Do You Know Your Value?

I was looking at content writing jobs on LinkedIn the other day. One offered $15 for a 400-word article. They justified this by stating it should only take 15-minutes to write 100 words. In other words, they were offering $15 for what they assumed should take an hour of work.

That same day I was writing a 400-word article for a client’s newsletter. So I timed myself. While the article’s actual writing took roughly two hours, there was another hour or so of research for statistics and an interview with the client for quotes.

In total, that 400-word newsletter article took about four hours. I would have made $15 for four hours of work by the job post’s logic — $3.75 an hour.

No thanks.

There are many ways to make money writing online, but before you dive in headfirst, it’s essential to know what you are worth. Your time is just as valuable as your words. When setting rates or accepting client work, don’t sell yourself short.

How do you price your writing?

Today we made a few slight adjustments to the Submission Rules and Style Guide. The change log is included below, but I suggest you read the referenced sections in their entirety. All submissions will be evaluated based on these rules moving forward.

• Added subsections 5d and 5e to Rule 5 to clarify the requirement for citing sources and preventing absolute statements.
• Clarified the affiliate disclosure requirements in 6a.
• Added subsections 8.1 and 8.2 to Rule 8 for added clarity when rejecting submissions.