I have been writing professionally now for nearly 15 years. The first 11 years I worked as a technical writer for an aviation company, then I started my own business after being laid off from that company.

Initially, I marketed myself as a technical writer while establishing myself in the world of web design. Eventually, I tossed the technical writer side of my business and began to slowly concentrate on creative and business writing, specifically for freelance work. Today, as it is probably apparent to most everyone my chief work is article writing, for web sites, ezines, and print publications.

Much of my work comes from people who discover my web site, read samples of my work, and decide to contact me for a quote. Typically, these are my best customers who have a pretty good grasp about what I do, the subjects I cover, and the amount I charge. On the other hand, I also supplement my customer base with customers I find through a certain online freelance site -- Guru.com -- and therein lies the most challenges. Specifically, because that site is so huge, the quality of the jobs and the people who post them can be all over the place. You have the bottom feeders who want you to crank out a massive amount of articles for just a few bucks each as well as serious candidates who are looking to build up their business through quality web content and more. It is this latter category of "employers" I aim to work with, but not all of them are what they say that they are.

I try to maintain my sense of humor as there is little in life worth getting upset over. Still, I marvel at some of the comments I receive from potential clients, especially when coming to grips with price. Here are some of the not-so-favorite comments I receive regarding work:

"I don't have much money to spend, so please keep that in mind when placing your bid."

Translation: I want high quality work, but I don't want to pay you for it.

"Please rework your bid. My last person wrote these same reports for $95."

Comments: Perhaps that is why this person no longer works for you. Too little bit of money for too much work.

"Do I get a discount if I order more articles?"

Answer: Um, any discounts I may have given to you are already included in the price.

"I need these articles in a hurry. I apologize for not telling you ahead of time. Can you do them this weekend?"

Translation/Comments/Answer: No, no, no! Seriously, poor planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on my part. I rarely work on projects through the weekend. I have a family and "emergency projects" intrude on the time I spend with them. Please explain that to my wife and children.

Some of the funniest projects involve those where it is obvious that the person wants a job done for a few dollars and isn't too concerned about grammar, writing skills, etc. At least they are honest: poor quality is acceptable for them.

Now, if I could only convince the bargain seekers to stick with quality from the get-go...