3 Damaging Myths That Keep Writers Poor And Undervalued
Too many clients buy into these three tropes which have together helped to make writing a difficult world for many to survive in
Professional writing: hard to do in practice. Commonly regarded as very easy by prospective customers. Photo by Negative Space from Pexel.
Recently, I decided to share something that truly came from the heart:
It was about why — after spending more than 10 years spent in writing-centric roles — I’ve decided to veer off that path a little and focus, instead, on selling clients on a mixture of writing and the strategic input needed to make written content really ‘work’ when it’s being used towards marketing-related ends.
I call it marketing communications consulting.
Consulting rather than freelancing because I want to make it clear that I’ll be providing consultative services rather than just executing writing briefs and .. scribbling.
Marketing communications because I try to bring value beyond content marketing, even if it’s an immensely popular area (though much derided, I see a significant difference between content marketing and thought leadership and continue to feel passionately about the potential of the latter — done well).
The 4 Key Differences Between Thought Leadership and Content Marketing
Thought leadership garners a lot of attention among entrepreneurs and those aiming to pick up more traction in their… www.entrepreneur.com
Why I’ve Stopped Identifying As A ‘Freelance Writer’ — Or A Writer At All
Why I (Sadly) No Longer Think Freelance Writing Is A Good Space To Be In danielrosehill.medium.com
In the course of explaining my decision, I expressed frustration at some (perceived) ‘home truths’ that I have observed during the past six years during which freelance writing has been at least part of my income base.
The first of those is that writers are chronically undervalued.
The second is that it seems to me that ‘writer’ is a label that — sadly — in may be in the best interests of many marketing professionals to discard.
And the third is my earnest belief that not only are things already difficult, but they’re only getting harder. Hence why it seemed like a sensible time to pivot.
But what’s underpinning the sometimes dismal plight of today’s marketing writers?
This is a question I’ve thought about a lot, too. And these factors explain it at least in part.
“Anybody can write.”
The first way we can take a pop at this is to point out that actually no not “everybody” can write. There are people in the world, for instance, who are neither literate nor capable of typing on a computer–and the latter is really the main prerequisite for a career as a “writer” in today’s world.
But that’s typically not what the naysayers are trying to allege.
They mean that because anybody they can readily conceive of can type at a computer, it means that writing is a complete non-skill.
By that token, writing is like respiring air. Just as you wouldn’t expect to be paid for the service of walking into an office and breathing air, it’s absurd to think that a business is going to pay you to “just write.”
The rebuttal:
The gulf between writing for fun and writing professionally is actually rather large. Anybody who makes a living from writing knows that. And knows that there are few things about this career that could be considered ‘easy’.
Do you know how to use a video camera? Do you know how to drive a car? Do you know how to take a photograph? Have you built IKEA furniture before?
Assuming you answered yes to at least one of those now try to answer this:
- Do you regard yourself a videographer — such that if a local cinema production company were looking for a fill-in you’d think about applying?
- If somebody rocked up to your door in a rally car — would you know what to do in order to take it out on a circuit?
- Do you think that knowing how to put together the odd piece of IKEA furniture qualifies you to begin marketing yourself as an interior designer and professional mechanic?
If you did answer yes to any of those things, you’d likely find yourself getting horribly out of your depth in very short order being asked to do things you didn’t have the first clue how to pull off. Annoyed clients. Annoyed you. Misery all round.
And you know what?
This is kind of what’s happening in freelance writing.
The lack of barriers to entry — and not the odd YouTube huckster who tells you that you can absolutely get very rich if you get into freelance writing and buy my course — further the notion that anybody can write. And many people who are unable to write — even to normative standards of grammar — enter the market. “Freelance writers” who can’t string together a grammatically correct sentence abound. As do “cybersecurity experts” who couldn’t tell you the difference between, say, a VPN and a proxy if their life depended on it.
The result? Clients assume that freelance writing is a skill-less craft filled with those changing their arms at it and that the next prospective writer who sends them a resume is a charlatan. The next step: bad pay for everyone.
Freelance writing, by the way, requires knowing how to do a lot more than “just write” — even if that were easy. You’ll also need to know:
- How to run a business. There’s a lot to this and freelance writers are typically one man or woman shops who have to do everything from keeping books to filing tax reports.
- How to market yourself to find work. Or network in order to hear about it that way.
- How to keep on top of written deliverables for potentially as many as 8 clients at the one time. Deadline juggling becomes an art form.
“Writing is easy “
A corollary to the notion that anybody can write is the idea that writing to professional standards on complicated topics is somehow easy.
You know how easy such writing isn’t (at least for me)?
So un-easy that whenever I sit down to write for clients I have to make sure that my room is perfectly silent, that I’ve drunk my coffee, and that I’m going to be focusing on absolutely nothing but the draft for the next X minutes. It takes every once of concentration that I can muster.
I put such a premium on the value of deep work, in fact, that I put my phone into flight mode whenever I’m doing something like this:
I Went Into Flight Mode For Six Months. Here’s What Happened.
Back in January, I wrote an excited Medium post about how being slightly less responsive was going to be the motto of… danielrosehill.medium.com
The problem?
I’ve got the impression that many freelance clients have thought that writing their blogs is something I could do while a little tipsy and typing into my phone while taking a touristy horse and cart ride in some busy Spanish holiday resort with screaming teenagers trying to sell me churros from the roadside. Perhaps I’d have the odd conversation going on too. “ Si señor, déjame terminar el blog y estoy contigo”.
The reason I say this?
Their budgets often made zero sense unless writing is a near zero effort enterprise.
I recently encountered a client whose maximum budget for a blog post was $300 (and even getting there was a strain) — including an outline that needed approval. When it came to leveraging their one revision they went all out. Multiple stakeholders needed to leave their two cents in excruciating detail.
The question that went through my head — and if you’ve been in this industry, you’ve probably had this thought too — “does this person really think it’s worth my time to go through all this hassle for $300?”
There are a couple of possibilities that lead to answering that question in the affirmative:
- No but the client doesn’t really care and will try extract maximum value from whoever they work with (of these in the writing space there are plenty; the best solution is typically not to worth with them).
- The client thinks that this process is really easy and that actioning their massively detailed feedback could take you all of five minutes.
Neither of those options is entirely benign. Again: the only real option, in my experience, is avoidance. The problem: when such clients comprise a significant chunk of the buying-side of the industry. Perhaps even the majority of it.
Freelance writing is just a gig job
Here, again, I have to argue that freelance writers are often freelance writers’ worst enemy.
If your average client were to come across most messaging forums and blog posts written by and for freelance writers, they might conclude a few things about us in very short order.
Firstly that we’re money-obsessed and that getting decent “rates” was really all we were after. That might seem like where our horizon of focus started and ended.
The reason that so many freelance writing clients seem obsessed with rates?
It’s getting harder and harder to survive in this industry and money is .. well, how we pay the bills. For too many of us, that’s the furthest we can lift our eyes upwards. We’re getting paid enough. We can get to thinking about whether we actually like the work that we’re doing, or find it fulfilling, some other day.
The Pros And Cons Of A Career In Freelance Writing
As a lifestyle, it offers its ups and downs. Here are some of them. danielrosehill.medium.com
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I’ve often been told that where I live (Israel), “content writing” is seen as a first rung in the ladder kind of a gig — which explains why recruiters have sometimes sounded baffled when I explained “five year goals” that didn’t involve ditching the field as soon as possible. This is partially why I by and large stopped working with locally-based clients and why if I go back in-house I’m probably going to be relocating (or working remotely). Israelis get tech. But — to interject my opinion here — they don’t get the value of communication done well.
If an entire industry agrees that writing is just about hemming out a few words for pay — the knowledge-based equivalent of being the office janitor — then nobody is going to take what we do seriously or be prepared to back it with proper budget.
Can “freelance writing” be a career?
I would say ‘probably’ — but I’d attach to that the caveat that even those writers who love writing the most will probably feel a natural thirst and inclination to do a little bit more over time. Common ancillary add-ons involve developing skills in SEO, content strategy, or even public relations. I don’t think the kind of pivot I’m taking at the moment is necessarily that uncommon.
When I think about why writers are chronically undervalued a few factors come to mind. The culprits here: both self-described writers themselves and the industries we commonly work among.
Perhaps the most prescient of all the reasons: The total lack of a barrier to entry to the profession of freelance writing.
We have no licensing exams to pass. No professional associations really sticking up for us (at least in many parts of the world). We typically don’t unionize and, at best, can be found banding together in online communities — often moaning about things like rates.
The industry has responded harshly to this weak hand. Too many clients think freelance writers are “not real” professionals. And they’re insistent on paying them rates that accord with that status. To many, this industry has an entry level but no higher rungs.
Are there any actionable ideas here?
I can think of a few but I also think that we’re up against an endless incoming tide of so-so writers who will provide bargain basement rates that attract clients who never really wanted to pay that much anyway.
Writing is a valuable activity and writing well, professionally, requires real skills that takes years to develop and sharpen. Unfortunately too many of us are trying to assert our value to clients who really aren’t interested in hearing it.