Why so much mistrust among clients from Asia and especially from Third World countries?

2 Replies

First of all this is neither a rant nor a complaint, it is just an observation and I would like to get opinions from my fellow freelancers. Although I live in India, I am an Indian, it is very rarely that I end up doing assignments from Asian as well as Indian clients. It’s not that I don’t accept the work. First of all there are very few clients who really appreciate experienced writers because here whoever can write, thinks that he or she can also write for his or her website or, brochure, so why pay a writer? And even if they hire, they don’t want to pay you much because after all you are just writing, you are not doing any work.

Among the ones who understand the importance of good writing, never seem to understand my need to charge an advance. They think I am going to disappear after taking the advance or I am not going to put enough effort after I have got money from them.

95% of my work comes from Europe and America and clients from these countries almost always pay an advance and they even pay for the sample if they ask for one. So I was just wondering, after a recent incident, why clients generally from Asia and particularly from India, are not eager to pay an advance and why there is so much mistrust. Instead of repeatedly saying Asia I will simply refer to Indian clients.

Indians are really hard-working and they love to follow rules, only when they are in some other country. In India they work hard only when lots of personal interest is at stake and given a chance, they’d rather while away the time, even if they have been paid to work at that time. If nobody is there to supervise them or monitor their activities, they leave the office early, they spend hours having tea, surfing the net, having lunch, gossiping, and doing everything under the sun accept for the activity for which they are being paid. And this is not confined to a particular section of the society; from top executives to the laborer breaking rocks by the side of the road, everybody skips work given a chance. People work hard not to grow, they work hard when they have no choice.

Since they spend their lives like this, they suspect everybody does that, and this is the reason why they don’t like paying an advance, especially to an Indian freelancer, because they think one only works when one is trapped. They think that to get small amount of money without having to do any work is much better than getting lots of money by working hard. That’s why almost 100% clients detest paying an advance.

There is also this problem of control. I have no problem sharing this observation with you, and I’m sure many people from India will agree, an average Indian is a typical school bully. He or she cowers in front of the strong and harasses the one at a disadvantage. When they hire you they are immediately condescending. They think they are doing you a big favor by giving you work because they very conveniently assume that you are desperate to get some work and your life hinges upon their acceptance. So when they are talking to you they already have this funny, childish, haughty tone, and on top of that, if you commit the chutzpah of asking an advance, they are totally offended and consider you an ungrateful chap. Most of them all of a sudden realize that they don’t actually require a writer, especially an ungrateful writer who doesn’t trust them. These are not the dangerous ones.

There are those who know that they need a writer, who despise the thought of paying you an advance, and eventually, they don’t intend to pay you even long after you have completed the work. These are the dangerous types and you should avoid them if you’re not desperate; you’d rather do the work for free (but don’t tell them because this will offend them because they can easily afford to pay 10 writers like you 🙂 ). They feel good that you are stuck with them for a long time. You have worked hard, you have worked for many days, and now your payment depends on their whim. They will make you feel ashamed of yourself for calling again and again for such a small amount. Fortunately I haven’t worked for such clients for many years.

Jokes apart, this is primarily the reason why people here don’t believe in paying an advance. They don’t respect their own time and commitment and therefore they don’t respect yours too.

Using your blog to promote your writing services

Researching the unknown while writing content

1 Reply

Okay, so you’ve said yes to a project which demands background knowledge that you do not have. You sit at your desk and you sweat, just a bit. You say to yourself, “Right, I’m reasonably intelligent, mature, responsible and a professional; I can do this….I think.”

As a College Lecturer, Writer, and Multimedia Designer, research is at the very core of all I do. When researching, in a sense it makes no difference what subject or topic, technical or otherwise, that I need to learn about because I follow a few simple rules.

Internet – dare I say it! But wait, humor me here because like it or not, the information highway has become a phenomenally indispensable tool to writers and researchers however, it continues to have limitations. I use it to view relative news, historical and current events, and for helping me to start my bullet point list of topics or issues, making notes along the way about anything I want to explore in depth.
Reference my own library, both the bookshelf and digital archives – Researching a topic I know nothing or little of, chances are pretty good that I do not have much in my own collection to reference, but I always do a quick check, especially of my digital library, as for some odd reason, I know almost by heart everything on my bookshelf, but my digital archives are a different animal. I suppose it is the tangible versus intangible equation.
Libraries – Lovely places to go and seek the unknown. Libraries can provide more historical and modern information than you can shake a stick at. Many are computerized, have microfiche files, and above all, Librarians who are truly interested in their work and will seek publications for you with a smile. A good Librarian loves a hungry mind.
Location, Location, Location – Find at least 1, even 2 sites that can be visited to view or experience real world examples, or to find inspiration about your subject. I find this step invaluable to my research as not only does it get me away from the books, but I almost always learn something unexpected that you don’t get from sitting in an office or a library. Meaningful discoveries can also come in the form of an idea or revelation while having that cappuccino and staring out the window afterwards…
Blogs and Technical Help Websites – Coming full circle back to the Internet, blog & technical chat-type rooms on the World Wide Web always make me think of the coffee houses of the 17th century where men (sorry ladies) gathered to discuss business and political matters. You can go to these cyber cafes, blog and technical help sites, and talk with others who are there because they have a vested interest in your particular subject, sharing their knowledge with all who are equally interested. There is an extremely good reason why this entry is last on my list of research activities though, as it is especially helpful to visit internet chat, blog, and technical help sites after you’ve gained some knowledge of your subject because it is then that you can engage in meaningful conversations that actually expand your knowledge.

I happen to love doing research. Writers and researchers are birds of a feather. We are adventurers and explorers not at all unlike the pioneers of the past and present who expand our knowledge of all subjects and disciplines. Remember that courage usually comes after the deed, not before! When you begin to grasp your subject, your confidence is renewed and you wonder why you ever doubted yourself in the first place. So the next time you feel daunted by researching the unknown, it may help to remember that you are not alone, that you are one amongst many others exploring and researching it too, even if for the first time.

Do you want more customers?

What sort of people require writing services?

People who cannot write well in English
People who are not very articulate and convincing when it comes to writing
People who need a writer but don’t want to hire a full-time person
People who need lots of content but don’t want to spend their own time writing and supervising and consequently are eager to pay someone else for the same
People who want to increase their search engine rankings with the help of targeted content but don’t know how to do that
People who want to maintain a regular blog but don’t have the time to remain regular
People who are looking for a highly professional writing service for their business writing requirements without having to hire in-house writers

You can keep on adding to this list. I have recognized the sort of people who require my writing services; the tricky part is reaching them.

I am trying to search engine optimize my website and my content as much as possible. I am expanding my network and trying to make more and more people aware of the writing service I provide. I also plan to write for other blogs and websites but somehow there is a mental block and I never seem to come up with catchy titles, although I have no problem if I have to write catchy titles for my clients.

Now and then I will be sharing with you on this blog how I’m trying to generate more business for myself as a freelance online writer.

Creating content strategy for Internet marketing and SEO

1 Reply

What do you have in your mind when you are creating content for your website or for your client? Today a client wrote me that he had created more than 100 articles on his website for SEO. To be frank even I have created lots of pages to draw targeted traffic from search engines. It doesn’t mean I have created those pages to misguide the search engines and human visitors — I’m trying to kill two birds (actually I would hate to kill birds) with one stone. I am creating useful and informative content for my visitors and I am giving a valid reason to search engines to send traffic to my website.

This can sometimes be counter-productive. Having lots of information can send all the wrong people to your website. For instance my target market is America and Europe, despite the fact that I operate from India. No, I am not biased against my countrymen and women, it’s just that there is hardly a demand for the service I provide because most people here in India think there is no need to pay a writer, and especially a writer who writes for websites and most of the stuff on the Internet is free.

On the other hand, in the western countries they fully recognize the importance of an experienced and well-trained writer and hence have no qualms about paying him or her.

Having lots of informative and educative content on the website can be counter-productive if your website is not as famous as, let us say, 37signals.com. Since I have many articles and pages dedicated to the art of writing content and doing copywriting jobs, more than 70% of my traffic constitutes of people from India who want to become online content writers either because they have got nothing better to do or they think it is a very easy way to make lots of money (poor, misguided souls). All the time I am telling them it is not as easy as it seems because lots of networking, promotion and maintenance is involved in the process of getting routine work from the Internet.

Fortunately, as many people comment, my pitching is so convincing that the remaining 30% traffic gives me ample business to earn a decent living. Of course I’m trying to change this; I’m trying to bring more people who would like to do business with me rather than simply trying to piggy-back on my hard work of 5 years.

It shows that randomly creating content works sometimes but most of the time it doesn’t. You got to have a clearly defined content marketing and SEO strategy. Toprankblog has a comprehensive and informative compilation of content marketing and SEO interviews with top ranking professionals. The moot point present in all the opinions is strategizing your content marketing strategy always pays in both long and short term.

Personally, right now, more than strategy I’m focusing upon quality and consistency. What is your content strategy?