Funny Craigslist ads- client expectations

[AZ Mommy]

I have read some crazy CL ads looking for writers. Here is one that caught my eye today:

** Hiring Article Writer with College Degree ** (USA)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm a web designer with many clients and I'm looking to hire an experienced content writer who can write high quality SEO optimized articles! I can send up to 100+ articles per week to you.

All articles must be researched, excellent English grammar, content that will grab visitors attention, and 100% UNIQUE (must pass Copyscape).

*College Degree is required!
*You MUST be U.S. based
*Must have at least 1 year of writing experience
*Must know SEO writing guidelines
*Articles must be completed within 24 hours.

Please email your resume, 2 articles, and 2 references.

Pay: $5/500 word article

I know that some new writers may be fine with $0.01/word, but this person sounds like a nightmare. Anyone else have any crazy "writer wanted" ads to share?

[anng]

I don't actually have an ad from Craigslist, but one of my private clients emailed me a couple days ago asking if I'd be willing to create a fake Facebook page and "like" his posts. He then went on to say that he really couldn't think of a way to pay for this kind of service and that maybe I could just do it for the warm, fuzzy feeling I'd get knowing I helped someone out.

What's really weird is that he's very generous the rest of the time paying 5 cents a word for quick reviews.

[funmom91]

I responded to an add this week on craigslist and the person was looking for someone to do guest posts. I called her up she said that she needed 500. I told her my price and she told me she had someone who was going to do it for $50 so she was looking for something in that price range. Obviously, I declined her offer but it is just funny that she expected 500 guest post for under $50. Who would writ 500 articles for $50?

[bax]

I responded to an ad a few days ago. They were looking for a travel writer. Turns out they wanted 1,000-word articles with 3-5 photos each. You had to pitch the article idea. Once the idea was approved, you had to write an outline for the article. If the outline was approved, you could write the article. It paid $10 IF the article was approved, in which case you would have to bill them. And they paid within 180 days of invoicing.

A dream job.

[Del S]

This makes me miss the Craigslist Curmudgeon so much!

[juliewein]

This wasn't on Craigslist, but I got an email yesterday on one of the content mills I write for where the client wanted 1,000 words for $5.

At that rate, I don't know whether to cry or throw up.

[Mr.Shiro]

Originally Posted by AZ Mommy

I have read some crazy CL ads looking for writers. Here is one that caught my eye today:

** Hiring Article Writer with College Degree ** (USA)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm a web designer with many clients and I'm looking to hire an experienced content writer who can write high quality SEO optimized articles! I can send up to 100+ articles per week to you.

All articles must be researched, excellent English grammar, content that will grab visitors attention, and 100% UNIQUE (must pass Copyscape).

*College Degree is required!
*You MUST be U.S. based
*Must have at least 1 year of writing experience
*Must know SEO writing guidelines
*Articles must be completed within 24 hours.

Please email your resume, 2 articles, and 2 references.

Pay: $5/500 word article

I know that some new writers may be fine with $0.01/word, but this person sounds like a nightmare. Anyone else have any crazy "writer wanted" ads to share?

I'm from the UK, but ads like this really make me shake my head because it's not as if a college degree is going to change anything about your writing.

The only time where I would accept it's needed is for highly technical work on highly specialised subjects, but for most part it's a complete joke. Oh yes because those three years of drinking are really going to come in handy here.

And this is before we get into the rest of this person's unreasonable expectations just to apply. I have no issue with writing for $0.01/word as I don't believe it's completely below my league, but for those sort of expectations I would be expecting much more. These are rates for jobs which anybody should be walking into.

Sorry for the rant, but I'm in an expressive mood today!

[cassandra]

If it wasn't for the fact that he talked about SEO, my assumption would be that he is looking for someone to write college papers for lazy students.

[mommy2onelittleboy]

For some reason, Pittsburgh Craig's List loves to offer writing gigs about the Steelers for writers without any compensation. Seriously, there are always ads to write about Pittsburgh sports teams without any compensation. Heck, most of the CL from this area wants high quality for no pay.

[mommy2onelittleboy]

I agree with you. There is no reason a writer needs a degree unless it is in a specific area. It's especially unreasonable to require a degree for .01 a word.

Originally Posted by Mr.Shiro

I'm from the UK, but ads like this really make me shake my head because it's not as if a college degree is going to change anything about your writing.

The only time where I would accept it's needed is for highly technical work on highly specialised subjects, but for most part it's a complete joke. Oh yes because those three years of drinking are really going to come in handy here.

And this is before we get into the rest of this person's unreasonable expectations just to apply. I have no issue with writing for $0.01/word as I don't believe it's completely below my league, but for those sort of expectations I would be expecting much more. These are rates for jobs which anybody should be walking into.

Sorry for the rant, but I'm in an expressive mood today!