There's a time and a place to giving it "your all"

It's probably not *every* assignment

Author

Diana Kelly Levey
July 23, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes

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I Used to Obsess Over Finding the “Best” Source. Not Anymore.

Confession time: I used to spend way too much time chasing the perfect source for every article.

Maybe it was drilled into me during my early years in journalism.

Maybe it was the magazine editor in me who always wanted the most credentialed, quote-worthy expert. But I used to believe that if I couldn’t land the most impressive interview subject for a story—whether it was a celebrity trainer or the country’s top heart surgeon—I was somehow falling short.

That was a nice idea… until deadlines and reality hit.

Because here’s the thing every freelance writer learns, often the hard way: There are deadlines. There are time zones. There are flaky sources. And there’s only so much time in your day. Oh yea, and your time is money!

Especially when:

  • You’re juggling five deadlines before vacation.

  • You’ve sent three follow-ups to hospital media departments and a source still hasn’t surfaced.

  • You have a short turnaround time for one assignment and a few others that need your time and attention.

At a certain point, I had to shift my mindset from “find the most elite expert” to “find a solid expert who will actually talk to me.”

It’s taken some time but I’ve decided that’s not lazy. It’s smart freelancing.

There are reasons platforms like Qwoted.com and Peter Shankman’s Source of Sources exist as do several Facebook groups I’m on where I can get some professionals sent my way.

The New Reality of Online Journalism

When I worked part-time as an editor for Muscle & Fitness, I got an inside look at how fast-paced digital content had become. Editors were expected to publish 20+ articles per day across multiple websites with small teams and limited budgets.

There’s no time in that environment to track down the top PhD in sports science. That’s how “celebrity posted this on Instagram” write-around articles were born and pushed out regularly. They were fast, “easy lifts,” and clickable. Magazines are still publishing this content because we click on it.

So I stopped beating myself up when I couldn’t get the best person for every topic.

These days, if I’m writing a piece on glute exercises, I don’t need to speak to the top celebrity trainer in Los Angeles. I need a certified fitness pro who understands movement and can give me smart, accurate responses that make for good quotes.

If I’m writing about heart health, I don’t need a Harvard cardiologist who just published a book, I need a licensed, practicing doctor who can break things down clearly for readers and will get back to me on time.

I haven’t lowered my standards. I’ve just come to realize that I need to match the effort I’m putting into the scope and budget of the project. Yes, a higher freelance rate will likely get more oomph from me than a lower-paying freelance assignment.

(I was happy to see this was reflected in Michael Fleischner’s 7 Figure Freelancer book I’m reading. He says: If a client is paying you $5,000 a month, they are more important than a $500 per month client. Again, this doesn’t mean you ignore the smaller client, quite the contrary. However, you don’t spend a disproportionate amount of time focusing on the smaller client. You simply can’t if you want to grow your business.)

Not Every Assignment Deserves Your Max Output

Rates for assignments are all over the map these days.

Some clients pay me:

  • $300 for 1,000 words with 1–2 sources

  • $1,200 for 1,000 words with one expert

  • $1,400 for a 1,400-word deep dive with two expert interviews and a pile of linked studies.

I’ve learned not to treat those the same.

If I’m being paid $1,200 to $1,400, I’m putting in more time to dig deeper. I’ll spend a little more time researching, chasing down specific quotes, and finding really strong sources.

But if a piece is paying $300? I’m making sure it’s a topic I know well, the source is responsive, and the process is straightforward.

If it can be an email interview? Even better. I’ll still make sure it’s accurate, but I’m not sinking six hours into it.

This isn’t about cutting corners. It’s about valuing your time and working smart in a world that keeps asking freelancers to do more with less.

I hope this is a lesson you can learn as you gain more experience in your freelance career

REPLY TO ME: Do you “scale back” for lower-paying assignments or do you put in the same effort and quality no matter what the pay and scope?

Grab a copy of my bestseller, eBook

Diana

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