Nigerian prince scams updated for LinkedIn

By Ariella Brown

Today's Nigerian prince appears as the one who will teach you the secret to increasing your income.

I understand the need to pitch to try to make sales, and I get that people want to entice customers with concrete numbers. But I'm starting to think that like the classic Nigerian prince scams, they are deliberately aiming for low intelligence people who just swallow the promises of easy riches and hand over their money without question. 

That's because I'm struck by how very unsophisticated they seem to assume their audience is. I got two pitches like that today -- one in my Linked Inbox after a person requested to connect to me and one in my actual email that the person obtained from my having attended one of his presentations.

Flattery only works on people whose egos exceed their intelligence

Don't send an invitation to connect with someone and give them a false compliment leading right into your sales pitch. You're following a playbook and showing that you're trying to manipulate your mark, especially when it is very obvious that you're being so general because you are not, in fact, familiar with the person's work and are just pulling off their current place of work as reference.  

For example, I just responded to an inmail with "What do you think I do at NYC Data Science Academy?" in response to the pitch that said this: 

Hello Ariella, thank you for accepting my invitation.

I love what you are doing at Nyc Data Science Academy

I recently helped Deekron, a client of mine,
make an extra $25k a month without spending anything on ads

And I am sharing the exact process on my upcoming linkeidn [sic] event

If this interests you, here is the registration link:

I'm not sharing her link. I seriously doubt she loves what I'm doing because she can't really see what I'm doing at the school. My name doesn't go on the work I edit. In other words, I'm most invisible there.

Anyone who is so obvious about throwing out flattery because she's too lazy to even try to make herself sound credible is not the type of person I want to work with. It makes me doubt her claims altogether.

Seeing is not believing

The email I opened was from Russ who charges $1500 a course that he hopes will attract up to 60 attendees at a time. He sent along this visualization with completely made-up numbers (notice no footnote for sources of info) to try to convince you that you can easily go from earning $25 an hour to $100 an hour and then to $250 and, ultimately, $500 an hour so long as you can sell yourself as a strategist.

Everyone who is a mechanic can also be a quarterback

That assertion is ridiculous isn't it? Yet that's what's implied by the labels Russ decided to use for his visualization that lies on very level, including deliberate vagueness and poor choice of words to represent the different roles. 

Why call the one who implements the plan a mechanic? Mechanics are not mindless drones who just follow orders. They're highly skilled workers, and they tend to comman salaries way above $25 an hour. 

And then why the shift from a job to a sport roles by choosing the term quarterback? It doesn't fit and again underestimates what real quarterbacks earn. 

In point of fact, even the lowest tier indicated here for  freelance marketers/content producers, there are the ones who earn $25 an hour and the ones who earn $100 an hour for the creation, whether that is writing the blogs and social media posts or posting them. There's no fixed demarcation in terms of earning potential, as people will often have to do both the creation/plan and implementation. 

Now let's move to the top two tiers and the false demarcation between the consultant and strategist. Again, Russ is being very sloppy with terms, which really make me think that he is not just dishonest but not very good at what he claims brings him so much wealth. 

False demarcations

What he calls a strategist could also be called a consultant. A consultant simply means someone who works in a consulting capacity, which can be for anything. Even what he calls a mechanic or a quarterback  could be hired as a consultant. In fact, I do work at all these levels described here under the title of a consultant, and I don't typically get $500 an hour or even $250 an hour. 

I'm not saying no one gets that. I'm sure some people do. 

However, those rates are usually only offered for very brief stints, just to set up the plan that will be executed by others who are charging less. That's why most consultants will not limit themselves to just the upper tier of work and secure maybe 10 hours per client. 

Instead, they would work on the range and accept some in-between range that may be around $200 an hour. Some senior writers end up earning that much, too, when they charge by the piece and work fairly quickly. 

Bottom line: the visualization paints a very false picture about the actual earnings and demarcations associated with different aspects of work in marketing. Anyone who really falls for the implied promise that your earnings will skyrocket to $500 an hour with full time hours as a result of taking a course is so easily duped that he or she would make a very lousy strategist, indeed. 

Remember, as I pointed in The secret to getting rich is selling other on the secret, if these people were really raking in as much as they claimed from their freelancing/consulting, they wouldn't have pivoted to the courses. They obviously make far more by taking in (pun intended) the freelancers seeking to improve their earnings than by hitting up the business managers with their claims of writing/marketing prowess. 

Related

How to get everything wrong in a pitch
Another pitch that goes wrong
A matter of degree
Add a pinch of salt to creative claims for AI

The Introvert Cheat Sheet

Bridge near Bear Mountain, photo by Ariella Brown

I saw the title in my email and knew I really shouldn't click it, but my curiosity got the best of me. In spite of my expectations, I clicked the Contently-promoting article, The Introvert’s Guide to Creative Collaboration and found very little that really fits the needs of introverts.

Small talk, for real?
I really got a sense that the author, Bradley Little, is not an introvert. While he claims he his approach doesn't require any form of "rewiring" pushing introverts into small talk is the equivalent of forcing a lefty to write with her right hand. She may look like she's doing the "normal" thing, but she'll be very awkward and clumsy at it, which will make her less confident in the situation.
In other words, the following is extremely bad advice for introverts:

When you’re nervous going into a call, break the ice. Small talk helps you find connections but it will also get you out of your head. Comment on the weather. Yeah, it’s dumb. We all know it’s dumb. But it’s something anyone can talk about. Ask them how their morning is going. Ask them about their weekend. Do they have kids? Where do they live?
It really doesn’t matter what it is. The important thing is to see the people you’re talking to as just that—people.

This is wrong on so many counts!
Asking about kids may even be an illegal question in some contexts, so stay off family unless the other person explicitly bring it up.
Introverts don't necessarily have a fear of people. That's shyness, rather than introversion. Sometimes the two are coupled in the same person, but they are not synonymous.

 
It's true that many introverts hate talking on the phone. They have a serious aversion to the instrument, so for them, an in-person meeting may actually be preferable. If you're not a phone person, ask about meeting for coffee, or the like. That will actually win you major points because extroverts value in-person contact.

 
The key to getting the conversation flowing is not stilted small talk hitting on a topic that the person is passionate about. They will be able to go on and on, and you just have to ask the relevant questions, interjecting appropriate comments here and there. The result will be a much more stimulating conversation that creates a deeper connection than you can ever achieve from "So what do you think about this weather we've been having, huh?"

 
Now you may be thinking, "But how do I get to find the person's passion?" It's not all that difficult if the purpose of the call is related to business. You already know what the person does for a living, and you can ask about their work-related motivation, how they see their company's position, etc. Introverts are actually amazing conversational partners because they don't seek to dominate the conversation themselves and give the other person the opportunity to talk about himself. Who doesn't love that?

 
Absolute perfection is unattainable
To give credit where credit is due, it does bring up the important issue of impostor syndrome. However, that is something that applies to all people, and not just introvert. There's no substantiation that introverts are more afflicted than the general population, though the tendency toward introspection does also likely result in more self-doubt. A good article on overcoming that is Cat Neligan's Five Tips to Overcome Impostor Syndrome.

 
My own tip is overcoming an inclination to perfectionism because that holds you back from accomplishing. Sure, you want your published work to be as perfect as possible, but if you obsess over every dot and tittle in it, you will never meet a deadline or be able to move on to the next project at a pace that really allows you to make a living at this.

 
Will people gloat if a writer includes a typo? Sure. Should you let that destroy your self-image, though? No. 

Even the highest paid baseball players are not expected to bat a thousand. It simply is not humanly possible. And it is not humanly possible to NEVER make a mistake. Holding yourself to that standard is absurd, so forgive yourself, fix what you can, and move on.

 
Ask for What You Want
Of course, you don't merely want to move on but to move up, and this is the most important thing to advance your career: you have to ask for what you want. That means asking people to consider you for a job, recommend you for a job, or even getting a raise on the job you have.

 
I admit this is very difficult for introverts. The prevailing fantasy in a hard-working introvert's mind is that all the effort put in will be noticed and appreciated, and the people who do that will simply give us what we wish for without our having to express it. This is a nice fairy tale that rarely comes true.

 
I put in the qualifier above because really it does sometimes come true to some extent. I have had people contact me out of the blue because they recall my interviewing them for an article in another publication and so came back to me when they and are in the position of hiring writers. But even in those cases, it sometimes takes months for these things to get off the ground, and it may prove to be a very short-term need.

 
There's no escaping the need to keep not just looking for new opportunities but asking for them.
And as for the raises, I have yet to have someone just say, "You know you've been doing good work for us for several years now, and you deserve a raise." It doesn't happen. But I have had some honest editor admit, that, yes, they were paying some of their writers more, and I did deserve that higher rate. But I had to ask.

 
Does that mean it always works? Not at all. I've had my requests for raises turned down with the excuse that the budget was fixed, and that was that. So I may have been disappointed, but I was not in fact any worse off than I had been before asking.

 
As for recommendations, here's the thing: you definitely want some decent recommendations on your LinkedIn profile. But most managers won't just offer to do it, not because you don't deserve it but because it entails some work on their part. So again, you have to ask and sometimes even follow up with a gentle reminder. You may never get one from some people, but if you don't ask, you'll have none at all.

 
The Introvert Cheat Sheet
Play to your conversational strengths to make connections, including the medium of communication.
Don't let perfectionism hold you back. Good things don't always come to those who wait and have to be actively pursued.

 

(I posted this article to LinkedIn under the title Real Tips for Introverts) 

 
For more on introversion, read:
http://uncommoncontent.blogspot.com/2012/05/perspectives-on-introversion-this-is.html
http://uncommoncontent.blogspot.com/2012/04/working-alone.html
http://uncommoncontent.blogspot.com/2012/04/great-introvert.html
http://uncommoncontent.blogspot.com/2013/06/jane-austens-heroines-from-extroverted.html
http://uncommoncontent.blogspot.com/2013/08/happiness-is.html
http://uncommoncontent.blogspot.com/2014/12/views-on-boundaries.html
http://uncommoncontent.blogspot.com/2013/11/public-or-it-didnt-happen.html

What you really need to make it as a freelancer

Having been a freelancer for nine years now, I knew I'd be disappointed with the insight offered by the clickbaity title
"Do You Have What It Takes to be a Moneymaking Freelance Writer?"

But because I really am a curious  person who checks things out rather than assuming they are what I believe them to be, I clicked it to find out for myself.

All the advice in that post focuses on  writing well and being disciplined about sticking to it, reading voraciously, and being curious. In other words, we have the old cliche of work hard to follow your dream, and you will attain it.

Utter nonsense! Real life doesn't work like a Disney movie.

The difference between those who really make money and those who don't is not the skills you develop but the connections you make... and a touch of serendipity.

Why skills alone don't cut it
 You can be a writer on par with Jane Austen, but if you don't get your abilities noticed by the right person at the right time, you could end up churning out blogs for just $5- $10 a piece on sites like Upwork. Just working hard won't advance you that far.

The content mill proposition 
 In fact, that myth is what content mills use to lure writers into complicated reward structures that assure them of only fractions of a cent per view payable at some unattainable threshold level. "Just keep generating content, and you'll increase your earnings," they say, dangling that carrot that will forever remain out of reach for the poor souls caught up in such systems.

Fame without fortune
A similar ploy is used by those sites that will offer you no compensation other than exposure, which, they say, will, ultimately lead you not just to fame but at least some fortune.Don't you believe it!

Those who get sucked into such system will be mired in the false reality of low rates, which are not a reflection of quality of work as much as they are of the resources or generosity of the publisher.

The only way forward as a freelancer 
You have to connect with people who either have the power to hire or who can recommend you to those who do. You also need to get on board when the publication is flush enough with funds to offer a decent rate rather than demanding you work fora pittance. That's where the next quality comes in.

Serendipity
The way I ended up writing on tech was due to serendipity. In 2010, when I was starting to see possibilities in freelancing, I discovered an ad for work on Internet Evolution (it no longer exists). It was offering writers $10 per comment (that not per blog but just per comment). It seemed easy enough, so I signed on and then signed on to comment on additional sites form the same publisher.

 After a short while I was invited to writer at the rate of $200 a blog. For someone who was still at the beginning of her writing career, it seemed to be pretty good rate, particularly as it had the buying power beyond what $200 buys today. In fact, some would still consider that a good rate because there are publishers out there that won't pay more than $100 or even $25 a blog. I know this because every once in a while I reach out to a publication or have it reach out to me and get offered those very low rates despite having hundreds of publications to my name now.

The point is that without having connected with the people who were then offering a rate that they considered fair rather than what they considered what was the least writers would settle for, I had an anchor amount that didn't put as far down as those plugging away for $25.

As it turned out, my timing was especially fortuitous because some time later the comment compensation dropped to $5, and newer sites tried to get writers to work for just $150 a piece. I only still got the $200 because I insisted on it.

Myths of merit 
Did I retain what was becoming a higher than average rate  it because I'm that much of a better writer? No, nor do I believe that writers who have positioned themselves to consistently earn $1 a word are necessarily better wordsmiths than I, though they likely are better negotiators and networkers.

That  merit is always rewarded and that better performers are always compensated better because they're worth is is a myth.  While it's good to read myth-like stories and  fairy tales to build you imagination as a writer, it's not good to believe that virtue, hard work,  or event talent is inevitably rewarded in real life.

Reality
 As in any business, for freelancers to prosper, they need to make those vital connections that will give them opportunities for work and income.

On working almost for free

Someone I did some freelance work for a few years back contacted me to inquire about writing for his current company. The exchange on LinkedIn messaging went like this:

Hi Ariella, Not sure if you remember me from my ___ days but I am looking for a freelancer to help out with blog posts across two products here at ____. I don't remember what your pricing was but I do remember that you made my life a whole lot easier. Can you send me what you were asking?

 I assured him that I did remember him and asked what kind of articles he had in mind. His response:

• product focused
• and a bit of thought leadership
• Just so I can make sure, does $50 for an 800 word article work?

I wrote back:

I'm assuming you dropped a zero there.

Surprisingly enough, he said:

I did not. Our content director informed me that is what we normally pay for an 800 word article. Understood if that is way too cheap. 

That was far below my rate even when I first started freelancing (and he knows it's a tiny fraction of what was paid by his previous company, which is why I had assumed he dropped a zero).  But I am not one to throw away opportunities in a snit. I said my daughter may do it for that rate. After all, she is willing to work for free for college internships. So I'll let her take a crack at it. At least, it will be a learning experience and resume builder for her.

Related posts http://writewaypro.blogspot.com/2016/05/writing-for-free-is-not-deductible.html

 http://writewaypro.blogspot.com/2016/05/an-idiots-guide-for-writers.html
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/college-internships-real-story-ariella-brown-phd-1

If you work in New York

If you freelance or do other self-employed work in New York, you should be aware of the updates to MCTM tax for this year. The threshold went up to $50K a year net, a substantial difference from the previous years when it was only $10K.

Section 801(a) of the Tax Law that imposes the MCTMT on self-employed individuals has been amended. For tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2012, an individual will be subject to the MCTMT only if his or her net earnings from self-employment attributable to the MCTD exceed $50,000 for the tax year. Prior to the amendment, an individual was subject to the MCTMT only if his or her net earnings from self-employment attributable to the MCTD exceeded $10,000 for the tax year. The rate of the MCTMT for self-employed individuals (.34%) has not changed. 

 from http://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/memos/mta_mobility/m12_1mctmt.pdf