Sunday, January 22, 2012

It Cannot Be Worth It

Since moving to Utah, I have had a lot of little jobs to bring in extra money. I have been an adjunct professor (which I loved!), a patent researcher, a legal blog writer, a business plan writer, a freelance writer and most recently a legal blog writer again.

I still write business plans and write articles for a small local paper in Salt Lake City. But, I also accepted a job with a law firm in Virginia. For $18 I write a blog, about 400 - 600 words. I have to send it to one of the lawyers for approval. Once I get approval, I post it on their site, I tag it, I include the correct header and footer, and then I write a "teaser" on another blog site where I write about the article I just wrote about, include a link, and include tags and a footer. When I am done, I send out an email to the lawyers and other bloggers about what I just wrote and include links to the main article and the teaser. Each article must include two sources: one external and one internal. And when I finally get done, I get $18.

It might be worth it but for one attorney who has given me a hard time. You send the articles to a rotation of attorneys. There are six. Five think I'm fine. One does not. Apparently I lack proper blogging skills, I do not understand what they are trying to do as a law firm, I need to be 'mentored' through the process, I'm not taking it seriously enough. . .and a few more things I am trying to forget.

So why am I blogging about this when I clearly lack proper blogging skills? I guess I am looking for approval to tell this attorney to take his $18 and take a flying leap. With a tight economy, I have been trying to just be grateful I have something that I can do from home. But for the last two weeks, I have felt really bad about myself and trying to figure out how to please him. And I just don't want to do it anymore.

7 comments:

Tara @ Tales of a Trophy Wife said...

Tell them to take a flying leap! you are wonderful and that is way too much stress and hassle for $18. Maybe $20, but $18 is just not enough. I figure I make about .10/ hour on my blog-but I'm just doing it for fun.

Tina said...

It sounds like he needs to write his own blog posts!!!

Lisa said...

I third the motion. From a purely quantitative, non-emotional, non-guilt-ridden standpoint, the time you're spending on this project doesn't equal the money they're paying you. You should either quit or ask for a significant raise.

Based on that information, you're actually in a no-lose situation. Think about it: "Based on the time and effort it takes to research and write these posts, I would like a raise to $50 per post." If they say "OK" you win! More money! And if they say "No" you STILL win because you can quit and get your precious time back.

Jana said...

I agree with Tara and Tina! Why does a law firm need a blog and why do the lawyers have time to be critiquing your articles? Remember Alicia: You're good enough. You're smart enough. And doggone it, people like you.

LeeAnn said...

$18 per post!?!?! If it was $18 per hour per post then maybe I'd put up with one persons disdain........otherwise adios amidos!

Oh ya, if that one person cannoct give cronstructive feedback as to what it is he//she is looking for they are just complaining to complain.

Jennifer Griffith said...

I agree with Lisa: but raise your price to $180 per post (this is a LAW firm) and see what they say. If they'll make it 10x the money, it might be worth it.

Unknown said...

I know what you should do...have me write for them for one week, then they'll beg you to come back and they'll see how awesome you are :)