This post is bound to stir up some contraversy but it is something that I have been thinking about since doing my first coaching session with a friend of mine last week. I was explaining to her how to use Elance and how to word her bids so that she might stand a chance of winning the job she was after.

So anyway after logging into Elance and getting her to pick a job that she would like to bid on, I set to work showing her how to word her proposal and showcase her talents. The next part was putting a cost on the project. I found myself explaining to her that she would have to bid low in order to get her first job and feedback rating. It was a transcription job and she like myself would have around 10 years experience doing this type of work. We set a bid price of $75 for typing up 7 seminars with a completion date of three working days. Now I know what everyone is thinking….OMG $75 how could you?

Long story short, she got the bid and was absolutely over the moon. She couldn’t believe it, she was a little child who had just been given the best present ever. It got me thinking about when I first started ghostwriting. I remembered that feeling, the excitement over winning a bid, the sheer joy at actually getting paid to do what I love. When I think about it now I realise how much things have changed in those few short years. Now when I think of Elance I just don’t bother. Why would I work for so little, why would I waste my time, so many why’s. The reality of it is though, I have become greedy. I’ve read so many posts where people are giving out about low pay, people are complaining constantly about Elance, and people saying that no writer should work for such low pay. There are writers constantly telling you that you should be getting x, y, and z for your writing and like most others out there I listened.

I stopped bidding on Elance, I stopped feeling that excitement that I felt when I won a bid, and I stopped enjoying getting paid for my writing. Now it was all about how much I could get, how much money could I make, it wasn’t about the writing anymore, it was now all about the money.

Watching the excitement on my friend’s face when she won that bid made me realise that I missed that excitement. I missed the thrill of winning and most of all I missed the feeling of getting paid to do what I loved. Have you lost that excitement? Do you think that you have become greedy over the years?

Yes I have my high paying clients and yes I make a large sum of money each month, but the excitement just isn’t there anymore. I remember I worked long hours but I also enjoyed every minute of it too. I loved learning about new things and now my writing has become a mere job, a greedy job too where everything is focused on money.

I have decided to change that. I want the passion and excitement back, I want the sheer thrill of the chase, that feeling that I have beaten everyone else and won the prize. Don’t you want that too? Don’t you want to feel as excited as you first did when you started writing for money?

How do I intend to do this? I’m going to start bidding on jobs again. I’m going to start going to Elance and seeing what’s on offer. I’m going to look for ghostwriting jobs that will spark my passion again and I am going to bid. I know that I will have to lower my rates to do this but I don’t mind. I believe that finding my writing passion and being grateful for the opportunity to get paid is more than enough.

It’s time to stop being greedy and focus more on how my writing skills can help others. We keep reading about a recession so maybe it’s time to start giving back. I know that most people reading this won’t agree with me and that’s fine, but let me ask you one question. If getting paid $2 per 100 words meant that you would again feel the excitement that you felt the first time you started getting paid for your writing, would you take it?

Until next time,

Keep writing.

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