions further into the global market. Specifically, in 2010, we are going to be offering Bulgarian-to-English translations, English-to-Bulgarian translations, and I will be focusing on moving the company into the Bulgarian market, which right now is poised on the brink of the digital era. Many companies still do not offer website services, and Complete Writing Solutions is going to change that. What the company has done for clients around the world for the past two years we are now going to target for this part of Europe.

I chose the name Complete simply because it is not just a content writing website. Along with offering content for people's websites, the company will also offer consultations, freelance writing tips, links to some of the hottest topics in the market, translations (dependent upon who we end up hiring who can speak other languages), journalism, print, and a whole slew of "compete" writing solutions for the globally-aware client who is looking to diversify and expand into the 21st century, away from the centuries-old-fashioned industry that has been bogged down in trying to compete with the digital explosion of media.

The website is still in its infant stages, but we've got some big plans :) In any case, from here on out this blog will be transitioning into my personal blog only, and my freelance business will be linked entirely to the Complete Writing Solutions website.

Enjoy, and I hope to see you there in the near future!

The World is Your Oyster: Part Six

It's been a couple of months since I've written one of my "World is Your Oyster" posts, and I figured it was time to dive back into it.

Recently I have been discussing the topic of digital media and the Location Independent Lifestyle with a lot of different people. The Internet has changed the face of the world not only on a communication level, but also on a business level. As I've discussed in previous posts on the topic, you (the person working in the digital age in digital media, regardless of its form) are no longer simply competing with people in your same town/city, state, or even country. College degrees exist in nearly every country in the world, and as long as someone has the relevant qualifications it doesn't matter if they live in the US, Canada, Australia, the Philippines, some coastal town in Scotland, a hut in the middle of some unheard-of South Pacific island, or kicked back on the beach in Milan or somewhere in Montenegro.

Digital media has opened the doors for people on a world-wide basis. You are no longer locked into the concept of "I have to live in X to take advantage of Y". As I've expanded my base of operations over the past couple of years, and through my travels as well, I have come across a wider and broader range of people who are taking advantage of working in digital media by living and working in countries far removed from their country of origin.

And contrary to popular belief, it doesn't always have to deal with the tax benefits of living and working abroad. Quite possibly the best part about the LIP lifestyle is the fact that you can live anywhere, as long as their is an Internet connection, and take advantage of the same wage you made back in your home country, but such a drastically reduced cost of living that you can literally spend your hard-earned money on things that you can appreciate now...not in 30/40/50 years when your house is paid off and you can finally retire.

I regularly meet people now who are from the UK, America, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and otherwise, who work from countries where the cost of living is a fraction of what it is back in their homeland. People who make 60k+ a year, but in their home country, 55k of that goes towards living conditions and taxes. Now they live outside of their home country and their hard-earned paychecks go towards what they want, because their cost of living is negligible.

I talk about our own situation quite frequently because it's proof of how this works. Our living expenses are less than 1,000 USD per month. In fact...they are about half of that, INCLUDING entertainment. And yet we have the *same* amenities we had back in the US and were costing us 4500+ a month while living in Colorado in a 40+ year old apartment.

One of my favorite websites on the topic, Location Independent talk about this regularly on their website and blog. They chronicle their journey since they first started the lifestyle back in 2007, about a year before Evy and I started doing similar. I actually wasn't even aware of their website until a few months back, but since then I've become an avid fan and I promote the concept to everyone I talk to, and I regularly meet people who are involved.

If you are lucky enough to work in digital media, it's worth looking into. Don't be fooled into thinking that you have to live in a country where your cost of living is 50k+ a year for as a couple, or 25-30k as an individual. You can live quite comfortably in another country for literally a fraction of what it costs to do so in a Western country, and you can enjoy the benefits of frequent travel, a paid-for home LONG before you are 60, and plenty of time/money to enjoy your life now, while you are still young and in your prime.

I highly suggest you read the aforementioned website/blog, because it is extremely informative on how the world really is your oyster.

A hard decision

Today, I came to a crossroads. It was the first time in my freelance career that I have determined that a particular client, who has been incredibly fun to work for, is no longer a viable option for me to continue working with. While the exposure has been great, as I progress in my career I simply cannot afford to work for clients who pay a wage which is below what I consider to be my minimum standards.

It was a difficult decision. I have literally spent the last week determining whether or not it was worth it to continue writing for this particular client, because I do enjoy the work, and they have been very good to me over the past few months. However, it comes down to simple numbers, and as a businessman first and foremost, I simply cannot continue at the present rate of compensation.

This morning was spent drafting a letter of thanks to the editor of the publication, as well as a request for a higher rate of pay. If the publication is unable or unwilling to compensate me accordingly, I simply let them know that I would respectfully be moving on, and that I hold their publication in the highest regards.

It's difficult making such decisions. You obviously want to keep your professional relationships at the highest standards possible. Burning bridges is not something you want to go around doing with regularity. And if you do your job correctly ( which any writer worth his salt will), then your request/resignation will read well enough that the client understands that it's nothing personal, it's just simply business. In this case, I really don't want to burn the bridge, but I simply can't continue working for exposure combined with a ridiculously low wage.

It's not simply about meeting your financial needs. It's about climbing the ladder of your chosen profession. Everyone starts out at the bottom and works their way up. Monetary compensation is simply the first step in moving up the rungs. I started out as a grunt pushing a broom when I was a teenager working for my dad's company for 8 dollars an hour. By the time I was 22 years old I was making 25 dollars an hour. By the time I was 24 I was making 35 dollars an hour, and I started my own company. By 2007 I was making 400-500 USD a day. It's just the rules of advancement. They hold true no matter what the career is. As you gain more experience, you earn more money.

So, while it was a hard decision to write a letter to an editor and put an ultimatum on the table, at the same time it's for the better. My career is advancing, and I am not simply writing for the exposure. My resume has expanded exponentially over the last year, and I am to the point now where I am no longer considered a fresh-faced newbie, and the rates adjust accordingly. It's nothing personal against past publications, it's just that the wages need to be acceptable according to national averages based upon the level of experience. It's business.

Possesions: Do you possess them, or do they possess you?

Life. It's meant to be enjoyed.

I find inspiration in the posts that Cinzia and her sister make over at Stile Mediterraneo. However, I had long been aspiring towards the "Mediterranean" style of life even before I was aware of their site. Only to me, growing up as an American, it was known less as the "Mediterranean" lifestyle and more of simply an idyllic way of life that I had no title for, but simply aspired towards.

There is has been raging debate going on over at the Freelance Writing Gigs website for the past week or so that is directly related to working smarter, not harder, and how to determine what your rates should be as a freelance writer. I think the debate is rather silly, because the driving factor behind the vast majority of writers is not their self worth, but the illusion of self worth directly related to their addiction to consumption and letting their possessions control their lifestyles.

"Anything you cannot relinquish when it has outlived its usefulness possesses you, and in this materialistic age a great many of us are possessed by our possessions." - Mildred Lisette Norman

This is the crux of the issue. There are a great many people who have devolved to the point that they no longer enjoy life simply because it is worth living; rather, they enjoy life only so long as they are able to have all of the gadgets, expensive cars, SUVs, wide-screen TVs, dinner's out, and so on and so forth. And it is this addiction to possessions, this addiction to consumption, that drives the debate as to what is an acceptable rate.

But how does rate of pay have anything to do with working smarter, not harder, or your standard of living?

Simply this: if you eliminate the addiction to consumption, the addiction to un-necessary possessions, and the addiction to all of the useless "things" which make up your life, you eliminate a vast majority of the things which were forcing you to work so hard in the first place.

Now, I'm not saying you can't have the finer things in life, or enjoy modern amenities. What I am getting at is too many people associate "success" (rate of pay/amount you make per year) with working "smart". They couldn't be further from the truth.

Working smart is done by eliminating those things which force you into a situation where you no longer are able to enjoy life, but are simply a slave to the wage. Everyone has to make a living, yes, but what is the cost?

The recent post Cinzia made regarding the siesta really brought it home for me. I may not live in the Mediterranean region (a few hours away, sadly), but my wife and I were having this very discussion last night because we feel that we very much subscribe to the Mediterranean way of life. We talked about how it's not important to us to make millions of dollars. We would rather spend time with friends, family, and enjoy life and the experience rather than being slaves to the clock, to the hourly wage, to the 40 hour a week work week with only 1 paid week's vacation every year. We were talking about how her mother is one of those individuals who is addicted to "worth". All she ever talks about is work. Period. There is no simple enjoyment of life. She never just goes to the park and enjoys the simple beauty of the flowers, the smell of the blooms, the comfort of the shade on a hot summer's day. Her world is a world of numbers, of business contracts, of whether or not the company is making a profit. (which it is; they recently opened their 16th store and the company is worth over 16 million Euro at present) And the writers I see over at the Freelance Writing Gig website are the same. They are consumed with an addiction to possess, to such a degree that they are unable to enjoy life unless they are working for X dollars per hour/article/whatever, just in order to make ends meet.

In recent months my wife and I have had people suggest that we are lazy. Her mother, for one, and several other writers I deal with at various community sites. I have seen people criticize the Mediterranean lifestyle because "those types of people never accomplish anything with their lives".

It is those kinds of statements which show me that the person behind the statement is addicted to consumption. Their possessions are possessing them. Their sole existence is based purely upon a need to have the next new shiny, to make X dollars per hour, to make more than their peers, to always make another dollar or another hundred dollars, just so they can say "look at me!"

How is simple enjoyment of life lazy? How can it be, when people like myself and others still enjoy all the modern amenities that the 21st century have to offer, but simply chose to work half the hours and spend the rest of our time enjoying friends, family, atmosphere, travel, LIFE?

Why is it lazy to have a siesta in the afternoon? Why is it lazy to go home, have a long, relaxing lunch with your friends and family? Why is it lazy to walk instead of drive a 60 thousand dollar SUV? Why is it lazy to aspire towards working only 4-5 hours a day rather than 8-10?

I would argue that it is not lazy, it is simply being smart, and working smarter, not harder. The Mediterranean lifestyle is about enjoying life. Taking pleasure in the simple things like friends, family, food, relaxation.

There was a recent post made by a writer (whose name I won't mention here) over at the aforementioned site where she said that "I'm sorry, but working for less than 30k a year just doesn't cut it for me. If I can't make at least 65k a year, then I'm doing something wrong, and there is no way in hell I would ever work for so little because I am worth far more than 30k a year".

The statement attached a self-worth to her identity. But where did she derive at the 65k mark? How did she determine that is what she was "worth" per year? The determining factor is her possessions. She cannot survive for less than 65k USD a year because she has placed herself in a position where the only way she can get by, year after year, is if she makes 65k. If she makes any less than that she can't afford the house she lives in, the car she drives, the Blackberry and the iPhone and the iPod and the 50 inch flat-screen plasma TV and the Starbuck's lattes (she admits that she does her work every day at Starbucks) and all of the trinkets and gadgets which make up her daily existence, and without which she would be unable to function.

Note that I don't say unable to live. I say unable to function. She is a person whose possessions have come to possess her, to the point that her self worth is directly related to the value of the possessions which she has surrounded herself with.

Now, understandably, some people's professions revolve around possessions. Some people can't work without a computer. I'm one of those people who can't work without the Internet, so in a way, I am driven by my need for a computer, and an Internet connection. But the difference is that I don't have to do my work at Starbucks. I can do it from home. I don't need a Blackberry and an iPhone to do my job; I get by on a home computer and a cheap little 100 dollar cell phone. I don't need to work a 40 hour a week job because Evy and I chose to move to an environment where we could pay for all of our expenses and costs of living by only working a few hours a day, thus leaving the rest of the day completely open to enjoy the little things in life, like siestas, fine wines, walks in the park, and daily walks around the city.

At the end of the day, take a good, long look at your life. Do you enjoy life to its fullest, or are you a slave to your possessions? Do you enjoy siestas every afternoon, or are you a slave to the 40 hours a week mentality that requires you to be in the office from 9 to 5 every day, with a 30 minute lunch break and a week's paid vacation once a year?

At the end of the day the only person standing between you and success is you. You choose to make your life what it is. If you choose to live in conditions that require you to make 80k a year to make ends meet, then that is your choice, and you have no one to blame but yourself if you are unable to make 80k a year to make ends meet. Your peers have nothing to do with your rates, or your worth. Only you can determine what your "worth" is, and how hard or how smart you decide to work.

Me, I prefer working smarter, not harder. I prefer to enjoy vacations year-round, not just once a year. I prefer taking siestas in the afternoon after a healthy meal with my wife, enjoying a nice bottle of wine before settling into a cozy little nap. I enjoy my possessions, but they do not control me.

I do not suggest that you have to give up the things which define you, or that you have to move overseas to find simplicity in your life. Simply be aware that if you let your possessions define who and what you are that you are no longer in control of your life, but rather are obeying the whims of your obsessions.

Do your possessions control you, or are you in control of your destiny?

Content generation vs. prose

Sunday morning, and I'm in the middle of cooking our breakfast. The week went by good. I had a decent freelance project last week, and I have a full week's-worth of work lined up for next week as well.

Today, I'm finalizing the last revision on a short story for an editor, and getting it sent back in. After that, I have a couple of articles to work on for tomorrow's deadline, and I am in the planning phase for a short story that I'm working on next week. Sadly, chapter work will have to wait, as this sequel request takes priority. Paid work vs. spec work, and all that :)

This week I have a good project 450 dollar project from my UK client that should keep me busy for a few days, and I'm hoping to get some Demand Studios time in as well (I love Demand Studios for a fast turnaround. They always pay within 5-7 days of your content getting approved; I just haven't had the time to dedicate to working with them in the past few weeks).

I made a post a couple of days ago on one of the community forums I browse as to whether or not content generation is "real" writing.

It's a paycheck. I like to think of it as Sir Laurence Olivier thought about the movie industry. He loathed movies, because he felt they lacked the depth of character that the stage traditionally held. But he was willing to do the movies because the paychecks were in movies, not in theatre. I feel the same way. Content generation is for the most part bland, boring, and is basically just doing re-writes. I'd say 60% of what I do is re-writes, 30% is original content, and 10% is SEO work (I may have mentioned these numbers before; I lose track of personal blog posts and community blog posts sometimes). The re-write projects are typically no-brainer work, but it has a healthy paycheck attached. I've loved the original content I've been able to do, as it's always been the most fun, but I value paycheck more than I do the "fun" factor of an article. I've been averaging 25 dollars an hour now for quite some time (if I throw in 1 Demand Studios article per day), and I just recently started using Dragon NaturallySpeaking a couple of weeks ago, and as I've trained it, it has roughly the same accuracy rating as my typing. My numbers are going up as well, and the product claims that when you have it trained, and you learn all the nuances, your work productivity will go to 3x or 4x what you could type.

So far, I'm impressed. And it saves my wrists. Over the end of the week I was comfortably using the program and was completing 450 word re-write articles in about 7-10 minutes...let's say 10 minutes max, with editing included. I get paid 6 dollars per for 500 word articles, so at the current rate, I can do 5-6 of those in an hour...which is up from my 2-3 previously, which means I've DOUBLED my productivity using this text-to-speech program. I will also argue vehemently with anyone who claims that you can't write quality content in 10 minutes. This is re-write materiel, folks. It's not rocket science, it's not breath-taking prose, it's not poetry...it's generic, re-write content that doesn't have to be pretty. In any case, I've gone from making 20ish bucks an hour on these, to being able to do 30+ dollars an hour with fairly reliable ease, and I haven't even finished learning the program. I'm chuckling right now at all those arrogant writers who claim you can't make money working for less than 30 dollars per 500 word article, and that anyone who takes less than an hour to write one is a hack.

I'm doing this for the paycheck. I write short stories for the art-form of writing. I'll finish my novel (hopefully) around Christmas, and depending on how much I get for an advance, (probably 3-5k, but if I'm lucky.....), I'll likely continue doing the freelance content part-time for the next 2 years or so while I work on establishing myself as a full time author. I don't plan on transitioning instantly; I don't believe in blind luck. In the meantime, I'm making a healthy 1500-2k a month working a few hours a day, and I'm only in my first 18 months as a freelance writer. Statistics show that I should be able to double that wage in the next 2 years, but with the global climate as it is...we'll just have to wait and see.

In the meantime...it might be dirty and inglorious at times, and I might prefer fiction work, but the fiction work isn't paying the bills right now. And until it does, I'll be sticking to the content generation and random original pieces to pay the bills and keep us going.

To outsource, nor not to outsource?

I feel guilty when I turn down work. However, I also know it's a good sign when my clients are coming to me with rush orders, because that means I've built up a solid reputation as the go-to guy, the one who gets it done, on time, with superior quality, and without fail.

I've been maxed the last couple of months. Today I've had two separate rush orders offered to me, and I've begun to wonder if I shouldn't start outsourcing some of my freelance work to other, budding writers who, like myself once upon a time, are desperate to find work. I wouldn't be able to pay that great, but some pay is better than no pay for a starting writer. And it's writing credits, even if they are only ghost-writing.

However, I swore after my last business in construction that I would never own a company ever again, and the moment you start outsourcing and having employees, you go from being self-employed to being an employer, and that turns into a business.

I like money, but I also like my freedom. Decisions, decisions.

A distrubing trend.

On the continuation of yesterday's post, I began thinking about another dangerous trend in today's industry.

The Self Published Writer.

Now, not every self published writer is inherently bad. Some people choose to self publish simply because they want to get their book straight out to the readers, rather than deal with the middle man. And some of them are good enough writers to pull it off. But there are others--a frighteningly large percentage--who have no right being published in any sense of the word.

Established publishers serve a purpose. They can market your book, for starters. Even shitty writers (we've all read them) can make millions, simply because their agent was able to negotiate a sweet marketing deal with the publisher. Publishers can also take a huge weight off of your shoulders, dealing with all of the "little things" that happen between the book coming off of your printer and hitting the shelves of your local bookstore. That's why they take a percentage of your profits.

As a little guy, you don't have much negotiating room. As you become more established, you gain more leverage. This is no different than every other industry in the world. Start small, work your way up the chain, become big man on totem pole. Huff puff.

Professional publishers also serve another purpose: they have staff on hand who not only know what they are doing when it comes to editing, but they are passionate about the subject matter. Let me give you an example. An editor for Tor, for example, is passionate about fantasy work. An editor for Baen Books is more towards science fiction. A publisher for Bantam will depend on the genre of the story being written. The point is, you don't want your fantasy story being edited by an action-adventure spy-thriller editor, or your science-fiction story being edited by a children's story editor. By using the proper channels you can insure that your story is being read by an editor who not only understands the subject matter, but can help you mold your story into professional fare that will earn you a readership base, a nice chunk of change, and a return visit to the publisher when your book pays off.

Self published writers skip that step. They dump their product onto the market and more often times than not...it's trash. Pure drivel. And the sad thing is that these same authors will suddenly jump up and claim "I'm a published author!".

I recently saw a woman who said "I have 28 publications to my name". I went and did some research. Not a single title was published by a professional publication. Every single title was a self-published e-book. Now, I'm not familiar with her writing, but the fact that she had pushed out 28 novels in the course of a mere 5 years cause me to shake my head and just simply boggle. that's over 5 novels per year, and I'm sorry to be judgemental, but I find it highly circumspect that her novels were of a high calibre.

As someone who is established in the journalism, magazine and website articles, and content generation portion of the modern-day industry, I can appreciate that it is often times difficult to break into a certain market. I may be a successful writer, but there are still areas of the industry that I am not established in yet, and it may very well take several tries before I move into those parts. But I'm also not one of those people who believes in self-publishing. I know my limitations. I'm a good writer. Perhaps even a great writer. But every great writer needs a great editor behind them, pushing them to be better, helping them hone their craft, weed out mistakes, and so on and so forth. I fully believe in hiring editors, just as I always hired an accountant to do my taxes for me when I ran a construction company. Every person has a unique job that they can cover, and I'm not afraid to pay a professional to do their job. In fact, I want the professional overseeing my work because I want to know that my work is being judged on a professional level...not purely by my own, jaded opinion.

I think ego plays some part of it. I'm guilty of it myself. Every writer thinks their project is "special". Some writers will go so far as to say "I don't care if no one else gets it...it's a good project, and I want it published!", subsequently pushing out 28 novels in 5 years without a single professional editor ever taking a glance at it.

As someone who is beginning to branch out into the fiction world, I submit to a lot of publications, world-wide. I recently did a blind submit to a magazine and them immediately regretted my decision when a couple of days later I read up on his publication. The guy is a self published author of three novels who started a fiction magazine a couple of years ago and self publishes the fiction magazine as the acting editor in chief, art director....and the only guy on the staff. I have to wonder at the credibility of such a publication when there is no professional guidance being given to the owner/operator. He is basically running willy-nilly through the brush with his undies on fire, claiming that there's no such thing as flame.

So, in closing...while a bad editor is indeed an atrocity, a professional editor is your saving grace.

Should your blog posts be indicative of your professional style?

There was a topic posed the other day over at Freelance Writing Gigs, a community I troll quite frequently, and the question raised was: should your blog posts be as "perfect" as your professional work?

I am of the opinion that no, casual blog posts should not be referenced as being in the same calibre as professional work. If I am writing for someone else's blog, I am going to take the time to weed out repetitive word usage, grammatical errors to the best of my ability, and make it look as shiny and yummy as possible. Why? Because I'm getting paid to do so. My personal blog is just that...personal. I invite people to stop in, take a look, discuss things, and get to know the man behind the name.

In my previous profession, if a homeowner questioned me regarding the way I swept a floor, or how I laid out my tiles, or questioned why a certain piece of tile or stone looked a certain way, my response was always the same: this isn't the finished product. Wait until it's all installed, fully grouted, and your amenities in place. Then it's finished. But until it's finished it's impossible to judge what it's going to look like in the end, because it's (that's right, you guessed it!) not finished!

If a person happens upon my blog and bases an opinion about whether or not the quality of my written work is up to their standards based purely upon my casual blog posts, then chances are they aren't the type of client I want to be working for in the first place. I clearly have a list of links up on the right-hand side which reference some of my professional works, and I also have a resume that is ready upon request for those clients who want to have a full list of my short stories and published content. A blog is not a substitute for a resume/CV. Any employer worth their salt knows this.

Now, one could argue that in the social networking era we live in today that employers are looking at your Facebook, your Twitter, your MySpace, and your blog, and basing their opinion on whether or not to hire you dependent upon who you are as a person. I've heard horror stories of people not getting jobs because one of their best friends sent them a racy video via Facebook involving a titty joke, and not getting a job because the potential employer was turned off that the individual in question would allow such "filth" on their Facebook. My opinion on that particular matter is this: what I do in my personal life isn't your concern. If I show up on time, deliver on time, up to standards, and fulfill my obligations as an employee, then what I do off the clock should have absolutely no bearing on my professional reputation.

Now, not everyone agrees with me on this. But I like to take my dad's approach: I don't care what you do off the clock, so long as you show up on time, ready to work, sober, and with your head in the game. I won't judge you by the clothes you wear, the color of your skin, your religion or your sense of humor, so long as you make me money.

But in the days of "political correctness" and sue-happy Americans, employers tend to be a lot more cautious about who they hire. Personally I think it's an invasion of privacy.

But I ramble. I'm supposed to be taking a nap, but I made myself some grits with a load of honey to soothe my throat, and this is something I wanted to squeeze out before I go nap (honestly!).

If I walk into a restaurant and look at the way the host/hostess is dressed, is it in any way indicative of the quality of the food served at the restaurant? Absolutely not! It has nothing to do with the professional function of the restaurant. And the way I look at it is simple: any employer that I would consider working for is going to be the type of individual who understands there is a difference between personal blogging and professional blogging/writing, and will want to take a look at my professional resume before basing an opinion. Anyone else is someone I wouldn't want to be working for in the first place.

For the record, I keep my Facebook private. Why? Because it's for my friends and family. I have pictures there, and while I understand the need to socially network for business purposes, that's what Twitter and a blog are for. I absolutely make a distinction between my personal and professional life, and I understand the need for tact in certain areas. For example, I might type a post that uses the words fuck, shit, hell, damn, and otherwise, but if I go into a business meeting I'm going to refrain from using those words because it's not professional. I understand the distinction between the two, and I have no problems wearing two faces.

So, in closing, I do not believe that your blog posts need to be indicative of your talent as a professional writer. There is no need to edit your blog and casual posts with the same level of scrutiny as an article for the New York Times because it's not the same. One is professional, one is casual/personal.

The World is Your Oyster: Part Five

Low paying vs. high paying.

Over at one of the community websites I visit there is an ongoing discussion (let's not split hairs. It's a debate, perhaps even an argument) between myself and a select group of writers who look down their noses at writers willing to work for less than them. I'd like to take the opportunity to look at the numbers for a moment, to give people a clearer picture of what really is low and high paying, and the difference between realistic expectations and simple ego.

The average wage for a US citizen or resident is around 40 thousand USD per year. That's on the gross end. If you work that out to an hourly rate it's 21 dollars an hour.

Unskilled workers make less. That is, people who flip burgers at McDonalds, or work the graveyard shift at 7-11, make less than 21 dollars an hour. Skilled workers make more. Carpenters, nurses, IT guys, tech writers, these people make slightly more. Specialized skills, that is jobs which require a specialized degree OR 10+ years experience in the field, make double or more...that is, 40 dollars an hour or greater.

This isn't opinion. It's fact. I'm not going to take the time to link to all of my sources this morning. Suffice to say this comes from research I've done over the past few months working on a couple of specific projects for one of my clients.

So, looking at the statistics, the only people making greater than 40 dollars an hour are specialized skill workers, or people with greater than 10 years in their chosen profession. Those individuals with a Master's degree or their Doctorate are making even more...usually over 100k a year, depending on their position and profession.

So let's observe for a moment. If a freelance writer, regardless of their location in the world, can pick up work from a client and average greater than 21 dollars an hour, they are making more than the average individual. Would you consider this low paying, or high paying? You cannot consider it low paying, because in order to qualify for low paying it would have to be less than the 21 dollars an hour. It's not necessarily high paying, either. Let's call it "standard" rates, because we are working with the law of averages here.

If a writer can make 50 dollars an hour, is he working a low-paying job, or a high paying job? Statistically, he's making more than double what the average person in the US makes. This would be considered a high-paying job, simply based upon factual statistics.

I think ego has a lot to do with it. There are a few writers out there who enjoyed an unprecedented level of success in pre-recession America, when they were riding the tide of America being the only country with high speed Internet available to nearly everyone. Now, 5 years later, wi-fi nooks exist in every corner of the globe, and high-speed Internet is available to most people in most countries. The writers who enjoyed a period of higher-than-average rates during those times were living high on the hog, enjoying a situation that existed simply because the market hadn't expanded. Now that the market exists within the framework of the entire world, these same writers are experiencing job losses because there are other people out there who are willing to do the work for less than the 75 dollars an hour or more that these people charge.

Let's face it...if person A charges 75 dollars an hour to write website content and person B is willing to write the same content for 30 dollars an hour, and they both have the exact same qualifications...a smart employer is going to pick the 30 dollar an hour writer. Why? Because it's a better deal. It's smart business. Suddenly the 30 dollar an hour guy is swimming in work, but the 75 dollar an hour guy is finding his jobs getting fewer and farther between, until eventually, he ends up making less per year than the guy who worked 30 dollars an hour.

Now, sure, the guy who did the work for 30 dollars an hour probably worked more hours to get the same result, but if you have two people who are making relatively the same amount of money per-year...that is, greater than the average US median wage of 40k a year...it has less to do with high-paying vs. low-paying and more to do with simple ego. The writer charging 75 dollars an hour feels it is unfair that the guy doing it for 30 dollars an hour can make the same amount of money per year.

Fair enough, but we still haven't really uncovered why the ego writer feels that anything less than 50 dollars an hour is a "low paying" wage, because according to statistics, it's not. It's more than double the national median, which means by its very definition it is a high paying job.

Ego. That's all it boils down to. Statistically, 50 dollars an hour is an extremely high paying wage... double the national median. Now, maybe the ego writer lives in an area of the nation where their cost of living is more than the average, therefore they need to make more than the average. However, this does not change the fact that 50 dollars an hour is high paying wage. All it changes is the fact that they themselves are not part of the average, and therefore applying labels will result in a skewed viewpoint that has little to do with what is or isn't realistically low paying or high paying. Instead, their results are tainted by personal experiences and ego. They term low paying as anything that cannot support their way of life, which doesn't apply to the average person.

Low paying, high paying, and in between. A lot of writers like to label their work as "per word" or "per hour" or "per article". What does it matter? If an individual can make X amount of dollars per month/year, and it's greater than the average median, it is by its very definition a "high paying" job.

So for those of you freelance writers who worry about whether or not you are working a low paying gig or a high paying gig, look at the end results. Are you going to make roughly 25 dollars an hour for your work based upon the law of averages? Then you are making standard rates. If you are making 40 dollars an hour or more, you are getting high-paying gigs. Anything less than 20 an hour and you are in the low-paying range.

Don't let yourself be misled by egotistical writers. There is a realistic approach to this industry, and it can only be achieved by having a realistic view on how the industry works. Good luck in the job hunt, and I hope to see you on the other side!

Almost!

Almost done with my huge April project! I've got about 3 hours worth of work, which I'll save for tomorrow.

In retrospect, this was my largest freelance project to-date. It took me the entire month to complete, and I worked pretty much 6 days a week, for at least 3-4 hours per day. I'm a little drained, and to be honest, I think I'd rather focus on smaller projects in the future so I can spend more time doing my creative writing. However, there's also the necessity to keep doing work to spread your reputation, so if the money's good, I'll probably keep going on large projects as well.

Still...I'd like to take the month of May off, other than a few select projects that I do around my chapter work. I don't have any short stories that are brewing at the present, only 6 in submissions, so I'm circulating those until they sell. I fully expect it to take the rest of the year, because it takes 6-8 weeks to hear back from the editors as to whether or not it's been accepted or rejected, and you can't dual-sub, so...it's a lengthy process.

I've been debating another post in my "The World is your Oyster" series, but it's a bit foggy at present...not nearly refined enough to post about. Maybe I'll have something up towards the end of the week. I've also been debating starting a "how to get started as a freelance writer" discussion/network, because I see a lot of college kids and other people struggling during the recession trying to break into this market without any real knowledge of how to do so. I think that practical knowledge is key, and too often you see the veteran writers giving out canned responses or generic replies such as "don't give up!" or "apply to more jobs!" as advice, which doesn't help the new writer whatsoever.

What's more important is practical application of common sense in order to land jobs. We'll see how the idea pans out. It won't be free, that's for sure. I'm thinking of hosting a seminar type webisode or something where I give a 45 min or so lecture + answer a few questions + a written guide on how-to's, where-to's, and otherwise. It's all in the "planning" phase, but it's bubbling.

That's it for now. My work for the day is done and I'm going to enjoy the rest of the sunny afternoon out and about. Cheers!

The World is your Oyster: Part Four

How do you stay competitive in a global market?

By being willing to do work that sometimes requires getting your hands dirty.

"But I have standards!", you decree. "A minimum rate that I refuse to go below, because otherwise I'm bastardizing the freelance market!"

Standards are great. And it's important to have them. However, the key is to have realistic standards. In the face of a global recession, where people's jobs are getting cut left and right, wages being reduced, or hours-per-week cut down, people are struggling to find the funds to pay all the bills. Everyone is feeling the crunch. And in the face of such a global issue, refusing to evolve with the times is bad for your health. As in, lack of food on your table or roof over your head bad.

If you research actors, business owners, authors, or anyone with money to their name, they almost all have a background of doing dirty work at some point in their history. By dirty work I mean the kind of work that you would consider beneath yourself, whether it be due to the amount of money it pays per hour or how much work it involves. But everyone starts somewhere, and while your standards most certainly evolved over time as you gained the respect of your peers and experience in your chosen industry, in much the same way you have to be able to adapt to the changing of the tides when the weather isn't blowing so fair in your direction.

I regularly see freelance writers complaining about a lack of work. In the same breath they criticize those writers who work jobs that pay lower than what the complainers deem "acceptable". They also go on to state they they refuse to work for lower than X. That's great, if you have a spouse who is supplementing your income or if you have a pension or can survive on part-time income. Because let's face it, in today's global climate charging 75 dollars an hour is going to get you part-time work at best, unless you happen to be in an extremely niche market with a Masters degree or 15+ years experience in that particular niche (a sports writer for the NY Times would be someone I consider a niche writer with such experience as to justify those rates). However, if you are average Joe, you have to be more realistic in your approach.

No millionaire out there would have become a millionaire by only accepting the jobs that paid what they considered to be acceptable. Part of building up your empire is the willingness to work hard for your money, and to sometimes do work that might be considered beneath you simply because of the long term effects. Take an actor who agrees to do a project for free, agreeing to a profit sharing program. He's taking a risk doing the project for no money, but because his name is attached to it, then the chances are that fans of his other work will come see it, which will drive up the percentage. In much the same way, freelance writers should be looking at those low paying jobs and using them to their advantage.

Again, standards are great to have. Everyone has them. I certainly do. But the important thing to remember is that if your standards are getting in the way of you putting food on the table for your family or paying the rent/mortgage, then perhaps you need to adjust your standards to adapt with the times. Standing in the middle of the sidewalk without an umbrella while it's pouring down rain and shouting at the top of your lungs "it's not raining, it's not raining!" doesn't change the fact that it is, in fact, raining. You can put your foot down as much as you want and say "my rates don't have to change!" but if you are suffering from a lack of work because your standards haven't adjust to the times, you aren't benefiting anyone. You certainly aren't benefiting yourself, and you aren't benefiting a client because you are refusing quality work.

Adaption is key. The willingness to be flexible. Gas prices rise and fall. Housing markets fluctuate. Banks adjust their interest rates. Employers give and take away raises. We are in a time of fiscal instability, and the waters are troubled. You have to be willing to adapt if you are going to make it through until the waters calm.

Be your own judge. If you have a bottom line you don't like to go under, that's all well and good, but the moment that bottom line starts interfering with your ability to put food on the table, you should re-evaluate your position in the grand scheme of things and be willing to adjust to the global market. And last but not least, don't allow yourself to be arrogant. There are millions of writers across the globe who are just as talented as you or I, who are more than willing to do the jobs for lower rates. That's the nature of the global beast. However, I'm more interested in putting food on my plate than I am on putting it on the plate of someone in another country, and I'm going to do whatever I can to get that job.

The World is Your Oyster: Part Three

Following along in the same vein as the first two parts of "The World is Your Oyster", I'd like to take a look at global networking.

I am a freelance writer. I do content generation, investigative journalism, blogs, informative articles, how-to articles, and a variety of topics and formats dependent upon the needs of my clients. I have successfully published creative fiction, and my goal is to eventually transition into full-time novel writing. However, publishing fiction, or even content for the Internet, is no longer the way it used to be in the 20th century.

In the 20th century there was a fairly straight-forward and nationally-accepted standard to submit your manuscripts: two spaces after periods, double lined, and be prepared to sit on your thumbs for 6-8 months while you waited for a publisher to get back to you on whether or not your manuscript had passed or failed.

Enter the 21st century. Manuscript formats abound. Every e-zine and paper magazine has a different submission guideline and format preference. In order to stay on top of things you have to learn how to be flexible, how to format your work into a variety of different ways to satisfy your client's needs. It doesn't just apply to manuscripts, either. Some people want you to submit work to their websites directly via their Wordpress login. Others want a Word document. Some prefer Open Office documents. Others still would rather have it in a PDF. Some want double spaced, others don't. Some want 12 point Arial, while others want 11 point Times New Roman. Some want underlined, some prefer italics.

The point is, everyone's needs are different. As a freelance writer you have to be flexible. You have to be willing to adjust in order to move ahead, and keep generating new clients.

I'm still a relative newbie at the freelance world. What I am not a newbie at is business in general. I ran a successful construction business in Colorado for several years, as well as spent time as a foreman and superintendent for my father's company, which was a multi-million dollar commercial construction company, from the time I was 19 years old. I've seen the ins and outs of corporate business for over 10 years now, and while I'm not a suit-and-tie white-collar worker, I've learned a few things over the years that have helped me become reasonably successful in my current position, despite the fact that I've only been doing freelance writing as a career now for a little over a year.

Being flexible is key. You have to be willing and able to adapt to the circumstances. Part of that is keeping up with the current document programs. Another is networking. I'm not a huge fan of social networking other than for keeping tabs with my friends, but I'll have to admit...in the past week or so of having started a Twitter account and linking things to my Facebook I've generated hundreds of hits on my blog, as well as expanded my client base. I've also been expanding my contacts on a global level, which brings me to the point I was beginning to make before I started to ramble.

Global networking. By this I mean expanding your client base, as well as your reader base, to include people on a global scale. Too often I see writers--especially writers in the United States--refusing to think outside of the box. Many times I see writers in the US assuming--incorrectly, I might add--that the only client base and reader base they need to worry about is the one at home. These same writers are the very ones I've talked about in my first two "The World is Your Oyster" discussions. They are the farmers standing in the field with their torches, the smoldering ashes of the threshing machines at their feet, proud in their stance, proud that they stood up for the principle of it all, proud that they refused to lower their rates to accommodate for global growth, but in the same breath railing against the advance of technology, woefully looking back to the past when they were the only ones capable of fulfilling their clients needs. And as they look around on the horizon they see thousands, nay millions!, of threshing machines springing up, churning out content at a pace that fills them with dread, because with mass production comes competition, and competition is bad.

Unless you can learn to adapt and move with the times.

It's happened before. Many times. The threshing machine. The construction market in America, inundated by illegal Mexican workers. The gold mines of America, the coal mines of Australia, full of Asian migrants, willing to work for pennies compared to the local residents. And in each and every scenario the businesses have gone with the cheapest labor, regardless of the principles. Why? Because it's business. The low man wins 9 times out of 10. And yes, you can try and hold to your principles and hope that you can win that 1 out of 10 to your side, but grit your teeth in frustrating as you watch the other 9 jobs go to people you feel aren't qualified to do the work.

The first mistake is in assuming that the competition--that is, the workers willing to do the work for what you consider pennies--is somehow less qualified. The second mistake is in dwelling on the past, holding your torch, railing against the threshing machines, the printing press, the digital camera, the hand-held camcorder. The world changes. The world evolves. Technology advances. Humanity moves forward, regardless of those few who stand staunch against the change, waving their torches and going fearlessly into the night.

Who does history remember? The laborers who burned the threshing machines, or the threshing machines themselves? The threshing machine, of course, because it advanced humanity. And in the case of today's environment, and the work place as it exists today, what will be remembered is that the Internet opened the doors of the entire world, allowing people who previously had little hope of advancing themselves beyond the restrictions of their economy and cultural differences the opportunity to suddenly embrace the fact that they are no different in fact than the very Western civilizations that have for years been the only ones at the top of the heap.

Should we embrace our brethren, or should we rail against them for becoming our competition? Many writers of today's generations are for the latter. Many writers in the US feel that their jobs are being unfairly shopped out to "paper mills" in unethical fashion, stealing jobs that should "rightfully" be theirs, and theirs alone. Such writers do not embrace humanity, they do not embrace change. They would have the world remain in repression, the only jobs existing being the ones they themselves work. They view the Internet as a threshing machine, ready to be burned in an attempt to keep evolution from occurring.

I am an advocate for the former. I met my wife specifically because the barriers of communication have been toppled with the advent of world-wide connectivity. I have been expanding my client base on a global scale, working with people from the UK, from Australia, from Taiwan, and from the US. I have met people from all of those countries, from Greece, from Italy, Germany, Sweden, and beyond. All of these people share a common purpose, a common goal: survival.

Should I alone bear the responsibility for dictating who is or isn't allowed to complete the tasks a client puts forth? How have I earned the right to do so, when my fellow writers--regardless of their location on this green Earth--are no less qualified than myself, and have no less of a right at competing for the jobs as I?

I have talked with many people in the recent weeks. I have met people in third world countries who do work for what many US writers consider pennies. Some US writers would have these jobs be eradicated because they believe it is perpetuating a system that undermines their own rates and forces them to adjust accordingly in order to be competitive. Who are they to judge what should or shouldn't be considered work, or relevant pay? If an employer pays a rate I find too low for my personal standards, I move along and find a client who pays what I want to make. The job I passed on will go to someone who needs the money, and perhaps to someone in a third world country where the USD is worth 3 times more than their local currency, allowing them to make triple what the average citizen makes. To me, the fact that such jobs exist and allow an individual the chance for opportunity supersedes my ability to judge. In much the same way I am sure there are those out there who pass over jobs I myself consider a fair wage with nothing more than a sneering glance and the thought of "I pity the poor wanker who would work a job for such pay."

One lady who posts at a community site I frequent gave a relative's position recently. He was one of those who valiantly stamps his foot down and says "I refuse to budge!". He has been unemployed for months, unable to provide for his family because his principles are outdated. His principles were those of a world before global networking, before global communication, before a global pool of employees for clients to choose from. His rates no longer apply because the market has gone on without him, has evolved beyond his comprehension while he remains mired in the muck of self-pride at the expense of his family.

As I sit here on this Sunday evening I would remind you fellow writers to think global. The world is your oyster. Global communication and global networking are key to the survival of your job, and your ability to adapt to the changes that are affecting our workplace on a daily basis. Embrace your fellow writers, regardless of where they hail from on the map. Be glad that they too can find work, even if it is at a wage you find below your present needs or standards. But do not judge, or dictate terms, or apply labels such as "ignorant" to those who are willing to work for rates you would not yourself. Be happy for the work you have, and be willing to adapt and evolve with the rest of the world.

Change is on the wind. Will you embrace the change, or stand alone in the dark, railing against the change with your sputtering torch in hand, the smoldering ashes of the threshing machine at your feet while the world moves on without you, leaving you in darkness as the flames of your torch are finally snuffed out by the wind?

The World is Your Oyster: Part Two

As promised, I'm continuing the discussion from Part One.

One thing that has increasingly frustrated me in recent weeks is the amount of freelance writers who constantly complain about the lack of high paying writing gigs. They also complain how writers who agree to work for low wages are perpetuating the system and bastardizing the writing process, and go on to suggest that writers should band together and "strike" against those organizations who pay low wages for content generation, in an attempt to force those organizations into raising their rates.

Such naivete is frightening.

As I suggested in Part One, we (writers) can no longer afford to think of things in local terms. There is no such thing as local any longer. With the advent of world-wide Internet connections the work force of today is no longer constricted by the geographical boundaries on a map. The work force is the entire globe. Wherever there is an Internet connection there is a person on the other end who not only has the qualifications to perform the tasks required by employers, but in many cases are willing to work for wages that to others might appear as pennies. Why? Because there is no global currency.

It is extremely selfish to think that you (the writer) are somehow special. Are you talented? Sure. So am I. So is the guy in India. Or the guy in Bolivia. Or the guy in Argentina. Are you more qualified than those writers? Possibly. But can you be competitive in the world-wide market? That is something that is entirely up to you as an individual.

The worst is writers from the UK and the US. The reason for this is that during the 90's both of these countries enjoyed a period of being on the top of the food chain in terms of economic success. Enter the post-War-on-Terror world, and the US and the UK are no longer the booming economies that they once were. They are suffering from the highest unemployment rates, the highest inflation rates, and the highest level of social dissatisfaction. Writers who flourished during the 90's and even the early 21st century are suddenly finding that they can't charge the rates they once did, and that the work which was once only available to a select few is now being made available to a world-wide workplace that has potential employees from all corners of the globe vying for the same jobs. And in such an environment one cannot afford to be selfishly absorbed in a bubble, thinking that they are somehow special because they live in a certain part of the world or have worked for a certain wage for a period of time.

The work place is not limited to the US or the UK anymore. The global summit meetings now have 20 countries involved, up from the handful who used to be. Those global summit meetings are expected to continue adding countries every year from here on out as more and more countries meet the economical and technological standards required for membership. More and more of the general population is discovering the beauty of Internet content generation. And employers aren't stupid. They are getting quality work for a fraction of the price it used to cost, and that's just smart business.

Sure, if you happen to live in the UK or the US then a dollar per 500 word article isn't worth your time. So don't bother with those jobs. Look to the higher paying jobs that fulfill your target guidelines for "acceptable" rates. But do not presume to dictate to the rest of the world what rates are fair or unfair. To the person in a smaller country those rates are triple or more what they are to you or me. And while I myself do not necessarily think that such rates are "fair" in my personal view, I do not presume to tell the writer from India that they are somehow bastardizing my job and stealing food from my plate. After all, he is JUST as qualified and has JUST as much of a right to the work as I do, and if 1 USD to him is worth 10 of his own (an example: I do not know the rates off hand, I am just using an example to explain) and he can make 25-30 per hour of his own currency doing content from a US company who is only paying 1 dollar per 500 word article...then more power to him.

I do not have the right to dictate to another writer what rates are fair or unfair. Why? Because I cannot afford to be selfishly absorbed in thinking that I am somehow magically better than the rest of the world just because I happen to be from a certain country. My nationality and place of residence has absolutely nothing to do with dictating rates to my peers. What is fair to the guy from Pakistan might not be fair to the guy from Germany, but neither of those writers is more or less qualified than the other; they are equal. And from an employers standpoint, you can bet your ass they are going to hire the guy who is willing to do the work for the lowest bottom price because it's just smart business.

Writers cannot afford to be self absorbed and selfishly ignorant about the global work force. We need to be continually aware of the ever-changing nature of the career we have chosen and adapt accordingly. Continually bitching about how "unfair" it is that the work we've been doing for years is suddenly being farmed out to other countries is a waste of time. You cannot control the growth of the global work force, and you are not magically better than someone on the other side of the world. You have the same color blood, you breathe the same air, you eat the same food, you are both humans.

My suggestion to writers who spend so much time complaining about low rates is to adapt. Find other avenues for your talent. Spend less time worrying yourself about what others are making and forge your own path. Be aggressive. There will always be clients out there who pay you what you need or want to earn. But do not think that you are somehow qualified to dictate to the rest of the world what is fair or isn't. You are not God. You are not better than someone on the other side of the globe. You are a human being, just as they are. You may be unhappy with the fact that your job is now available to people from all over the world rather than just a select group who enjoyed a period of being "kings of the world", but that time is over. The Internet is opening doors that cannot be closed, and you can either hobble together a boat to ride the tide, sink underneath and drown, or you can fashion a sleek and sexy vessel to cruise the open waters as you explore all the opportunities this world has to offer by opening yourself to endless opportunities.

I'm aiming for the sleek and sexy. How about you?

The World is Your Oyster: Part One

Over the coming months I'll be blogging about something that I find worth delving into with greater detail: the effect of the Internet and global communication. Specifically I'd like to focus on the effects that it has had on the job market in specific countries. Having come from the Western part of the world, I regularly keep tabs on things back in the U.S., and some of my clients are from the U.S. as well. I also have clients in Thailand, the U.K., Australia, among other places.

In today's society the borders of our countries really don't mean anything anymore, other than geographical boundaries. With education around the world relatively on the same level, employers are beginning to look beyond their own country for employees, especially in job sectors where a physical seat in the office doesn't necessarily need to be filled in order for the job tasks to be carried out. For example, the freelance writing market, or the print market in general. Journalism, freelance writing, copy writing, SEO writing, copy editing, and more, these are all jobs that can be completed by anyone who has the relevant skills.

For example, let's take a company from the U.S. Let's say your average magazine or newspaper. They are willing to pay a competitive wage. But here's the thing: they aren't just pulling potential writers out of a local pool anymore. It's not just open to relevant individuals within their country, but rather the entire globe. Why? Because the Internet means that anyone with the qualifications can complete the work. And here's where the crux of the issue comes into play. A person from say, India, or the Philippines, goes up against a writer from the U.S. in a bidding war for the job. The employer looks over the quotes. The first thing he notices is that the writer from India/Philippines (this is just an example...any country could apply) has quoted him rates that are anywhere from 40 to 60% lower than the writer from the U.S. Any smart business plan will have the employer hiring the low bid...so long as the qualifications are relevant.

If you take two people with the same level of skill, education, and background, and one of them is from a country with a high cost of living, and then compare him against someone from a country with a drastically lower cost of living, each person's bid is going to be relevant to his or her present cost of living and what they consider to be an acceptable wage. The problem with this is that for many writers in the United States, it means the jobs they have come to rely on in the past are now being farmed out to people who are willing to do the same work for a fraction of the price.

Are the companies concerned? Absolutely not. Why? Because they are getting services at a drastic discount, but still marketing their end-product the same as ever, meaning their profit revenues go up.

It's a sticky topic with a lot of freelance journalists and writers, because there have been a rising number of content generation sites opening up in the last year or two that are farming work out at dramatically low prices. Where a writer might have been able to get 100 dollars for a 1k word article 2 years ago, those same 1k articles are now being farmed out for under 5 dollars. Many writers feel that it is unfair, that the wages shouldn't have been dropped that low, and that the writers accepting such low paying work are only perpetuating the system and they shouldn't take the jobs, thus forcing employers to raise the rates again.

It won't happen. Why? Because we can't afford to selfishly think of ourselves as locked into regional borders when it comes to methods and means of employment. We (writers) are no longer competing only against other qualified candidates from our own country. We are now competing with writers from all over the globe. And while 2 dollars for a 1k word article might be pennies to someone used to making 100 dollars for that same article, for someone from a third-world country who has the relevant qualifications, that 2 dollars is worth a hell of a lot more than it is to you or I.

While I agree that fair standards should be in place to insure that writers are getting a fair wage as a bottom line, I also don't think that it's going to be an easy thing to put into place. After all, we aren't just competing with the people from within our own country anymore who have the same cost of living and thus need the same amount per article or per hour. The competition is growing by the day as more and more people around the world gain access to the Internet. We can't afford to think of ourselves as locked in by borders, because they don't exist anymore. Global communication means the entire world has access to these jobs, and in order to stay competitive you either have to learn how to work for as cheaply as they do, or move on to greener pastures (if you can find them).