I´ve had a strange reaction from a client...

Last week a client asking me to write him ten articles on a particular topic approached me. I wrote them, following his specific instructions and delivered before time was due. One hour later I received his email telling me how badly impressed he was by the poor quality of the articles. My self-esteem was devastated- I have been working in this field for four years and I have never received such a negative feedback.
Yes, of course sometimes the clients are not 100% happy with the results- they always want more quality for less money, they give us tight deadlines and all those spines we are so used to find among the roses of our work, but none ever told me " Your work is SO bad that I feel ashamed of posting it on my site" and never ever gave me another word on the issue.

Am I really losing qualities after all this time or is this client trying to get away with keeping the articles without paying?

Can someone give me an honest feedback on one of the articles? I will send it via P.M. to anyone willing to help.

Thanks

 

i'm not a writer, but i'd be happy to take a look. i find it hard to believe that four years in the field would make you produce such terrible work.

my initial impression is that perhaps he has found another writer and is ashamed to tell you about it (since he doesn't want to pay you), so instead say that your work is bad. speaking from experience.

 

English isn't your first language - I can tell by your post and there is the problem.

It's very frustrating receiving content that isn't up to standard and written by Indians etc who aren't able to write with reasonable grammer. I'm not saying you are an Indian I'm just using an example.

There's only one thing you can do and that is to improve, perhaps take an advanced English class in grammer or something in your country and then you would get less complaints, more repeat orders and ultimately more money.

Pete

 

hmmm without seeing the articles I can't say for sure but it woudln't surprise me if the articles turned up somewhere on a website and the swine just didn't want to pay you!

 

That is not the case. It's obvious from his post his English isn't that good - it's ok and better then most foreigners trying to make a buck writing articles but it's not that great.

Some people have different standards. Personally I don't use anyone who doesn't speak English as their first language anymore as I have received too much shite that I felt I had to pay for as the writer (despite how bad they were) put a lot of effort in. These articles just sit on my hard drive until I can get around to editing them heavily or even deleting them, depending on how bad they are.

It's unfortunate but if none-English speaking folk wish to make money by writing articles for people then they must ensure the quality of it.

Pete

 

you may be right but i did not see his other posts. we'll still need to take a look at the article to be sure.

as an aside, can you tell if english is my first language?

 

English is not your first language Devin but it's pretty good!

I'm glad I don't have to learn another language just to read Digitalpoint or do business on the Internet. I'd rather kill myself!

Pete

 

Hum....do you really believe I write my articles in the same way I write my posts on Internet forums?

English is not my first language but I have a degree in English and I do not make grammar errors on my articles- I double check for all kinds of errors and I always agree to edit whenever the client calls for it.
Nevertheless, I have never received a complaint as bad as this- I would accept something like "this article needs editing" or something like that but never something like "It is REALLY bad" . I have been writing professionaly for the past four years and always in English. It may not come as naturally to me as it comes to a native but I work hard and I am proud of my work.

 

Ask the client for specific feedback. Say it as it is. Just tell him you NEVER had such negative feedback and were flabbergasted. Say you want to be shown where you went wrong.

 

Shoot me over an article i will proof it for you

 

This would make me suspicious. I would keep an eye out for the content of those articles showing up on the web somewhere.

I agree with Tops30 though. Ask for more specific feedback on the project and why it fell short of expctations.

 

Godood, I'm sorry to say this, but it seems he's not the only one that needs some lessons...and you're actually from UK. You shouldn't be that hard on him. You are partially right, he may need to improve his english but his is actually very good.

My feeling is that maybe your articles did not reach the depth level he wanted. He was a bit disappointed because maybe he wanted more information in the articles and his disappointment was amplified by some grammatical errors or bad text formatting.

Be honest with the buyer and ask him how you should improve the articles. Tell him you're willing to work extra for him and even offer him 50% off or something like that, just for his input. It would help you a lot in the future.

I'm willing to have a look at one of your articles, send me a PM with it

 

I'd be happy to take a look at one of your articles.

After reading the above posts, I'm still unsure what went wrong. It's possible that the client didn't want to pay you, and you'll find your content on the internet somewhere. On the other hand, I definitely think you should ask what went wrong, seeing as how you've worked in this field for a number of years.

 

Padme did the client ask to see a sample of your work before they commissioned you to write the articles?

I'm not taking a shot at you personally when I say this but a degree in English is no guarantee that anyone can write effectively for the Web. Some time ago on another board we were looking for writers and were approached by someone from India who claimed to have wonderful qualifications in English.

Unfortunately for him the qualifications meant absolutely zip because the sample he sent was of very poor quality and would have needed a lot of editing. I wrote to him and offered to help him become more proficient and pay him at the same time but he never responded.

Sometimes I wonder if some people think that a degree in English means that they have reached the pinnacle of their profession and they have nothing more to learn.

 

An English degree doesn't mean you can write for squat. It simply means that you have enjoyed a fair degree of literature, which by the way could make one a poor article writer. There is one "writing" degree in college that pertains to article writing and that's Journalism.

As to this specific case, it could be a wide variety of issues. Perhaps the client expected a higher level of writing. Perhaps the client is just trying to get free content or has other issues. Perhaps you oversold (showing your best work to get the deal and then failing to replicate that level).

There's a lot more to writing a great article than knowing the English language. Many falsely believe that a program like Microsoft Word can completely correct grammar issues. There's no program that can correct every possible issue with writing to make it top notch. That comes from within.

I would take up some of these offers to have your articles looked at. If you want another opinion, feel free to send one my way. You will receive an honest opinion based on my level of experience (no sugar coating). Better yet, post one here for everyone to chime in on.

 

I have PMed one of the articles to a couple of you guys. Thank you all for your honest advice, looking forward to hearing your opinion.

Thank you, once again

 

You can send me one and I can tell you what the deal most likely is.

 

To the OP, send me your article and I'll give you a fair and honest appreciation.

 

Why not post some excerpts up here? thatwould give enough information without posting the entire article.

 

Am I the only one noticing this....
GADOOD I am from the USA and by my standards the structure of his post
( at least on this page ) is not bad at all. Your post is much worst...
No periods between sentences, run on sentences etc...
Surely not proper English.
Give the guy a break at least hold yourself to the same standards your holding him too.