Yes, I’m Indian. No, I Won’t Write Your Article for $5.

Is my value to be judged from where I’m born?

“If we want to pay this kind of price, we might as well hire a local,” they told me when I mentioned my rates for landing page copywriting. I didn’t reach out to this client (and all the other clients we’ll discuss below). They reached out to me after seeing my regular updates on LinkedIn.

A few of them reached out after my post announcing to the world that I’ve quit my job to become a full-time writer went viral. But all these calls were just hours of conversation that ultimately reduced me to my nationality.

Nobody bothered to see that I got my Masters from one of the top B-schools in the world or the work experience I have, or even read my articles. They read where I’m from, and they wanted to pay little for more work.

Ask for fair pricing, and they tell me that's not what I’m supposed to do. So here’s a shocking account of my experiences with prospective clients.

And no, not everybody is like this. In fact, the reason I can stand up for myself and say no is because I’ve worked with some great people who have valued me and my work. For instance, I once worked with a millionaire who paid me what I asked and we created splendid work together. I’ve also worked with people across the globe from Australia to the U.K. to the U.S. who were blissful to work with.

Today I can hold my ground to say no to what demeans my value. I can because of these people who believed in me.

However, it’s disheartening when you hear you should be priced low just because of where you come from. I’ll also mention what will I do differently next time so you can evade such a situation.

“I Can Pay $5 for This on Fiverr”

But if you can, why reach out to me?

What followed next was him pitching me to ghostwrite a 150-page ebook for $1,356 because “it’s a lot of money in Indian rupees”. Usually, we Indians are known to convert currencies in our head when we go abroad because our currency is so weak, but people abroad can do it better, I realised.

I explained how ghostwriting is an expensive process and $1,356 may be a decent amount in Indian rupees but the amount of research it requires will take me full workdays for over two months.

We then hopped onto blog posts, where I was again questioned why do I charge 3 digits because it can be done for $5. I looked at his blog posts, with incorrect grammar and boring essays. There were zero sparks of creativity and they were hard to comprehend.

Here’s what we can learn from this

Have expectation settings before the call. If the profile of the prospective client doesn’t look like your targeted clientele, mention approximate rates on email. This way you won’t waste your time getting on a call and haggling there.

“We Can Pay This Much to Somebody in Our Own Country”

I haven’t heard this once, but twice.

I understand that developing countries like India are hubs for outsourcing for cheap work, so if that's what you’re looking for, it’s best to approach agencies and freelancers who cater to this market.

When you’re approached because of your credibility of creating good work, it’s sad when they tell you they’d rather pay somebody the same amount in their own country.

Here’s what we can learn from this

Unfortunately, I don’t see this as something we can gauge in the beginning. I had a conversation with a retired senior executive who was now running his startup in London. Our conversation went for over 90 minutes with a lot of fun and jokes and talking about our families. To hear this from him was shocking.

Maybe view it as an incident that helps you develop a thick skin?

What Is the Solution to This?

What can we do differently as clients and freelancers to avoid this situation? After all, both sides want to get work/ their work done in the most efficient way.

Here are my two cents around the same.

Freelancers

As a freelancer, a positive way to look at this is these experiences were important for me to face the lows and grow my muscle on resilience.

Here are a few things I will do differently next time:

• Set expectations in the beginning: I’m now quoting a rough price in the first call itself, so further haggling (and disappointments) can be avoided. Some have been a sport about it, but some show hesitance straight away and you’d be grateful you won’t waste more time with them.
• Have a rough rate card: A different one for where extensive research is required and one where less research is required. If it’s an old client, you can state you’ll be open to negotiating on these rates.
• Learn negotiation: I kid you not, it’s an art. I’m currently reading Never Split Difference by Christopher Voss who was a negotiator with the FBI for kidnappings. Most of his techniques are relatable to the negotiations I have on client calls. 10/10 would recommend, not just for this, but even as a life skill.
• Don’t lose hope: I cater to ghostwrite for executives or write for businesses. I have seen with experience that there’s a market for this. Whatever your target clientele is, know that there’s demand for content and you have to reach out/ be approached by the right people.

Clients

While outsourcing is a cost-efficient way to run a business, it’s eminent to target the right people for the right work, else it's a waste of time for both parties.

If you know a certain website will get your work done in $5, then the most cost and time-efficient way is to go to that website and get work done.

Assuming lower pay because a country where somebody comes from is an unfair way to go about it. Perhaps take a look at their work and the clientele they cater to, to get a fair idea of if this partnership will work or not.

I don’t know about others, but to me, when somebody tells me to charge a certain amount just because of where I’m born feels like borderline discrimination.

I hope this helps freelancers and clients alike to save time and derive better value propositions.

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