Lesson forgotten and relearned

May 13th, 2008
by Marsha Maung

I thought I learned my lesson well, apparently not. I got struck again and this time by a very unassuming person who ‘appeared’ (feels funny using this word since I can’t see nor hear this person – my naivety hangs for all to see here) to be a very worried business person looking for a ‘good writer’ to write. This person also cited a condition which stopped him/her from writing good articles. This person also, in the email, explained at great length about how he/she had been dealing with a whole host of ‘terrible writers’ who could not deliver what he/she wanted.

Hence, this person wanted me to write something for her/him and hoped that I could do a good job.

Everything sounded splendid and for some unknown reason, I trusted this person and thought that it was be a piece of cake. Writing articles based on another person’s article but not making the article sound or look too much like the original article. This is up my alley, no problem, piece of cake.

So, I agreed to write the article for this person, doing as good a job as I could. Maybe not perfect, but it was close.

Then that person emailed me back, telling me back that it wasn’t good enough. End of story. Now, I am not a big headed person and I do get unhappy clients who wanted something different from what I can deliver, but this one struck me as odd because this person said that he/she dealt with many writers in the past and cannot find the right one. And when he/she responded with the feedback, he/she did not even bother to tell me what went wrong or asked for an edit or rewrite.

So, basically, this person goes around from writer to writer asking to write on different topics (I am assuming, that is), asking them to write an article for them upfront because he/she is very wary of ‘awful’ writers. Then the writer just fall for it, her heart clenching in sympathy….

Then that person takes the article and say ‘No, you’re not good enough. Thanks for the article. Next!’

What a brilliant system whereby one gets free articles. I don’t know….I hope this article did not give anyone any ideas because this person just served to remind me about my principle about taking in a retainer or a deposit before starting work. This way, if I luck out, at least I got half the amount before that person hightails on me.

Use your brains, Marsha. Use your brains….

© Marsha Maung 2008

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marsha Maung is a renowned (ahem!) freelance writer who is based in Malaysia, who ghost blogs, writes web content, website copy, advert copy and SEO stuff for her clients. She's been doing this for the past 9 years and counting and is kinda wishing she didn't have to write about menopause or kayak-making for a change. She's, after all, one of the most kick-ass SEO writer in Asia for now (until someone kicks her off the chart) and loves the idea of putting food on the table...so.

For more info on Marsha, visit http://www.marshamaung.com. For the drying of dirty laundry on the life and times of a freelance writer and mother, visit her blog at http://marshamaung.blogspot.com