CopyPress Wants Copywriter to Write for $3.33 an Hour.
/A few weeks ago, I wrote about the extremely low pay that content farmers pay writers. I was (and am) upset for two reasons.
- Writers should not accept such low pay.
- Companies that claim to care about writers should not offer such low pay.
CopyPress just offered me an article and the pay is $20.
It will take me four hours to research and write the piece and conform to their style guide. Then I'll have to spend two hours satisfying, in a purely syntactical fashion, the hyper-anal editor who, to justify her fee, will obsess about 435 out of the 500 words.
So the whole gig will take around six hours and I'll get $20. That's $3.33 an hour.
Just for a bit of fun, I thought I'd make a list of things I could do for higher pay.
- Pick up cigarette butts outside office buildings (next to the ‘No Smoking’ signs).
- Clean toilets in a biker bar after closing time.
- Inspect sewers in a ‘developing’ country.
- Work security at a death metal concert.
- Wake up at 4 a.m. to shovel horse ‘droppings’ in a freezing barn.
- Pack boxes in a ball bearing factory.
- Fry hamburgers.
- Smash my head against a wall to test helmets.
- Shovel snow in Anchorage. In February.
- Put diapers, toilet paper, sanitary napkins, and peanut butter on store shelves.
- Pump gas.
- Mow grass.
- Rake leaves (and put them in the bags).
- Bus tables.
- Be a rickshaw driver in New Delhi.
Alternatively, I could find great clients who:
- Value persuasive writing.
- Pay accordingly.
- Treat me like a professional.
- Tell the truth about their compensation.
- Pay on time and not make excuses about ‘their providers’ not getting funds in the right accounts. (Yeah, right).
- Value great content.
Good thing I’ve been marketing myself and have plenty of these clients.
The only activity that pays less than CopyPress is jury duty.
This gem from the CopyPress website.
CopyPress writers receive competitive rates and are paid in bi-monthly installments. Writers never wait around to be paid and always know exactly when to expect their next pay check.
Memo to CopyPress...next time, for your website, hire a copywriter who will tell the truth. Rule #1 in copywriting is to tell the truth. Telling lies will come back to haunt you. Your rates are NOT competitive and you know it. Also, based on all the emails I received last week about late payment due to a 'technical' error, writers DO NOT know when to expect their pay.
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I'm a direct response copywriter based in Charlotte, North Carolina. I specialize in providing copy and content for the direct marketing environment for clients around the world. Enter your info to the right for my free series: Seven Steps to High Converting Copy. Or contact me here.
