I Turned Down A Writing Job Yesterday
Two weeks ago I got an email asking me what I’d charge to write four articles in the financial management field. Although the correspondent didn’t say so, I assumed these would be SEO articles and since that’s not my favorite kind of writing I put a high price on the project, expecting to hear no more.
Much to my surprise another email arrived a few days later asking for my credentials and explaining they hoped to get placement of the articles in four specific magazines. I wrote back with a link to www.annewayman.com and said I, of course, couldn’t guarantee placement.
There were a couple of additional email exchanges. I gathered the person I was corresponding with was not the one who would hire me, but was trying to interpret the needs/requests of a boss. It struck me that neither of them understood the writing game well.
I sent another email suggesting maybe they wanted a PR firm and telling them what I knew about each magazine. I explained I had contacts with only the smallest and I offered to discuss the project with them by phone, not with the idea of hiring me, but with the idea I might be able to shed a little light on what they were trying to do.
Yesterday I got another email asking if I had any contacts with the magazines in question. Sigh. I realized that even if I doubled or trebled my price, it simply wasn’t going to be worth it. I did again offer to answer any questions about the process simply because I like to leave potential clients with something.
Sometimes you can tell in advance a project isn’t going to be worth it, no matter what.
Write well and often,
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POSTED IN: General Freelance Writing, Musings From A Freelance Writer
3 opinions for I Turned Down A Writing Job Yesterday
Susan
Aug 14, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Hi Anne…totally understand. I had what seemed like a great opportunity come up, but the more conversations I had, the more red flags I saw. It’s nice to get to the point where you can turn stuff down though, and be wise enough to recognize when it’s not going to be worth it.
John Hewitt
Aug 14, 2007 at 3:16 pm
Hi Anne,
I’ve had similar encounters. In my experience, if more than three email exchanges / phone calls / meetings have taken place and the client hasn’t committed, the deal probably isn’t going to happen and it won’t be worthwhile to me if it does.
Anne Wayman
Aug 14, 2007 at 6:26 pm
That’s actually a pretty good rule, John… hadn’t thought of putting it exactly that way.
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