Middle Fingers in the News

Happy Thanksgiving, readers. In case you're looking for something semi-freelance-related to be thankful for this holiday, here's something to sink your gratitude into:


Pittsburgh OKs tentative settlement in 'middle-finger' suit

By The Associated Press
11.24.09

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh City Council has tentatively approved paying $50,000 to settle a free-speech lawsuit filed by a man cited for giving a city police officer the middle finger.

Thirty-five-year-old David Hackbart of Butler made the gesture at a driver in April 2006, then did it again when someone yelled at him — realizing only later the second person was a police officer.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued saying Hackbart’s gesture was constitutionally protected speech. A federal judge postponed a September trial indefinitely at the request of attorneys on both sides.

Council members gave initial approval to the settlement Nov. 17, but must vote again next week to finally approve the payment.

No court documents settling the case have been filed.

The Ultimate Get-a-Clue Freelance Request for the Week of November 16, 2009

Project Description: Flexible Biz Dev Letter Writer Position Available (Telecomute)

Specific Project Request: We have an opportunity available for someone to write business development letters to executives in other industries for our search engine optimization company. Pay is $2 per letter and we think the letters will average 7 miinutes to write, but this is subject to change based on how long the letters actually take and their effectiveness. If you're interested please send a custom letter about yourself, your interests and why you think you would be good for this job. Please specifically include whether you know any specific industries (e.g. finance, law, whatever) and whether you have a writing specialty such as short story-telling, comedy writing, etc. Thanks!




There's nothing I hate more than a job posting that tells you how many minutes (or miinutes) it should take you to craft specific items. Seriously, what writer with expertise in finance, law or other area of specialization that requires advanced schooling is going to jump at the chance to write letters for $2 a pop? Even if it does take him or her 7 minutes to write said letters, that averages out to $17/hour with no benefits. And that's not to mention the HUGE assumption that you could sustain that level of cranking out. Yeah right. Screw you!

Advice for Freelancers Attempting NaNoWriMo

You haven't been hearing from me as much lately and part (but only a small part) of my excuse is that I'm taking part in two creative writing challenges this month. NaNoWriMo happens to be one of them, but it's also the one I almost definitely will not win, at least according the rules. However, the fact that I'm accomplishing any personal writing with everything else I have on my plate these days makes me a winner in my own eyes.

If you're joining me in the NaNo craziness, you might find this article useful: How to Write a Great Novel. Please note that while I haven't yet found the time to read it myself, I welcome comments.

The Ultimate Get-a-Clue Freelance Request for the Week of November 9, 2009

Sorry for the delay with my Middle Finger Award winner for this week. During the month of November, I'm taking part in two creative writing challenges on top of my already bursting-from-the-seams life. One can never be too busy to dole out a Screw You! to the truly deserving, though.


Project Description: Blog & Article Ghostwriters for business owners/professionals (Your Home Office)

Specific Project Request: Are you offended by the way writing skills have been devalued on the Internet? Do you believe quality need not be sacrificed for quantity? Would you prefer to stay behind the scenes and write while someone else goes out and drums up business?

If you answered yes to these three questions, I'd like to hear from you.

My company provides online communications and Internet marketing consulting for small business owners and professionals. One set of services we offer includes blog and article ghostwriting. I have been doing the writing myself, but I'm currently in the process of ramping up my marketing efforts. Because I expect hoards of new clients to begin knocking down my door any minute, I'm looking to add a few freelance writers to the team. (Hey, a girl can dream, right? Seriously, I'm just trying to be proactive in the event that I can't handle increased volume. And in the spirit of transparency, the current "team" = my sister and me.)

Qualifications:
Ability to write well for a variety of audiences - know when and how to appropriately adjust tone and formality
Keen respect for good grammar, but savvy enough to know when and where to break the rules
Experience writing for the web
Familiarity with web content development for Internet marketing
College education preferred
Ability to write up to 500 words quickly and under tight deadlines
Access to a reliable computer and Internet access
Firm grasp of U.S. English
Friendly, easygoing personality
Must be able to accept payment via PayPal

Please send the following IN THE BODY OF AN EMAIL - NO ATTACHMENTS (sorry for yelling):
Bio and/or resume (don't spend too much time writing one... just send what you have)
Two writing samples (preferably web copy or blog posts)
Links to your website or social media profiles (if applicable)

If you seem to be a good fit, I'll contact you within a week.

Please Note:

It is extremely important to me that I am able to pay writers fairly. The pay rate is $15-18 per item. If you know it will take you two hours to get an entry "just right," I'd rather you not apply. That wouldn't amount to a fair rate, which goes against my values. I am retaining a percentage of what my clients pay as compensation for my marketing and consulting efforts.

This is an "as-needed" opportunity to supplement other income source(s). If selected, I will place you on my list of available writers.



I'll tell you what I'm offended by: job postings that lure you in with the promise of undoing the Internet's rampant devaluing of writing skills only to find out they pay $15-$18 PER ITEM. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that right around the exact same amount all those devaluers (a certain content mill comes to mind) they're pointing fingers at are currently paying?

The Ultimate Get-a-Clue Freelance Request for the Week of November 2, 2009

Project Description: Scoopers Wanted!

Specific Project Request: Have this tingling sensation that you know more than other people when it comes to movies and TV shows and don’t mind letting them know all about it?

Then join our Spoilers Guide blog network and write with us!

At the moment, we are looking for daily writers only. What that means:

It means that you need to be able to check at least twice a day for new spoilers, and post them on here if you find any ( or link to original source, depends on type of the information ). We need people who can commit to the site, to the daily grind of spoilers writing.

We have our own system for finding new spoilers which we will happily share with you. There’s no need for you to browse trough hundreds of sites. Exclusive material we get daily, like sides, press releases or videos will be mailed by us to you when we get it.

So what do you get by writing for SpoilersGuide.com? I mean, besides the adoration of millions of readers a day (give or take a million a day), and the ability to brag to your cousins that you’re now a published writer?

You can make money!

You can earn money for every post you make ( your two Adsense ads on every post you make, stays forever!). Depending on how prolific you become, this could mean a 1$-10$ bucks a day to a few dozen bucks a day to a few cents a day. It’s entirely up to you. Write a lot, make a lot. Write once a month, make a cent a day . Later, if you become a valuable member of the team (that is, if you’re still here in a year or two), we can discuss other revenue sharing options.

On technical side, Spoilers Guide is greatly optimized ( that’s what I mostly do so don’t have time to post dozen of new posts everyday day ), which means that with a little work you can get thousands of visitors coming to your posts from Google every day! More visitors, more money and fame ( hint: Google for example ” Flash Forward spoilers ” and you’ll see we are the first )

Before we get started, let’s talk about what you need to know before you shoot me an email using the contact form below.

Wordpress. It’s the publishing platform we use here at SpoilersGuide.com. That means you need to have a working knowledge of Wordpress, or a similar publishing platform, to hit the ground running. Wordpress is relatively easy ( probably the easiest way to publish content online ) to learn if you are willing to learn. Find more about it over at Wordpress.org. It’s not crucial that you know Wordpress, but truth be told, it’ll be a whole lot easier on both of us if you’ve at least published on the net before using some sort of publishing platform ( live journal, blogger, even forums ! )

What to include with your email to me:

Who are you, why do you want to write for us, which shows/movie you are interested in, and which TV/movie sites you usually read or are part of ( forums ).

First impressions count. DO NOT SEND ME AN EMAIL FULL OF TYPOS AND LOWER CASE LETTERS or sOmEtHiNg lIkE tHiS.




Okay, seriously, if you were going to work for the pittance that is Adsense commissions, why, why, why would you hand your writing over to someone else when you could set up your own blog free of charge, earn the exact same commissions and keep complete editorial control? And that you would keep that up for an entire year with the pie-in-the-sky hopes that you'll one day share in other paltry revenue schemes? It never ceases to amaze me the lengths job posters will go to in order to make a moldy-cheese scam sound gourmet-cheese appetizing.