It's an Easy Job if You Know What You're Doing. Not.

I'm not actually sure this a hub. It feels like a rant. Anyway.

Say the phrase "It's an easy job if you know what you're doing" to a lot of freelance writers and you may find that some come after you with an axe. If the wonderful world of the interwebby puts them on the other side of the globe to you, then expect a remote barrage of abuse.

I've been making a living as a freelance writer for over 10 years. I have a few online and offline clients that I've worked with for years. But, a lot of my contacts, at least until recently, have come from freelance job sites. The lovely smarterwork in the UK till it went away in a huff and then elance in the States.

I like freelance work sites (apart from Guru but that's just me). They've made me money. But now they are making me crazy. Or their clients are. Or the so-called Internet marketing gurus that sell shonky 'How to rip off freelancers' ebooks are. I haven't worked out which of the three I'm more ticked off with yet.

Look at a lot of job postings on online sites in recent months and you see phrases like the easy one. Internet marketing gurus tell people who want SEO work done that this makes us freelancers feel better. It makes us warm and fuzzy. It makes us work for peanuts.

So, how about projects for 100 x 500 word SEO high-quality researched articles for less than $0.50 a go? That would give me a fantastic return, hmm? $50 for 50,000 words. I had one sub-amoebic mis-guided Internet guru offer me $1 instead yesterday because I have experience. He was genuinely surprised when I turned him down and probably had to have a lie-down when I quoted him my standard rates.

All is not doom and gloom. There are decent clients out there that will pay fair rates. Finding them at the moment, however, is a bit like swimming in a pool full of jelly. One of the reasons I'm here and moving over into working for myself instead.