Hello Forumosa-ers. I am seeking any advice from those in the know, or at least potentially on the outskirts of the know. Does anyone have any idea of salary for a copywriter at a digital marketing agency in Taipei? I have nine years’ experience in writing and editing, which gave them cause to upgrade their initial cost estimation. I asked them for a figure, they asked me for a figure, I said I needed to do a little additional research. This is me doing said research. I don’t want to go in too high or too low, ya know. Any assistance or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Mio-Technology-Reviews-E134598.htm
The reviews are 5 years old and are not flattering. So you might consider this range on the low end, and adjust upward for inflation
May 5, 2013
“Low salary, not too much opportunity for growth and development”
Jul 17, 2012
“Collapsing under a lack of vision”
And from 2004:
60 to 80,000. Should be more but Taiwan has become Charlie Cheapstake and there’s a bunch of ABC/TBA types with fancy degrees/fancy clothes/fancy motorbikes clogging up the creative industries in Taiwan.
Thank you both for your feedback! These numbers seem reasonable from the perspective of my country. Do you guys work in the creative or marketing spheres? @the_bear, where didyou glean these numbers? I don’t have particularly fancy clothes, and certainly no fancy motorbike, but I suppose with my experience, even if it’s not directly in marketing copywriting, I should lead with 70 and see what they say. It’s a tricky dance, this - trying not to undersell yourself while not wanting to shut down the conversation completely with an unreasonable demand. And, being new to the country, I’m really only aware of what teachers get paid (but have little desire to go into teaching).
Thanks again.
Yeah, my salaries have always been in that range (translation, editing, copywriting etc.) and those salaries are becoming harder to get. Everyone’s low-balling. Lead with 70 and make a strong case you have skills that set you apart from the riff-raff. i.e. you’re a real copywriter and not some dickhead who’s done media studies in the US on Daddy’s money and then got an internship through Uncle Wang’s connections in “the industry”.
“Everyone’s low-balling.” You just described the state of the media industry worldwide. Sigh. Okay, I’ll take your advice, delete any pictures of Uncle Wang at my bar mitzvah from my Facebook account, and try affect a posh accent to lend credence to my claims. One final question, if you don’t mind: Is there a local resource for rates for editing, copywriting, features, etc - per hour and per word? If this negotiation goes in the proverbially tits-upwardly direction, there’s always the big, bad, awful, sobbing-into-one’s-pillow-at-night-in-fear world of freelancing.
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I’d say 65-80k a month. You might make more doing it part time here and freelancing for a few US clients.
There’s no real resource. I tend to charge 0.5 per word for simple edits (even less for speed proofreads). 1.0 for kitchen sink rewrite services. Copywriting charge whatever you can get away with, sometimes its better to highball if its not much content since clients like to think they’re getting some sort of “premium” service.
Lols I sense some bitterness and jealousy. Can’t compete?
Haha, I’m the guy that ends up fixing all their messes five minutes before deadline.
Not saying that isn;t true that you fix their errors ??? You could be a great worker…no sarcasm
I’d start looking for stuff online.
I work online and make more than I ever did teaching. It can take a while to find decent clients but you can do it.
I’m a copywriter in Taipei with limited to no relevant experience or education. I’m also not a native English speaker and my Chinese sucks. My salary is in the 60k-70k range. During the negotiation I opened with 70k. Seeing as you have lots of experience, you should not have a problem negotiating at least a 70k salary.
Good luck.
http://tw.forumosa.com/t/copy-editor-at-the-china-post/158416
This was just posted and indicates a monthly salary of NT$ 48k
That is indeed my concern. I’m a bit crap at client-hunting. Much better writer and editor than businessman. Appreciate the advice though.
Interesting, and good to know. My experience isn’t specifically in copywriting but I have extensive experience in custom publishing, which involves creating stories that appeal to readers while still trying to pull in revenue from advertisers. Which is kind of an inversion of marketing, I suppose.
Thanks @GooseEgg! There was a similar job going at the Taipei Times, with similarly brutal working hours and a similarly dire salary, I imagine. If I worked a night job I might as well be living in a different country to my partner, sadly.
You can always start by looking at some of the online sites. There are a lot of crap jobs on them but there are also a number of good ones. I regularly get jobs on those sites that pay quite well.
Would love to know more about where you work! I think that salary is pretty high for limited experience/education. I’m currently trying to freelance some copywriting, but just started a new (entry-ish level) marketing job that’s paying 50K
I know a guy who does academic editing. Charges 1 NT dollar per word. Has a stable of editors, and outsources some of the work to India.