It is the time of AW Blog Chain for May 2008 and this post is a part of it. Donna has written before me and if you want to read it then here is the link: Grow A Set. Donna has talked about accepting rejection normally and trying again. I agree with her 100%.
Now, it is my turn to write something and I want to write about rejection too.
For me, rejection comes in two ways- plain rejection and “no PayPal Rejection”. Plain rejection means direct or straight forward rejection. I applied for a writing work and they did not accept me or like my idea. I have no problem with this as I know that many persons apply for a writing project and they have found someone better than me. I would have done the same thing. I often have to take this kind of decision in life. I have to take someone and reject many others for some works. It happens on a regular basis and this is life.
You may wonder what “no PayPal Rejection” is! It is simple. I do not have a PayPal account and it is impossible for me to have one because PayPal does not cover my country. So, what happens is that sometime, some people get satisfied with my writing samples and they accept me for the works but when they ask about method of payment then, they come to know that I do not have PayPal account and cannot open one. That is the end of road for me. I do not blame them because PayPal is perhaps the most common, easiest and inexpensive way to send and receive money now. So, I suffer more pain from “no PayPal Rejection” than plain rejection.
Well, for nearly 15 months, I do not apply for any writing work as I want to stay away from both plain rejection and “no Paypal rejection”. Instead, I love blogging and I write blog entries every day (many of them) and earn some money everyday without suffering from the pain of “plain rejection” or “no PayPal rejection”.
When I think of these two kinds of rejections, I feel happy in the end. Because of them, I decided to go for blogging at the first place and in my blogs, I have piled up some decent amount of content.
It is now the turn of Colby Marshall to write something.
Participating Blogs in AW Blog Chain May 2008
Auria Cortes
Life in Scribbletown
Polyamory From the Inside Out
For the First Time
Family On Bikes
Writes in the City
Elf Killing and Other Hobbies
Rotating Bear
Fantastical Imagination
Asian Business
Spittin’ (Out Words) Like a Llama
As Yet Untitled
Mad Scientist Matt’s Lair
Peregrinas
Delirious
18 comments:
What a bummer! I've lived overseas most of my adult life and never had a problem with PayPal - I wonder if it's because I am an American citizen with an American bank?
In any case, it sounds like it's something you've learned to deal with - for better or for worse.
Thanks for your comment. PayPal still does not support many countries in the world and I am from one of them. Yes, I am happy now for this limitation because it has forced me to go for blogging and through blogging, I earn my livelihood now. I do not have to depend on others to accept my works. Instead, I can earn pay all my bills and save some.
I am suffering from no high-speed-internet rejection. There are many things I'm unable to do because the area I live in has nothing but dial up. Woe and agony. I feel your pain.
That is a bummer. Stinkin' PayPal.
Good luck to you.
I feel your pain. We also live in a no-PayPal country, so also get the no-PayPal rejections.
But even when we encounter businesses who seem to be willing to work with alternate forms of payment, like a company in India that promised to do a wire transfer for payment or a country in England that promised the same, we still have problems. Like the Indian company sending us a cheque instead, which we are unable to cash here. And the English company that doesn't do a wire transfer to our account, but instead sends the payment for us to pick up at another bank, only we can't because he doesn't give us the necessary tracking number for over a month. Then, when we finally do get the info from that company and pick up our cash, we discover that the company deducted over half the payment in processing fees - not because they were charged that much, but because they felt like it.
What to do?
Congratulations on making a living through blogging.
FreshHell: I work with an Internet speed of 2-4 KBPS (Kilo Bytes Per Second). So, I have same problem like you. However, at least I have an Internet connection and I can use it but using PayPal is impossible.
WendyCinNYC,
Thanks for your comment. Well, We should not blame PayPal only. The governments of many countries still have not legalized online transaction for some reasons.
Laurie,
My problem is that I am a newbie in online writing and I used to apply for sub $100 works. Western Union is a good option but it is not viable for $50/$60 payment. Hardly anyone is interested to go for the trouble of wire transfer or cheque for this kind of small amount of money.
Polyspace,
Thanks for your comment. Well, I live in a third world country and here you don’t need a lot of money to maintain a normal life. Still, it is tough to make a living by blogging because in blogging, you have to write first and then make sure that enough people read your entries.
I am so impressed that you are able to make a living off of blogging! Good for you.
It's nice to hear that you found your way. Working from home (and writing on top of that) is a sweet place to be.
Razib, Western Union is its own set of problems with all sorts of scams associated with it here. It's not Western Union itself that's the problem, but rather the way Western Union is operated locally and the employees therein.
For example, if you don't have the exact tracking number, even if they can locate your info by name, they won't, or they'll claim they won't. They'll make you go through hoops to collect the money in the hope that you'll give up, then they can collect the money for themselves.
Of course, not everyone is dishonest like this, but you still have to be careful.
familyonbikes, if the entire time you lived overseas you still had US bank accounts that were verified with PayPal, then yes, that's the exact reason you had no problems.
Even though I'm a Canadian citizen, because I no longer have a Canadian bank account, my Sri Lankan bank account won't do the trick. It has nothing to do with citizenship and everything to do with where your verified bank account is located. :)
I have to deal with PayPal problems on a semi-regular basis at work. Often when PayPal doesn't work out for a customer we tend to recommend Western Union. Razib, I wonder if that might be available in your country and work for these markets?
Sorry, missed the later comments about Western Union. And many of the other methods we use in that case are equally problematic for small payments - a bank transfer, for example, would cost too much in fees.
That's awesome that you're able to make a living from blogging. I wish I had the stamina to do that! But it sucks about PayPal. You'd think they'd offer it in more places. More money for them.
Ok, that kind of rejection is pretty awful. It sucks!
In another line of work, I actually face a sort of reverse "no Paypal" rejection. With that work, I will work with anyone who will send me a check or pay via direct deposit, but I will no longer work through Paypal payment. The fees added up and we've had many customer service issues with them.
Nancy, yes it is because you are an American using an American bank.
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