5 Gigs You Should Turn Down
You don’t have to say “yes” to every writing that comes your way. I’m so tempted to do this sometimes when gigs are slow, but I have to remind myself that there are certain things to think about before taking on a writing job. If the job doesn’t fit the criteria, then I have to say no.
If you’re wondering which jobs you should say “no” to, here are five of them.
1. The one with paltry pay. You have rates because you have bills to pay and financial goals to meet. Taking jobs below your rates will keep you from doing both of those. Don’t accept jobs that outside your acceptable rate range, unless you have a very good reason for doing it.
2. The one on the topic that bores you to tears. During my days of article milling, I had some assigments that made me want to ram my head into a wall. They were so drab and uninteresting I could barely make it through them. That’s no way to work. If you’d rather lick sandpaper than write on a topic, then lick sandpaper, don’t write on that topic.
3. The one with the ridiculously short timeline. Don’t make promises you can’t keep and that includes accepting gigs with impossible timelines. You can try to talk the client into something more reasonable, but if he won’t budge, there’s no sense in depriving yourself of sleep and food just to complete an assignment with unreasonable expectations.
4. The one where the hiring client thinks you should be grateful to write for their start-up publication for absolutely nothing. Writing for free is one thing. Writing for free for a website no one has ever heard of is entirely different. I’m doing some gratis work right now for a friend of mine who’s launched an online magazine. Had she approached me like she was doing me a favor, I might have second-thought the position. I’m not going to say never write for free, but make sure you’re getting something out of it. Clips for unknown publications don’t count.
5. The one you really don’t have time for. You should be giving your all to every assignment you take. It’s how clients keep coming back to you and telling their friends about you. If you don’t have time for a gig, chances are you won’t do your best. You risk letting down a client and missing out on future work. If you like the assignment, but don’t have the time right now, ask if the client would be willing to wait. If not, you could always refer him/her to someone in your network.
