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Subject:Re: Offshore writers and editors & web services From:Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 3 Nov 2003 09:46:28 -0800
Quoting Michele Davis <michele -at- krautgrrl -dot- com>:
> I know this leads to an open forum, but must my rates come down in order
> to be accomodating?
Possibly. In my area, freelance rates are lower than they were three years ago.
You don't necessarily have to lower them to the level of the winning bid that
you mentioned, but the difference between your bid and the winning bid suggests
that your rates are high for the market.
Another alternative is to find new potential customers. For example, many
writers and designers who formerly worked almost entirely in high-tech have
broadened their customer bases into other businesses, as well as community
services and Mom and Pop operations.
> Or do I just need to look into a new career?(seriously.)
A freelancer can never have too many ways to earn income. I know that I've
weathered the last few years much better than most because I had a variety of
skills to support me. For about three years, tech-writing was only about 10-20%
of my income, and designing and journalism were the rest. In the last six
months, tech-writing has become much more important to my finances, and I
suspect that will change again soon.
--
Bruce Byfield bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com 604-421.7177
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