Freelance Adventures

So, I had a Zoom that started at 10 CT today. Obviously, I did not go.  Not only did I not go, I also blocked the organizer and deactivated my account on their platform. 

Let's just say that going into PrepTober that I'm setting some boundaries.

The Zoom I skipped today was for a platform that serves as a job board for freelancers. I had signed up to be "vetted" a while ago and I forgot about it after signing up, mainly because it didn't look like a good fit for me once I started the process. Last week, I got a nudge from their "talent manager" that she'd reviewed my profile and hit "submit" for me.

What?

Let's just back that up a bit. I obviously months ago decided I was not ready--for whatever reason--to submit my application. That this person went ahead and hit "submit" for me. . . well.

So, I logged in and took a look. In addition to telling me she'd done this favor for me by submitting my profile, she also mentioned she'd removed my full name and other info from my portfolio samples. After all, the writing done for clients is basically "anonymous." Translation--this is a content mill that will do nothing to further my writing.

I was also "debuted" at a 4 star rating (6 is the highest you can start at) which sets me up for a max rate of 6 cents a word. But WAIT! Not only would I get that low rate, but in addition, I would take home only 70% of the project pay.

Looking at the jobs on the "casting calls" showed only a couple of things I would even consider bidding on--but the most either paid was 5 cents a word. So, if I did a 500 word piece of copy that only paid $0.05, that would be $25.00. Once the platform took their cut, that's $17.50. And, of course, I then have to pay my own taxes.

I get that these types of platforms are content mills and that for someone who is just looking for remote work who has no writing experience that this is a way to build a portfolio (although not really because the work up on this space isn't stuff you get by-lines for). My advice for aspiring writers, though, is that you're better off pitching pieces for publication that you can add to your portfolio.

In the meantime, I will keep working the gigs I have and waiting with bated breath to see if my invoices are fulfilled.