Guest blogger, copywriter or ghost writer??

[KristineS]

I think it's more about picking where you work for free. Some people will take any job, just to get the credit. If you aren't getting paid in cash, than you should get paid some other way, in prestige or recognition or in adding a credit to your resume that people will value. I would never say never work for free, as I've done it myself when there was enough good reason, I'm saying more be picky about when and where you work for free, and know why you're doing it.

[vangogh]

Absolutely. I wouldn't suggesting taking any job for free or low pay just to get the job. I think that leads right into keeping you at the low pay. Some examples of where I think it would be ok.

1. Your just starting out and need to build a portfolio and get your name out there.
2. The job is for a prestigious client and will get you a lot of attention
3. You do work for charities and causes you believe in
4. You write for a popular website with an audience matching your target market
5. You write for a website that does well in search engines and they let you link back to your own site

Just a few examples. As long as you think you'll derive enough value from the job even if that value isn't in the form of money you're probably fine working for low pay or for free. You can't do that too much, of course, or you'll brand yourself as the cheap writer.

[cbscreative]

Good points, vg and Kristine. If I implied in any way that you should never work cheap or free, that certainly wasn't my intention, so I appreciate you adding more so no one could mistakingly come to that conclusion. Personally, I'm much more inclined to write for free rather than cheap though. If I write for free, I've given something of value willingly. Writing cheap diminishes the value...at least to me it does so it's a personal thing.

That doesn't mean I don't write for cheap at all though. I have one long term project for a ministry that is priced way below the value. I enjoy doing it and they get to put their funds to other uses. But I also am not looking to take on more of that kind of work. There's plenty of opportunity for writers to do that though.

[vangogh]

I didn't think you were implying that at all. I agree with you here. You're better off not working cheap just to get the job. One of the best things I ever did in my business was to start saying no to people who weren't willing to pay my fee or at least be in the ballpark. I think if you reduce your price just to get the job that becomes the reason people hire you and it's the reason they tell others for why to contact you.

There are always exceptions, of course, and I wanted to point out a few, but even the case of free work to build a portfolio one or two jobs you can point to should be enough to turn the next one into a paying gig.