With the advent of the bid-for-services sites like guru.com and iFreelance.com, there are other forces coming into play. This is going to sound harsh, but the India contingency and the stay-at-home dabbler (alongside the newbie looking for a byline) are willing to sell their work for a song. While it’s inarguable that the colloquialism and overall quality of the work differs greatly than that by seasoned copywriting and journalism professionals, we’re now “competing” with the lowest common denominator.

2008 was a year of tough conversations with prospective clients who whispered, “Wow. THAT much for THAT? But I can get it from (insert bidding site/name of recent college grad here) for less.” I say god speed and good luck.

To be completely crass about it, I think of every potential assignment as a round of cosmetic surgery for my client. If it were YOUR body (your BRAND), would you really want the discount boob job or face lift?

If your work is the real deal, spend some time this holiday season thanking your roster of clients and asking for the gift of referrals. There’s not going to be any shortage of those who will work for less, but we can reinforce and substantiate why we cost more.

Erika

Employers, accordingly, give out projects to the lowest bidder — probably someone who has an alternate source of income or youth on her/his side.

Plumbers don’t plumb for free. Neither do electricians, hairdressers or the phone company for that matter.

Is it the chicken or the egg?

If we all would gather some more self-esteem and TRY, whenever possible, to negotiate better and even refuse to work for free, perhaps we’d be earning more and be treated better by those who need us. Short-term pain for long-term gain…

We don’t need more money – the problem with newspapers is that they’re being run by people who think they’re producing widgets. Management is treating the news like a money machine, journalism is secondary. Need to flip that equation for it to add up correctly.

The pairing of corporate profit goals with news objectives is a total mismatch. It’s a lose-lose situation. The corporate boss is bound not to meet his profit goal, and the newspaper is stripped of its worth until it’s a shell of its former self and crumbles. It’s inevitable, a doomed relationship.

We need publishers who are publishers. Publishers who deeply care about the survival of newspapers, either print and/or online, strive for the highest quality “product” for the customer, and recognize and honor the responsibility of their role as the watchdog and safeguard of democracy.