$5 – that’s all I wrote my first article for. I had read all there was to read about starting as a freelancer and every freelance blog screamed at me to not sell myself so cheap. They told me I shouldn’t give in to pressure of getting my first gig. That I should hold out for better opportunities and pay.
Trust me – it’s easier said than done. I cracked from sheer impatience and wrote my first article for $5. My PayPal had been set up 3 weeks ago! An empty bank account was mocking me for not having any money to put into it. Hours and hours of job searching with no results. Countless rejections because I had no prior experience. My self esteem was taking a severe beating and my fingers were itching to send in an article in exchange for pay – which is why I accepted the first writing gig that came my way.
I got paid $5 for a 800 word article. But soon after those $5 came in (of which 50 cents were deducted as service charges), I realized I wouldn’t be writing for that client anymore. There was no feeling of accomplishment and no satisfaction. I also didn’t do a good job. Without meaning to, my article reflected the amount that was paid for it. You can chalk it up to the article being my first and beginner’s nervousness but I honestly feel that I would have striven to do a better job of it had the pay been decent.
Its been two month since the $5 article and my PayPal is sitting at $4.50. I got work this month but the pay for that won’t come in till next month. Don’t get your hopes up though! The pay isn’t much better that $5.
Stay tuned to find out how much I’m making per article in my current gig and why I accepted it.
Samar is a freelance blogger, e-book writer and the voice behind this blog. She loves her kid, her work and helping freelance writers break free from low paying content mills .
@Anthony: The one thing that I have learned since I started freelanceing is that it pays to help other people find leads and point them to potential income because when times are tough, they might just do the same for you.@Samar: Let me know what they say.
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