I browse the writing sections of CraigsList periodically to see if there are any projects or clients I’m interested in pursuing. I ran across this little gem earlier this week:

I’m looking for someone to ghost write my tweets and FB updates. I have a lot of friends and followers but I often lack the time to be creative and witty.

You will send me clever things to post on my pages so that I will appear hip, funny, in-the-know. An overall fun guy that people want to hear from and be friends with.

I will pay based on number of tweets/posts I use ($2 per via paypal)

To be considered, please send 10 sample tweets so I can see your style and if it matches my persona.

I am male, 32 yrs old, single so write from that point of view.

subjects of interest:
life in Boston, food, music, movies, funny observations, current events, politics (I tend to lean left politically)
I don’t have any pets

My first impulse, sadly, was a very literal laugh out loud. Then, I had to share it with my SO, who happened to be sitting next to me at the time. After we both had a little giggle, it led me to reflect a bit on how sad this person is, and how my personal ethics come into play in something like this.

I have no problem Tweeting or writing Facebook posts for a business, or even a professional individual, who doesn’t have the time to do it himself and needs to maintain an online presence for business purposes. But I draw the line at using my writing skill to make someone “appear hip, funny, in-the-know.” This sort of personal deception is abhorrent to me, and it’s something I would never do.

That got me thinking about my ethics as relates to writing for businesses. Most of the writing that my clients hire me for is marketing-related; I’m creating copy to make the clients sound good and inform potential customers about their service offerings or products. I’ll certainly use my skill to promote these businesses – within reason.

I would never lie in any writing project, regardless of how much the client paid me. I would never use my skill to mislead consumers and trick them into paying for a product or service that can’t deliver on what it promises.

I view my writing skill as a talent that comes with responsibility. I task myself with not misusing this skill to the detriment of my fellow man. Hopefully all freelance writers feel this way, although I suspect that there are people out there (particularly some noteworthy sales letter writers *cough*) who would sell their souls for a high enough price tag.

This is where my personal ethics set me apart.

I’ve only had to turn down jobs a couple of times because I was unwilling to write persuasive copy about the specified product or service. But I have been in a position to make this call before.

This sad man who is looking for writers to help him mislead his “friends” and “followers” is just another type of ethical dilemma for writers. Personally, I wouldn’t go near him with a 39-and-a-half-foot pole, and would hope that he doesn’t find someone who will fill this role for him. But the cynical side of me knows that he probably will.

I accept the responsibility to use my writing gift for good – not evil. Words have power, and I vow to use my power only for good.

But I do feel sorry for the poor schmucks who are “friends” and “followers” of this guy.

What Constitutes Internship vs. Employment?

The important question for determining whether a job posting is in violation of the FLSA is whether the position constitutes a valid internship or employment. According to the United States Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division:

The following six criteria must be applied when making this determination:

1. The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment;
2. The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern;
3. The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff;
4. The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern; and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded;
5. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship; and
6. The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.

If an unpaid internship does not meet these criteria, it constitutes an employer-employee relationship, and failure to pay the employee is a violation of federal law. According to these guidelines, the vast majority of writing “internships” I’ve seen posted are in violation of the FLSA.

The really useful criteria to look at seem to be items one through four, with most employers violating the FLSA by replacing regular paid staff with unpaid interns. According to the FLSA, unpaid interns may only work under the supervision of paid employees for the benefit of the intern – unpaid interns can’t work in the place of regular, paid staff.

The other major criteria that many employers violate is: “the employer that provides the internship derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern.” In many cases where an unpaid internship legally constitutes employment, the employer directly benefits from the services of the intern.

What to Do if You’ve Been an Unpaid Employee

If you’ve been unlawfully retained as an unpaid employee under the guise of an “internship,” you have some legal recourse options available. First, report your employer to your local Wage and Hour Division. The United States Department of Labor has a list of Wage and Hour Division by state here: Wage and Hour Division Local Offices. Contact your local office and report the violation. The Wage and Hour Division office should give you some more information about dealing with these situations.

Depending on the circumstances, you may be eligible to pursue a civil case to recover unpaid wages. There is legal precedent in some U.S. states for unpaid interns to recover employment wages when the courts have ruled that it was unpaid employment instead of a valid internship. The Wage and Hour Division office can advise you if you should pursue legal action to recover lost wages. You may be eligible to recover two to three years of backpay, as well as legal fees and court costs.

Additionally, people who violate the Fair Labor Standards Act may be subject to criminal prosecution and a $10,000 fine. Repeat offenders may be imprisoned for violating the FLSA.

So if you’re an employer looking to score free labor, think again. You might be paying far more than a reasonable rate if you’re reported for violating the FLSA. And if you’re a writer who has been a victim of an unpaid internship scam, you have a right to recover wages – report your employer. Don’t let them keep getting away with this egregious abuse.

Now that I’m back in the office, I’m ready to resume my work for my former clients and expand into new markets. I’m happy to continue with Web writing, corporate writing and copywriting, but I’m also looking for opportunities to share stories and articles that reflect my new perspective on life. I’ve realized how much the world needs changing, and I’m currently looking at ways I can do that through my skill as a writer.

For existing clients, or anyone who is curious about what I’m doing during this period, I’m heading overland on my motorcycle from Boston, MA to Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego. This trip will take me through Mexico, Central America and South America, passing through up to 14 countries along the way. We’re keeping a website to document the trip, so if you’re interested in overland travel or the countries we’ll be passing through, feel free to check it out!

One component of our project is releasing a monthly iPad magazine from the road. If you’ve got an iPad and would like to see the magazine from our trip, check us out on Corporate Runaways. I’ll be updating people there when the first issue is available. (The app is almost finalized, and then we’ll just have to wait for Apple to approve it!)

As an iPad magazine, this is going to be completely unlike traditional print media – it contains video, audio and links, and is contained within an interactive format that’s perfect for displaying photos and media. An iPad magazine is completely uncharted territory for overland motorcycle travelers, and it’s a growing niche within the publishing industry. We’ll also be doing a print version when we return home, but the logistics of doing the layout for both magazines while traveling 20,000 miles in 4 months is just too difficult to manage from the road. I’m looking forward to bringing these new skills to my clients upon my return!

On December 6, if all goes well, my partner and I will be flying ourselves and our motorcycles to Buenos Aires to start our trip. We’re going to ride the bikes down to Tierra Del Fuego, to Ushuaia – The End of the World. From there, we’ll be riding the motorcycles overland home to Boston, Massachusetts – a trip of roughly 20,000 miles through 14 countries (maybe more, depending on how widely we wander). We’ll be traveling south to north through South America, Central America and North America until we arrive home in Boston. We’re expecting the trip to take roughly 4 months, depending on how many unexpected delays we encounter.

For my clients or potential clients, this means I’ll be largely unavailable from the beginning of December through mid-to-late-March. I do intend to have intermittent email access, and I will be doing some work for my ongoing clients during this period of time, but I won’t be accepting new clients and my availability will be limited for existing clients. I’ll be in touch with each of my regular clients individually to make arrangements for your ongoing projects, and if you’re a new client, I’m sorry the timing won’t work out!

Being a writer, though, and having enjoyed uniting my love of motorcycles and my writing skills – my partner and I will be publishing a magazine from the road. We’re producing an iPad magazine based on our travels, full of information about the places we’ll be visiting, the people we’ll be seeing, the food we’ll be eating and the minutiae of the trip. Our current plan is to release an iPad magazine monthly, and to do a quarterly print magazine featuring highlights from the electronic version. We’re very excited about this project, as we’re doing it entirely in-house and we’ve got some great ideas! We’re currently working to set up a website for the publication, and I’ll be posting it here for anyone who might want to know more about the magazine or the trip we’re planning.

Needless to say, I’m very excited about this trip. I’m extremely fortunate to be able to do something like this, and I’m really looking forward to sharing my experiences via iPad magazine, the website and the print publication! If you like travel stories or want to hear about the adventure, I invite you to contact me via my contact form or keep an eye out here for a link to the trip website and magazine information.

In the meantime, I’ll be accepting new clients through mid-November, depending on the size of your project, and I’ll be in contact with my existing clients to discuss our arrangements. I hope your fourth quarter goes well, and may 2011 start with a bang!

Bending the Grammar Rules
As much as it makes me cringe, sometimes I intentionally choose to end a sentence with a preposition or start a sentence with a word like “but” or “and.” Realistically, while these things are grammar no-nos, they’re also indicative of the way people talk. Most people don’t speak in proper grammar. When you’re trying to reach a working-class audience, you may be better off to bend the grammar rules and write like people talk – not like grammar says you should write.

Building Rapport by Speaking the Language
Sociologically speaking, people are more likely to trust people who come from a similar background. For example, if you’re a college-educated Ph.D., you’re going to speak differently than a high-school-educated blue-collar worker. The blue-collar worker is more likely to trust someone who speaks like him, because that implies the person came from a similar background and shares a similar set of values, world views and beliefs. The college-educated Ph.D. who speaks like one will encounter resistance among the blue-collar crowd; particularly on a subconscious level; because they do not come from similar backgrounds. The blue-collar worker doesn’t identify with the Ph.D. and feel that they share similar values, etc.

Bottom line? If you’re talking to a blue-collar worker, you’ll automatically be more effective if you speak like a blue-collar worker. The same thing holds true in reverse. If you’re writing for a highly-educated audience, you’d better make sure your grammar is correct and minimize the use of colloquialisms. A highly-educated audience is less likely to trust and identify with a source that doesn’t sound professional and educated, even if just on a subconscious level.

Match your tone and language to your audience. The most effective messages are typically the messages that the audience feels come from “one of their own.” Sound like a member of your audience, and you build an automatic connection and rapport. This is one of the keys to great writing versus good writing, and writers who can master this have an extremely valuable skill at their disposal.