Setting Blog Posting Rates
Posted on 20 January 2008 by Sharon
4 Guidelines for Setting Blog Posting Rates is the latest in a series of quality articles from Yuwanda Black of Inkwell Editorial. I’m not just saying that because she interviewed me recently. In fact, this article answers what everyone who’s hoping to get paid to blog wants to know. What do most people charge for paid blog posts. Yuwanda gives a range of pay scales, which match my own experience of the paid to blog market. How do the rates Yuwanda mentions compare with your experience?
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Tags | blogging, get paid to blog, get paid to write
January 20th, 2008 at 11:34 am
As a problogger, I’m not sure where Yuwanda is pulling her rates from, but they’re definitely on the low end of things. A quick search through a few problogger profiles and websites for rates brings up the general figure of $25 to 50 per post – not $5 t $20.
Sure, rates are flexible. Everything is negotiable in the world. But there is a difference between flexible and giving it away.
Bloggers are also expected to do more than writing. This is something many writers don’t realize – it isn’t just an article job in shorter form.
Bloggers are usually expected to find relevant pictures, to link out to other sites in their content and to post to the blogging platform the client uses. They should be familiar with basic HTML coding or know their way around a Wordpress blog.
Blog posts aren’t articles in short form, as I’ve said. Blog posts demand a different style and tone than article writing and there is specific formatting that makes posts stand out.
Yuwanda is also incorrect that there is no standard rate scale for freelance writing rates. There are a few authorities that do set standards. One is Writers.ca, a Canadian organization that clearly indicates rates writers should charge. While we’re not a part of the U.S., the rate standard is close enough to U.S. standards to be comparable.
January 20th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Hi James
Thanks as always for a useful contribution. I have found that rates for blog posts vary widely, from $5 for a paid links post to anywhere from $10 to $30 for a slightly longer post. I know that some people get more.
In terms of rates, organisations such as Writers.ca, the National Writers Union and the National Union of Journalists in the UK all have suggested minimum rates for different types of work. However, there are many who offer less than this. I find it useful to know what the ideal rate is, though whether I accept a job or not may also depend on other factors, such as interest and how much free time I have.
January 20th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
True, true…
I suppose that what upsets me is people saying, “THIS IS the rate” as opposed to saying, “this may be the rate; here are some suggested sites; this person charges this, that one that…” That way, it’s clear that there really is no right answer… but saying low is the rate isn’t doing readers a favor, I think.
It would’ve been good to put links to all three associations in that article, too.
I’ll agree with you on another point. I’d rather work cheap than not work at all!
January 20th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Well, I’ve got a post in the works about freelance writing rates, so maybe I’ll do it.
January 20th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
HA! Checkmate, got me there!
January 21st, 2008 at 9:38 pm
I find some website owners that realize the importance of having and maintaining a blog, but don’t have the time will hire a freelance writer to create, maintain and write for their blog. The business owners will tend to pay a higher rate. They are not easy to find. In most cases, I find that you will have to do your research and send a proposal letter letting the business owner know how much business they are leaving on the table without a blog and how you can help them. This is time consuming, but a great way to side step your competition.
January 22nd, 2008 at 11:27 am
As some may have read, there is a minor throwdown on another site over rates. At issue–$450 for 7500 words a month. Some people think this is ducky, some ridiculous. Sure, anyone can charge whatever they want, and people can accept anything they want. But we created our humor site Writer’s Catablog to try to reinforce writing as a profession. It’s worth money! If people think it’s so easy, they would do it themselves. Here is a rant I plan to put on the site. We need to stand tall.
I rant therefore I am
…This year, the HBO show, “The Wire” is about the profession of journalism. In one episode, the managing editor wakes up and calls the city room—he thinks he may have transposed a statistic in a story he edited that afternoon. I have had those midnight pangs. I also have had sources tell me they were surprised I called—didn’t reporters just make up quotes, a la the NYT scandal of a couple of years ago? Being a writer takes training and skill. That’s why I steadfastly stand for writers getting a reasonable rate for their work. Those 500 words may stand for 6-10 hours of work. They are worth more than $30 as another writing website maintained recently. I was deemed a malcontent and was told no one would hire me. I wear the title proudly. I am worth something and so are my stories.
January 22nd, 2008 at 11:42 am
@ Star - That all depends on where you’re coming from. $30 per 500 words is pretty good money for web content writers. It’s a terrible rate for magazine or print publishing writers.
Keep in mind there is a great divide down the line of the writing profession, with the magazine writers and journalists on one side and the web content writers on the other.
For web content, the rate you mentioned is quite reasonable and often double what the online industry tends to offer, because of perception that anyone can write and it doesn’t take skills. Do note that many of us protest these rates and fight them, but we’re much more keen on fighting truly unfair rates such as $2 for 500 words - very common in the web content writing world.
However - I don’t know what the subject matter or topic was regarding that $450 for 7500 words. The topic area makes a huge difference.
January 22nd, 2008 at 2:33 pm
@ James: that post is now up
@Star: As James says, those rates are good for web content work, but for journalism they suck. It’s a matter of deciding what you can live with and how much you need the money.
January 23rd, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Cheryline
That’s a great suggestion. I think Yuwanda Black recently made a similar suggestion about getting SEO writing jobs.
February 26th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Thanks for the link love Sharon. Just discovered this thread during my usual web crawling.
Glad to see my article sparked a little debate. It’s nice when others weigh in.
For James: I posted all the links in the article where I found the info. I disagree about there being a set standard for rates — especially in online writing. Maybe you Canadians are just more forward-thinking and organized than we Americans in this arena.
Love the discourse though. Definitely worthwhile.
Best,
Yuwanda
February 27th, 2008 at 6:58 am
Hi Ywanda - Writers.ca offers a set standard for freelance writing rates. You’d mentioned there were no standards at all. While I understand you’re American, the Internet is international and any resource that helps us all achieve our goals should be considered valuable.
Rates always bring up interesting discussion, though. It’s a hot topic!
March 3rd, 2008 at 7:34 pm
James:
Just to clarify, I agree that there are set standards, but there are no set “adopted” standards, like say, a federally set minimum wage. That’s what I mean when I say “standard rate.”
And you’re right about the internet helping us all to achieve goals; I shudder to think where we as freelance writers would be without it.
Best,
Yuwanda