Related Posts
Chief
Additional Posts in Marketing
New to Fishbowl?
Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
That was just a preview…
Sign Up to see all discussions
Sign Up to see all discussions
- Discover what it’s like to work at companies from real professionals
- Get candid advice from people in your field in a safe space
- Chat and network with other professionals in your field
Sign up in seconds to unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
"" is an unusual email domain. If correct, please proceed to the next step
Messaging rates may apply
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
New to Fishbowl?
Download the Fishbowl app to unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
Share
Embed this post
Copy and paste embed code on your site
Preview
Download the
Fishbowl app
Scan your QR code to download
Fishbowl app on your mobile
Sign up for free to view this conversation on Fishbowl
Sign up for free to continue using Fishbowl
Messaging rates may apply
Disregard all of these other comments saying that it’s relative to where you live, or it’s a bad business agreement that you got into yourself.
This is unfair, and exploitative. Don’t let these squares in the comments tell you otherwise. Since your an IC, is this work that’s being outsourced to you from a first world country? I wouldn’t be surprised. Americans will talk about enterprise and our great economy, and then outsource to other countries in pursuit of profit. Regardless of if it’s outsourced or local work, you’re not being used as a marketing manager. You’re being used as a graphic designer, communications assistant, and web developer.
I've long since accepted that the title is a show to make their company look big hahaha
It's absolutely exploitative, but how much depends on the company you're working for.
In most large companies in first-world nations, there are multiple people running different sectors of marketing, so having you do all of it on your own for a few dollars an hour would be ludicrous. If that's the case, they should be paying you based on how much value you bring to the company, not where you live.
If it's a small, local company with very little profit and a small staff...yeah, that happens. When I first got out of college, I was the entire content/editorial/web design team for a local non-profit and was paid in food pantry food. Of course, they weren't concerned with ROI, so it sounds like that's not your situation.
Like $3M in annual profit last year. Not sure how big that is in US standards.
An independent contractor is just that... independent. You need to make a better deal or find another contract that is better compensated. Assuming you don't have a contract that locks you in for a length of time you should do this now.
Just the threat of you giving notice and the company having to find a solution (probably at higher rate) may be enough to get them to negotiate.
Only you know the details of your contract so use that as your starting point and practice negotiation ... it's hard but an important skill for an independent contractor.
Can you just quit and get a job somewhere else making more money? I mean, it sounds like it’s exploitive me, but it might be what is going on in your country as a whole - and that puts you in a bad position because if the country accepts this type of treatment and the laws don’t stop it, then what will you do if you quit?
I am trying to get out of it. My problem is that with all the channels and miscellaneous tasks, my skill set is diluted without any sense of mastery - which has stopped me from getting past the first interview phase. Right now, I'm really focusing on paid ads so I can qualify for better opportunities.
How were you hired? We’re looking to outsource overseas but your pay seems really low.
Whether or not it's exploitative depends on the affordability of life in your local area, taxes etc: it's all relative.
In London for example, a £40000 salary which is about $20/hr before salary deductions is very hard to live on, where rent can take 2/3 of that to live in a studio apartment. +travel to work +bills etc etc.
What are your costs?
No, it’s exploitation. Plain and simple. COL is real, I’m not saying that, but the owners know what they’re doing.
Was this the scope you agreed to? If you agreed to it then that's a bad business deal you made. If they are adding more onto your plate, reference your scope of work and offer an addendum with a proposed price increase to cover all the new tasks.
It happens. We all low ball ourselves at some point in our lives. Hopefully you are providing value for them that makes a price increase an easy discussion. I would approach them for an amendment to raise your price based on the ask of the deliverables. They know they should be paying you more, just phrase it about the work load and requirements for more hours to fulfill thus needing to raise the rate.
Pro
This could definitely be exploitative, regardless of your location and cost of living. What is the scope of the role? Do you manage other people, and how large is the company? All of those things play in to pay, and they may be taking advantage
I manage the lead agencies, do their e-mail campaigns, paid ads, social, website dev, seo, graphic design... among other admin tasks.
If you are going to continue this at least use AI. Chat is good for generic stuff and Claude is better at writing and ads. At least you can keep ahead with it. Look at some of my blogs on this. https://fieldnoteai.com Good luck and hang in there.
Quit. There are plenty of others who need your talents and assistance.