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!