"Online Job Bidding" Sites for Writers…

By Gary Karbon
Guest Writer
Recently I had the opportunity to study some of the Online Job-Bidding Sites out there catering to copy and technical writers.
Some of these sites are very well known. And some others are not. But there are a bunch of them out there and they are all similar in the way they work: the employers post their writing projects and the writers compete for them. The assignment usually goes to the lowest bidder.
One major advantage of these sites is that they offer a number of writing assignments at any time. And since none of the postings mention any location, it is assumed that these are all the kind of projects that you can fulfill through telecommuting, without leaving the comfortable confines of your home. No office attendance is required and it doesn’t even matter where on earth you live.
These are all big “pro” arguments in favor of these sites…
Perhaps you have already used some of these sites to secure a gig but I have to say this: I was amazed at how low the offers were in general. As a writer who is used to making a good living in this profession, I was dumbstruck with some of the budgets offered by the job owners. And that’s a major “con” factor as far I’m concerned.
I’ve seen a job owner who wanted to have over a dozen web sites edited and re-written in a hurry for only $35 dollars! There were many others asking serious writing services for as low as $50 dollars.
Perhaps if you live in a city where a dollar goes a long way to meet your expenses, winning a $35 or $50 dollar job is a very satisfactory accomplishment indeed. But I don’t see how most writers, especially those who live and work in the United States, can survive on offers like that.