This is the article I wish I had found when I started out. I had read a million blogs by other writers and I had my handy copy of The Writers Digest, but I couldn’t find any information on what I was supposed to do once I actually got an assignment.
I would like to share with you some information that will hopefully ease your mind and prepare you for that big moment.
My first request to write an article came last summer. I had an opportunity from a financial company to write financial blog posts for the many companies this marketing firm represented. I was thrilled and scared at the same time. My biggest fear was that I didn’t know anything about finance. My second fear was how would I get paid?
I ended up writing one article and sending it in. The company who had offered me the assignment was happy with the content, but wanted me to edit it down to 300 words. I dreaded writing anything more, because I honestly had no idea what I was really writing about. I couldn’t tell if the article made sense because my background is just not in finance. I bit the bullet and wrote to the company explaining that I just felt this wasn’t a good fit since I didn’t have a background in this area. They were disappointed that I was giving up, but understood why.
Since then, I have written for many companies that are a much better fit. I have learned that you should write about what you know or can easily figure out. If the subject matter is too far off the beaten track of your knowledge, you aren’t going to be proud of what you are delivering. I didn’t want my name on an article that sounded amateurish.
So, let’s say that you have an assignment and you are confident in what you will be writing. The next questions you will probably ask yourself are how do I get paid? Will I have to give out personal information? Do I have to use an invoice to bill them? Can I trust that I will see the money once I write the article?
These are the questions I was asking myself. It was so overwhelming to not know what to expect, it almost stopped me dead in my tracks. I am here to ease your mind so that you can get through a tough moment like this.
First of all, you don’t need to pass along any personal information. Don’t worry about giving up a social security number. The only way that would ever happen is if you were working for that company as an employee who was writing regularly, like for a newspaper for instance.
The best way I have found to get paid is through PayPal. Anyone can set up a PayPal account. I have never found a company that wasn’t willing to pay in this manner. The best parts about using this system are: 1. You don’t have to worry about a check bouncing or being lost in the mail, and 2. PayPal uses an invoice when billing the company so you don’t have to worry about generating one.
Of course there are companies that might prefer to write a check, but if at all possible, see if PayPal will work for them. You do need to know that PayPal will take 2% of the profits, but I feel it’s still worth not giving out an address or other personal information. Plus, like I said, you don’t have to worry about creating an invoice.
Finally, the other question that you might have is will I get paid? The answer is hopefully, yes. Unfortunately, there will be people out there who will take advantage and won’t pay you after you worked so hard to write a good article.
My best advice is to only write one article at a time and them insist on payment, at least until you feel you can trust the company to pay you. Losing money on one article is a lot easier to swallow instead of having written a bundle of articles and then getting stiffed.
When you agree to write for a company, you will also want these questions answered:
1. What is the deadline for the article?
2. How quickly will I hear back if an article needs to be edited?
3. How many words should the article be (generally I have seen 300-500 words) ?
4. How long will it take before I hear if the article has been accepted?
5. How soon after the article is published will I be waiting before I get paid?
I hope these tips help you out and ease your mind. If you have any questions I haven’t covered, please feel free to ask in the comment section. I will do my best to answer whatever is on your mind. If I don’t have an answer, I will say so.
All the best, and I wish you much success. 🙂
P.S.
Check out these great articles on this subject at The Renegade Writer and Editorials Freelance Association. Links are below.
http://www.therenegadewriter.com/2012/12/06/you-ask-i-answer-do-i-need-to-bill-editors/
http://www.the-efa.org/res/sample_invoice.php
Wendy McCance
To contact Wendy McCance about a writing or social media assignment, interview or speaking engagement, please email her at: [email protected]
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Wendy, this is a great article and was very helpful and straight to the point! Now my question is: How do I land this paying gig?! Will you or can you post something on that soon!? 😉
Thank you thank you! I love the blog since I found you on LI! Everything you post has been SO helpful, especially for a novice like me!
Thanks so much, I really appreciate it. I have written some articles on how I got some paying gigs, but maybe I’ll write an updated article on it.
Great post and great advice! I have been pondering about financial writing for a while, since I spent 20 years in the industry, but am still pondering! 🙂
Go for it!!! You only live once. You truly have nothing to lose, but so much to gain. 🙂
This is great advice! I’m printing it and saving it for sure. I recently was asked to write for two different people and although excited and flattered, I was scared our of my mind. Your first piece of advice is KEY! I definitely felt strongly about my subject matter in one of them but really struggled to pull it together. It was a wonderful exercise in growing and stretching as a writer. I learned so much!!
Vicky
Hi Vicky, I’m so glad I could help. I wanted to have an opportunity to write so much. It’s crazy that when it finally presented itself, I had to fight myself to do it. The fear can definitely hamper your dreams. Learning to push through the fear and realizing I had nothing to lose was a huge growth experience and ultimately great for my ego. Congrats on your writing career. 🙂
I just checked your blog so that I could guide you to where the critique is located. It’s on the “about” page and was posted on Feb. 24 at 10 pm. I hope this helps you find it.
Yes, yours was the first critque. I left it on your blog.
My nephew, an architect and professor at Catholic University authored a book that not one publisher considered picking up. My nephew is dyslexic and frankly, the book was unreadable. He asked me to proofread and edit it and I was in a state of panic, not knowing the first thing about architecture. Somehow I was able to reshape his book and it was picked up by the first NYC publisher that read it. Honestly, articles are a cakewalk compared to that sort of project. I love my nephew but pray he isn’t writing a sequel.
Even so, what a remarkable ending. That’s fabulous!!
Now this was interesting and informative thank you
You’re very welcome.
I have had a couple offers to write for other bloggers. I am always careful that I research the site and make sure it is something that will accompany my niche. 🙂
I think that’s the best way to go about it. 🙂
I was offered an opportunity to write for an online media but they were not happy to link my blog to it. I thought that was selfish considering I was offering a free service and only wanted to promotemy blog. So I declined. I am still writing and hoping for a better offer.
If you were offered money, I would understand them not wanting to link. If they didn’t offer you any money, then, I don’t get it. I have only been offered an opportunity to write for free a few times, and it was with the understanding that my bio and links would be included.