New freelance writers can often find themselves getting scammed. That means they end up doing work for nothing or paying out money when they are barely earning enough to survive. Not all writers have to fall victim to scam artists, though, especially if they learn to spot some of common pitfalls.
Spotting Common Writing Scams
One frequent online writing scam is where a client on a bidding site will ask for a free sample before awarding the contract. The only trouble is that this client might be asking dozens of writers for that same free sample. That means that if every writer complies, the client gets the whole job done for free and none of the writers gets paid. Avoid this scam by checking how many articles the client wants and whether each writer is asked for an individual sample or an identical one. This will help writers find out whether a client is likely to be on the level.
Related to this writing scam is the one where clients ask writers to provide freelance writing services at a greatly reduced rate, with the promise that this will increase after the first contract has been completed. Sorry, but this will not happen. In this case, the 'clients' tend to move on to find other writers for the next batch of work so that they can get all their work completed at a knockdown rate. Writers can avoid this scam by having a rate below which it is uneconomical to write - and sticking to it.
Third, there are the clients who urge you to forego the normal checks and balances because their job is terribly urgent. Writers who take work under these circumstances may find that they stretch themselves to provide excellent freelance writing work and never get paid - another online scam. Once the job is done, the clients just disappear, leaving the writer feeling cheated. Avoid this scam by getting deposits up front and making some kind of agreement, even if it's only by email.
How to Beat the Scammers
As well as spotting the potential scams which affect work at home professionals, there are several ways that freelancers can safeguard their time and income:
1. If the pay rate is too low, avoid the job. If the promised pay rate for the second job is unrealistically high, avoid the job.
2. Research the potential client online on work at home and freelance writing forums to see if anyone has heard anything negative about the client.
3. Take a deposit for all work so that there is still something in the bank even if the client disappears.
4. Avoid any job where the client is asking for money. That's not how it works - the client pays the writer.
Sticking to these rules will help writers avoid the common scams and get the right rate for their freelance writing work.
Sharon Hurley Hall - I am an expert web content writer, with more than 20 years' experience writing for newspapers, magazines and websites. I write ebooks, web ...
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