How would you handle this?

[NicWrites]

OK, so I have an ongoing public request situation on my hands. This month's request did not work out as me or the client anticipated. These are very short articles with a small price per article. The problem is the information requested is not available for several of the articles. For example, if I had 25 articles to do, only 15 of them have the necessary information. The client asked me to simply skip those that didn't have the information. That is fine, but I am not getting paid for these (obviously). The problem is that it requires pretty extensive research to determine whether or not the information is available. So, I am doing a ton of work and am only going to get paid a tiny bit.

Obviously I have to finish the project, but when I asked the requester how to do the pricing with the skipped articles, the pricing remained the same. My pride wants to "tell him off" and remind him that I still have to spend a lot of time researching the ones that don't work. So, obviously this is not the right way to handle the situation. But, is there a way to respectfully and professionally request that I somehow be reimbursed for the time and effort put in to researching these? Or at least let him know that my request for a slightly raised price on the ones I am submitting has a valid reason? (just $1 extra per article, and he is getting the entire project for far less than originally budgeted with the lack of information availalbe)

I don't want to lose the job, but at the same time I don't want to spend tons of time working and not getting paid for it. Frankly, I can't afford that right now becuase we just did our taxes and owe quite a bit (this was my first year full time freelancing). So, time is money as they say!

[Ed]

This is an understandable concern. I would consider asking if you could raise the price of each article that you DO write by a marginal amount.

I'm sure that one of the other authors will have some good (better) advice for you. Hang tight until they see your post. I'll be interested to hear what they say, too.

Ed

[Elizabeth Ann West]

To be fair, you say this is an ongoing monthly assignment. I think you need to ask yourself two questions:
Is the difference between getting paid for the research and not getting paid for the research worth losing the contract altogether?

If you were the buyer, how much of an increase would you think is reasonable? (That way if the deal goes sour, you at least can ethically applaud yourself for thinking of them).

I would see if the buyer is willing to accept for next time, that in the event an article is skipped due to lack of information, there will be a charge for time spent researching. You were also a little vague in describing your communication with the buyer, did you just ask them their thoughts on pricing or specifically ask for increased compensation for the time spent researching? Not accusing you Nic, just make sure this is truly an impasse in pricing and not just a simple misunderstanding. Electronic communication leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to tone and inflection.

The only other thing I can think of to do would be to let the buyer know that "X is the amount we originally anticipated this project would cost. Y is the number of articles I have completed at that rate, and Z is the hourly compensation for the research it took on the articles that lacked proper source material for a complete article, so that is why the price is this." And leave it at that. If they buy they buy, if not then adjust the price back down. Chances are the buyer is going to want the content, and not want to have to take the time to wait for another writer to be trained and instructed and then also write the content over again. Plus seeing that X, as the original budget, may help to remind the buyer he or she is still getting a great deal.

Not an easy situation Nic, but I feel for you. I have a similar situation with a very inexpensive weekly article. Now the topics are becoming more and more intense, and I don't even get a byline (my poor negotiation skills, should have insisted on one for as low as I am going). Instead, I write an article that is satisfactory, but I don't go above and beyond like I do in my other assignments. I have pledged to myself that after 3 months, I will tell him the articles are requiring way too much research and need to go up in price, or at least I will once I can afford to lose the contract. LOL.

[Celeste Stewart]

I would resist the urge to "tell him off."

The way I see it is that private requests on CC are golden. They are your chance to get in with customers who need a great deal of content. They have a choice of thousands of writers and they picked you. Can you shine? Can you prove to them that you are easy to work with? If so, larger, more lucrative jobs could very well follow. I'd bite the bullet and my tongue on this one. If the next assignment looks as intense researchwise, talk to the guy and explain how much additional work you put in last time on research and ask what he thinks is fair. He'll likely appreciate that you put in the extra effort without whining and be willing to work with you.

I also wouldn't expect a customer to keep coming back for more or increase my pay if I was only putting out "satisfactory" work, either. You have to shine for your customers and prove your worth if you want to ask for a higher rate. Remember, there are plenty of other writers that can easily take your place. Customers are willing to pay more but you have to be worth it both in quality and attitude.

[NicWrites]

Of course, I am not going to do anything disrespectful or unprofessional, don't worry Celeste .

I think I am just going to deal with it, finish the assignment, and see what happens. If I am offered another assignment next month (as I anticipate) I will cover this concern before accepting. I am sure the buyer simply hasn't thought of it. It has been a good buyer to work with. it's just annoying because the rate decreased on thsi set, yet it is taking me more time than the others because I can't find the information. Non-writers probably do not realize how much time it takes to thoroughly research something before saying "it's not there." You don't want to say that unless you are sure. Thanks for the advice!

[Celeste Stewart]

I think that's probably for the best. If this is the customer I think it is, he has varying budgets for different projects. Your next one could be more rewarding, I hope.

[NicWrites]

Well, I finished the set, and it ended up costing half of what the budget was, yet took me twice as long to complete as it should have. Oh well, it's done.

Now, if he brings me another article set that this could potentially happen with, what should I say? I don't expect a customer to pay full price for non-existent information, but the research time should be considered. How can you professionally address this?

[Celeste Stewart]

I have an upcoming project that is strictly going to be research with the writing to follow at some later date. We worked out an hourly rate. But I supposed that's a bit different because the customer asked if I'd be willing to do some research on a topic.

Let's see. Suppose he sends you his request and it's similar. You could possibly respond by saying something like this:

Thanks for the assignment. While I'm anxious to get started on it, I do have some concerns about the time commitment involved in researching topics that may not come into being. Is it possible to establish a small fee to compensate me for my time researching the articles that may not result in an article based on lack of information?

I don't know - might need a bit of tweaking.

[NicWrites]

That's great Celeste, actually! Anything I thought of sounded like is was wining. (I'm 4 months pregnant, so I'm always paranoid about sounding like a winy pregnant lady).

So far this has been the only time this has happened, but I plan to do a little preliminary research before starting the next batch to protect myself from a similar situation. I've been pretty frustrated, but to be fair it's not really the customer's fault. Like I said, non-writers don't realize the amount of time it takes to thoroughly research something.

[Celeste Stewart]

Congrats on the pregnancy!