I originally started out writing on the fringes of the – hideous name alert – ‘Mummy blogging’ community. I was regularly depressed when some perceived misdemeanour or difference of opinion descended into a bitchy fight in the comments box. I would hate to see that start to happen here.

On another note, the argument about writing for peanuts also rages in the world of blogging and journalism. Journalists are outraged that bloggers will write in return for a link, when they have spent years perfecting their craft and want to pay their mortgage. I’ve been on both sides of that debate and there’s a huge difference between a 400 word blog post dashed off in 20 mins and a 1,000 word feature that took 5 hours to write (including interviews, etc.) and editors can tell – and will pay – the difference.

I’ve always thought that we should give the client some credit; the good ones know that if they want quality, they have to pay for it. And If they don’t know that…well there’s always another client.

Unless anyone believes you get insight, interviews and actual original thought for a penny a word.

We can only hope that search engines improve to the point that all this pointless SEO copy — an artificial construct if ever there was one — will prove to be less valuable than the cost of generating it (we’re getting close).

Per-word pricing works for something like proofreading, but with copywriting it often takes more time and effort to write a short piece than a long piece. And, quite apart from the fact that per-word pricing devalues the work to little more than typing, that is why it’s not a fair pricing model.

I would pose the question, were your suggestion to do so not so impeccably eloquent in itself.

Based on his email address, I can confirm that Rob is the real deal.

I couldn’t help crack a wry smile at his use of the line “hassle free!” at the end of his pitch, just like a certain popular payday loans company.

Just because you take the “hassle” out of it doesn’t mean it isn’t exploitative. Just because you don’t have to deal with clients, or send out invoices, doesn’t justify paying people 1.5 p a word.

There’s a joke up on Sickipedia at the moment:

My boss pulled up in his brand new BMW today and I couldn’t help but admire it.
“Nice car,” I said as he got out.
“Well,” he said, noticing my admiring looks, “Work hard, put the hours in, and I’ll have an even better one next year.”

Congratulations, Rob. You are that guy.