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emmkb
Community Member

help with time spent editing? advice from editors

Hi all, I´m new to UpWork and had just landed my first job editing some text, with the promise that there would be a lot more work as it is to launch a new website.

I am editing copy for marketing within the financial sector, it required some research of the correct terms as i am not an expert in that field. The advert also stated that we didn´t need to be.

So i have started on 5 articles sent, the average word count is about 2,600 words each.

I charged 20$ per hour for this job and would expect a document of this length to take me about 2 hours each, 1 hour to run through obvious spelling or word errors and 1 hour to clean up overall tone and grammar.

As i am new to the system, i reckon i was going to bill about 6 or more hours so far but i have also had to spend a lot of time getting familiar with a new concept and have not included that in my charge.

The client has now told me that my suggestion of pricing is way more than they would reckon on, that they expect me to edit each article in 20mins, but preferably 10mins!

At that rate, i expect this is unrealistic..for the money which is very low. It´s my first job so i had to start somewhere.

 

i have not yet billed hours but i feel this is a red flag signal that they won´t pay more. And...i already spotted some grammatical errors on their test website in another language so its clear they don´t have a high standard but are just keen to get the website up and running.

 

Can someone give me their opinion of this, what is a fair price?

To be clear, i have worked in print as a reporter, copywriter and translator and am used to working pretty fast but i also like to be error-free. Personally i don´t think it comes over well if a website is full of errors, it suggests that people don´t know what they are talking about.

4 REPLIES 4
petra_r
Community Member


Emma B wrote:

i have not yet billed hours 


If it is an hourly contract, why don't you use the tracker? If the client closes the contract NOW, you'll be paid nothing, If the client's payment method fails, you get paid nothing. If the client disputes, the client wins by default. Manual time is not protected.

 


Emma B wrote:

The client has now told me that my suggestion of pricing is way more than they would reckon on, that they expect me to edit each article in 20mins, but preferably 10mins!


This is something that should have been discussed before the contract ever started. If it's an hourly contract, I always give clients a range ("I expect that to take between X and Y hours per Z deliverable").

 


Emma B wrote:

Can someone give me their opinion of this, what is a fair price?


There really is no such thing. It's an hourly contract (or isn't it?) and you set an hourly rate? So you track your time and get paid for the time you tracked. Just be aware that you can't change a cheap client into a quality client and here we seem to have two extremes with the freelancer allocating a raather long time (2 hours) and the client expecting a very short time (10 to 20 minutes) per article - That will never go well. A simple conversation about this prior to the contract would have clarified that this client and you are not a good fit for each other. That would have prevented you getting caught up in a contract with such a discrepancy of expectations.

 


Emma B wrote:

And...i already spotted some grammatical errors on their test website in another language so its clear they don´t have a high standard but are just keen to get the website up and running.


Well, it means they want cheap and that's what they are getting.

 


Emma B wrote:

Personally i don´t think it comes over well if a website is full of errors, it suggests that people don´t know what they are talking about.


Most articles on websites are simply search engine fodder....

emmkb
Community Member

Hi Petra, thanks for your response. Its my first time using UpWork, and i expected some learning curve as i was just seeing if it was something i could do on the side...i looked for some guide on how to use the site and didn´t find one. i didnt know how the tracker worked. I did ask for their expectations and deadlines but was not given any and told to just take my time with getting started. He didn´t offer the contract until AFTER he had sent the first articles..so was intending to cause this problem as the clock starts then. Its really disappointing to immediately get sent down the river...well, at least i´ve learnt something about Bitcoin. NEXT!

 

tlbp
Community Member

Cheap clients be cheap. You aren't going to change that. 
Looking over 2600 words in 10 minutes is almost pointless, isn't it? It would take me that long to review Grammarly's suggestions. 

 

Take advantage of the forums here and elsewhere to read other freelancers' experiences (in any niche). You'll learn what types of clients to avoid and what is or is not "normal." Better to learn from others where you can. 

emmkb
Community Member

Thank you Tonya!

yes...i really got the jist of the plan when he said "ideally in 10 mins".  i understand all these people are looking for cheap solutions but i told him, "ok, in that amount of time i can do x and x but not y, y and y". Y in this case meaning, a good job! I basically then added that i could complete a basic edit in 30mins.

I will see what people say in the forums...

 

 

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