Today I want to talk about a few things, but I’m going to start with what James D. MacDonald calls “Yog’s Law.”

Money flows toward the writer.

As a freelancer you always have to remember this rule. We’re in this to make money and as soon as you forget that, bad things start to happen.

As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t just use oDesk as a source for freelance work; I can’t afford to. The problem is there are more writers than jobs out there, so in order to succeed in this business you need to be on multiple sites. The other site I normally use is called Get A Freelancer and works on fixed price jobs only. Between the two of them I’m able to keep myself busy and meet my personal income goals. One feature I really like about Get A Freelancer is that I was able to set things up so I can withdraw money to my existing oDesk Debit card, which makes getting paid easier.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get back to the point: Money flowing in my direction (or yours when you’re on the job). When you’re looking for work, more often on GAF than on oDesk you’re going to find lots of ads for people who need articles written or re-written. They often promise full-time work doing short articles.

Sounds like a good deal, doesn’t it?

It’s not.

The problem is the pay rate. Most of these buyers want you to do 5-10 articles of 500 words each a day, and they’re usually willing to pay $1-2 per article. For this princely sum they want all rights, and for you to adhere to very tight deadlines. They also load their ads with threats that any plagiarism will result in no pay whatsoever.

In my early days of freelancing I tried one of these, just to see what it was like. They wanted me to rewrite 400 word articles for $2 apiece. How hard could it be? So I gave it a try, figuring I could get my feet wet freelancing and see how things went.

It was a huge mistake.

Not only was the rate low, but the pay was always being delayed. I’d do a week’s worth of articles and get two or three days pay, and that grudgingly. I still haven’t been paid for some of those articles and don’t think I ever will be.

I took the job for experience and a small but steady income. I got the experience; I didn’t get the income.

I ended up quitting because I didn’t have the time. I found another contract which paid a lot more, and decided not to devote any more time to someone who wasn’t paying me. Smartest move I’ve ever made.

The Problem:

As I said earlier, the point of freelancing is that money needs to flow to you: the writer. When you’re doing these jobs it’s not. The current rate seems to be about $1.50 or less per article, and the buyers have a very snotty attitude toward those who want to be paid what they’re worth. Most of these articles take at least half an hour or forty-five minutes to write, so doing five articles can use up half your day for $7.50 in gross income.

At that rate you’re not making expenses.

If you’re working from home, you may not think about your expenses, but they’re there. You’re paying for your net connection, electricity, the cost of the computer you’re using to write on, even the coffee you’re drinking when you look for just the right word. All those costs add up.

I haven’t even mentioned the biggest cost: Your time.

Every hour you spend writing these articles is an hour you can’t spend looking for a better paying job. If your normal oDesk rate is $10-15 an hour you can make up the money from those articles in an hour a day or less, just by staying away from those jobs. You also don’t run the risk of having your reputation ruined because you got a poor feedback from someone because you wouldn’t sit still and let them exploit you.

Yes it’s a good idea to low-ball your initial bids until you get a reputation for quality, but that doesn’t mean charge so little it’s costing you money. Accept that there are going to be buyers who don’t want to pay for your services and leave those jobs for other people.

You’ll be glad you did.

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