THINK YOUR LIFE IS TOUGH? THIS IS WHAT A FREELANCE CONTENT WRITER GOES THROUGH...

I would start by saying that working as a freelance content writer is not everyone’s cup of tea. Most of the people think that it just requires a little bit of research on Google and then some playing around with the language. If that’s not all, some of them even come up with “it’s just copy-paste work bro, anyone can do that”. Well, to all those who underestimate the skill and dedication of a content writer, I would urge them all to try working as a freelancer for atleast once in their life.

If it’s about grabbing some work, well it’s not that difficult nowadays due to a lot of online opportunities and related groups and portals. If it’s about writing and delivering, even that’s not really hard due to ease of access to internet and of course the emails for the purpose of delivering the content. If it’s about finding and adding relevant pictures, even that has been made simple by a lot of websites providing high definition pictures for free. If it’s about getting paid, wait, what did I just say?

Now that’s something which would be considered inappropriate by a lot of employers. “Concentrate on work, you will get paid soon, don’t worry”, “It’s bulk work, ask for payment accordingly, not more than 20 ppw”, “Oh stop crying for money, I will transfer the amount as soon as I get it from my client, you just carry on with the work” and many such statements are so commonly passed to the writers, both naive and experienced, as if their words will automatically generate food for their stomach and money is not even required by them. There are many who don’t even respond to emails or texts or phone calls, and when they do reply, it’s to inform the delay in payment!

You ask for 50 ppw or more, you are considered too costly and ignored, you agree to 20 ppw and you are taken for granted considering you as just another writer working for just any available amount. At times, you work for an employer for weeks and then he/she vanishes with all your hard work. And when that happens, you are left clueless as to where to lodge a complaint and whether such an extreme step should actually be taken or not. A person like me prefers taking such a step to teach a lesson to the fraudulent souls out there, but there are many who just regret their alliance with such a person and let it go with a heavy heart.

A Content Writer is someone who earns his/her bread and butter in this era of cut-throat competition by writing through sleepless nights and foodless hours in order to continue with the ongoing flow. There are many who understand it all and pay well on time, and I am thankful to them for respecting the caliber of a writer. However, those who misuse or exploit the talent of a writer, I urge them to mend their ways or the time is not far when they will be treated in the same manner as what goes around comes around sooner or later.

A healthy workflow in the content writing profession can do wonders for the employers. Those who understand the same, follow stringent measures to ensure maintenance of desired coordination and provision of desired work environment, resulting in the best possible outcomes. Writers also put more efforts for such employers working overtime with a smile. Underpaid or unpaid work can never yield the required results; and once ruined, unpaid writers can never build the same trust again with which they started.

(ppw refers to price per word in general, but is considered as paisa per word according to Indian currency.)