Most freelance bloggers will tell you that one of the most difficult decisions to make when blogging for money is deciding how much money to charge when you first start.
Bloggers can earn anywhere from $2 per post to hundreds of dollars per post depending on their experience, writing skill and the type of blog they are writing for.
A blog with millions of monthly visitors will probably pay their bloggers more, but will be harder to get a writing job with when you first start out unless you are an exceptional writer already.
You won’t always get to choose your own rate. Some blogs will specify a rate when they advertise blogging positions.
My personal opinion on blogging rates is:
- It should be about the same as the hourly rate I make at my day job;
- If I love the topic, the site, or there are other benefits to the job I will consider accepting a lower rate;
- If I’m doing it purely for the money I will try to charge a little more;
- It should comfortably cushion me from the rise and fall of international currency rates.
Putting a price on your time is a hard thing to do. To start with try to think about what goes into writing a blog post.
Research time
Even a topic you know a lot about will require some research, at the very least some fact checking to ensure you don’t post something that is not accurate.
Writing time
Depending on the length of the post you need to allow for time to draft the post and then edit it. Short blog posts of 300 words can be written with just one draft and a single editing pass, but longer blog posts (especially over 1000 words) will usually benefit from more than one draft and a longer editing session on a different day than it was written.
Images
For my blog posts I often need to take a series of screenshots, and crop and resize them for publishing online. This all takes time especially when you need to set up a demo so that you can take the screenshots.
Submission
I write my blog posts offline and then copy/paste them into the blog, add formatting such as headers, links, and bullet points, and then find and upload one or more suitable images to go with the post.
Each of these steps takes time, which you need to allow for when working out your blogging rate.
Deciding on a Price
Remember in many cases the blog owner will set the price, but if you are able to negotiate then you certainly should try to get a fair rate.
One approach to working out your blogging rate is to take on one blogging job and see how happy you are with the time you are spending for the money that you are earning. This will give you a good idea of the sort of blogging rate you’re willing to accept.
Some people are happy to blog several times per week for $50 per month, while other will charge $100 or more for a single blog post.
Getting a good rate at the start is easier in the long term because it can be hard to negotiate a higher rate later on. But if you are delivering high quality content to your editors every time they will usually be open to negotiations over time.
Do you have any tips for setting a price for writing blog posts? Leave a comment below.
Image Credit: Flickr
If you found this post useful please leave a comment below. To receive new blog posts automatically subscribe for free to the mailing list or RSS feed.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Awesome post, really enjoyed reading it! Very interesting you’ve pulled up here! :)
I think one thing to remember, as you’ve correctly pointed out, is who you are writing for. Top blogs like NetTuts will pay $150 per article, but then they’ll expect a very high quality. However, a lot of bloggers simply won’t be able to pay that much, and you should vary your rates depending on who you’re writing for, although you have to draw a line and decide the minimum amount you’ll accept, then stick to it.
Also, as I’ve said on the Problogger forums, remember that you can also use the situation you’re in (writing for a blog) to get a linkback to your site. These sort of links can be really valuable, especially if you write a quality article, so it’s well worth trying to haggle for an author bio or even knock a few dollars off your final price! :)
Interesting post that send me thinking, even that I haven’t even planned to become a blogger for hire. If I would, I’d do it for the exposure and links (like Simon mentioned above). But that would be closer to guest posting where (usually) money is not involved.
On the other hand, if I would charge something, it would be on the high end, as I’d be thinking about the hourly rate. I like to tweak and re-write my posts until I’m satisfied with the quality, something which is not easily done in half an hour.
Thanks for this post. Its good to get a feeling for how much is a blog post worth… But it is kind of intimidating to know that writing posts for money could bring anywhere from $2.00 to hundreds. That’s a huge range.
@Simon. Wow! thanks for the tip on net tuts. I didn’t know they paid for articles, especially that much!
I definitely like the points that you’ve laid out to consider. I think it’s good to gauge what the “competition” might be charging, gauge what your time is worth for you personally, then set a price and stick to it. Sure there’s room to negotiate but don’t do so all the time to the point that you devalue your service offering (at least that’s my personal opinion).
Wow! Awesome post! Even I am also a freelance writer. Many of my clients approach directly to me through my blog. They generally like the way I write and ready to pay money for writing articles. But the amount of money is not too significant. Now I am working on low rates but that’s OK because its my starting phase of freelance writing. After experience of at least one year and become a total professional, I will increase my rates.
Hey Paul, good stuff. Glad I clicked through from the forums to read your entire post. Lee Stranahan has a great product out that teaches us how to value ourselves and the work we do for a living. Interested please find the link in my name above to learn more about that great offering. It basically takes Paul’s info here and provides even deeper context to anyone struggling to understand how to best price themselves for optimal success.
Very good points to consider. Thanks!
{ 3 trackbacks }