Words on the Page

Claus(e) Time

Posted on by lwidmer

Both Eileen and Kimberly asked what clause would go into a contract that effectively voided it should a project come up for third-party review. There are many variations on the theme. Many writers would argue that the absence of a third party’s name on the contract and his/her subsequent involvement would be enough. I tend…

My Utterly Crappy, Lousy, and Somewhat Not Nice Day

Posted on by lwidmer

I should’ve known when the computer had to be rebooted what I was in for. Then the note from the client – more revisions on something I’ve revised to death. Then the daughter at college with her hand out for money. Oh, then trying to help my spouse understand my stance on clients introducing posses…

Quick Poll

Posted on by lwidmer

For those of you who have worked with clients who have brought in another party somewhere in the middle or toward the end of the process – what’s your policy on third-party review of your work? Is that a deal breaker or are you fine with it? Why or why not? Thoughts?

Where’s Your Happy Place?

Posted on by lwidmer

We were out to dinner the other night, driving back through town and apparently not doing it fast enough. The dude passed us on a double-yellow line at a four-way intersection, doing easily 40 in a 25 mph zone. The police were sitting two lights back directing traffic for the Santa parade in town. Naturally….

Sites to Behold

Posted on by lwidmer

I love finding new haunts, places that are in addition to my very favorite blogs. Here are two more that I cannot live without: Sass Pants. I’ve always known Kristen has a spunky side. Now we get to see just how spunky she is. And we love her all the more for it! Joan’s Sling…

Phrases I Never Want to Hear or Be Forced to Write Again

Posted on by lwidmer

Don’t ask what set me off, but there are some business phrases that I cannot wait to bury. Core competencies. Just say your specialties, okay? Otherwise, you sound like you’re choking on consonants. Value-added services. How about just telling people what you do. For instance, “We offer optional fries with every burger!” or “Every product…

Quality Time with My Stress

Posted on by lwidmer

Just when you think stress will bypass you – bam. There it is in the form of an unexpected, weird little thing. Mine’s called Verizon. More than 3 years ago I added a little feature called Distinctive Ring to my service. That’s my separate number for my fax machine. I got a note from a…

Raining, Pouring, and Assorted Forecasts

Posted on by lwidmer

Since finishing (hopefully) a rather large, cumbersome project, I’ve had time to breathe. Only just though, for there was work pushed aside for these critical edits and revisions that had to be done. And naturally, I’m feeling a bit under the weather. What I suspect is a sinus infection or inner ear issue is causing…

Why I Love Blogging for Pay (And Why I Probably Won’t Do It Again)

Posted on by lwidmer

Thanks again to Sal for introducing yesterday’s post topic about blogging. I didn’t expect the number of comments I got, and I’m happy to see some really thoughtful discussion about when to blog and when not to blog. If you’re new to writing, blogging can be a great way to build up some credibility and…

Love it or Shove it?

Posted on by lwidmer

On Monday’s post, Sal asked about a blogging gig he has – “The blog job pays $5 a post for 200 words. I think it usually takes me about 10-15 minutes to crank one out. If that were the case for you, would you do it?” Damn good question, Sal. My short answer was no….

Kimberly Ben

I do some ghost blogging for a couple of clients. i agree – $5 a ost is kinda low – but that’s just me. BTW, you’re killing me with how you broke that cost down to being a Starbucks venti nonfat chai plus tip -LOL

Sal

Hey Lori,

Thanks for posing this question for me. I must admit, it is kind of low, about 2 cents a word, but you are correct, there is no research involved (yet) as this is a topic I know well from my vet-tech days.

The funny thing is that I actually applied to write articles for them, but after they reviewed my blog, they thought I would be a good fit for theirs.

BTW, I gave you some link love on my site. Thanks for helping out with the story. It looks great! I’ll be back! HA!

Devon Ellington

I have not yet accepted a blogging job because it’s too much work for too little money.

For the right opportunity, I’d consider it, since I love to blog. But for $5/post –unless I could do it in my sleep, no thanks.

Believe it or not, I can make more money writing fiction.

stephanerd

Hello there Lori! I have come to your blog via Sal’s.

I’m a lead blogger on a fairly well-regarded web magazine, so this question intrigues me.

There are such a large number of sites now — such as eHow, Time, Examiner, Suite101 — drawing in aspirational bloggers for miniscule amounts … amounts as small as .02/wd., with bonuses starting at 1,000 views. How far we’ve fallen. When I first got my B.A., writers were competing for .50 or $1/wd. at the major glossies. Now, with many writers moving online, standards have fallen.

I receive $10/post for the quickie posts I do every day. When I was writing longer blog posts about blogging for another site, I asked for $25/post. I still worry that I was undercharging.

I think what it comes down to is how long each post takes to research and write. Once you have that nailed down, you can quickly figure out what you’re receiving hourly. If the result sits well with you, go for it. If not, you need to stand your ground, and hold out for a client who will pay you what you’re worth.

This from the chick who really stinks at figuring out her own worth.

Angie Ledbetter

I’d blog for pay if the content area was something I could easily cover without research and was already intimately familiar with. But I’m not being hooked into a gig that doesn’t cover my home brewed java habit.

Amanda Nicole

I have a few regular blogging jobs that I love. Like you said, blogging can be easy, and when it’s on a topic you enjoy, it’s awesome. In my opinion $5/post is low. Mine average out to $20/post.

Irreverent Freelancer

I have one (anonymous) blogging gig. It’s two posts per week on a topic that personally interests me, so minimal research is involved. I can usually knock out both posts in 1.5 hours, grossing me right around my aimed-for hourly rate. Granted, I get a lot more than $5/post but about half per word what I charge for most other types of writing. It’s stead easy work, which in this economy, I’m fortunate to have.

Samar Owais

Hi, came through Sal’s blog. I’m a new freelancer like Sal. My question is ‘Did everyone start out with the rates they’re getting today?’

As a newbie, I’m not averse to blogging for $5 for 200 word posts. It’s experience and I love cofee and donuts.

Lori

Sal, thanks for sending all the new folks over! Welcome everyone!

Kim, we do have our priorities. ;))

Sal, if you’re content with the work and the pay, stick with it!

Devon, agreed. Currently, we make enough doing other things to allow us to turn these jobs down.

Stephanerd, what you said: “Now, with many writers moving online, standards have fallen.” And that is exactly why I rant about writers valuing their own skills. I don’t think blogging gigs drove our online value down – not alone, anyway. It’s the proliferation of these “Put up a marketing site, fill it with content, and get rich!” people who offer (and the foolish writers who accept) 50-articles-for-$5 “jobs.” While blogging rates have come way down, I believe it’s in response to the online market, not so much a contributing factor.

Angie, you definitely need a java blog. :))

Amanda and Kathy, how did you score those gigs? What makes them different from the lower-paying ones?

Samar, the answer to your question – no. We didn’t start out at our current rates. Currently, I charge $100/hr. When I started, it was more like $35/hr. That was 15 odd years ago and that was mainly because I didn’t value my own abilities enough. Stick around – we talk about this sort of thing a lot. 🙂

Kirk Petersen

stephanerd (love the name), you seem to be familiar with a lot of the options — any suggestions on which site to try first? I always assumed those sites were bogus, but if there really is money to be made… even in small amounts… it beats competing with my kids for jobs at Home Depot. My blog is primarily about politics, and I don’t imagine there’s much of a market, but I can bloviate convincingly about a variety of subjects.

Just got a check in the mail from a NEW CLIENT, after a long dry spell… but I still need to scratch for more income.

Carrie Wilson Link

Hmmmm… now you got me thinking, what WOULD be my “price?”

Sal

I am glad to see such an interesting conversation going on here. I guess the reason I took it was, like Samar, I needed something to help start a portfolio. I figured it was either free for the local paper or $5/post. It is nice when you had the opportunity to start with $15 per article, but the question is, how do the new freelancers do that today.

Lori, you said it, the writing market has gone down, which leaves the beginners scraping around at the bottom. Trust me, I would like to charge $25 a post, but it just doesn’t seem possible without a past. It is great to read all the books on becoming a freelancer, but they were written by people who were already established (at least the ones that were recommended to me were).

Hmm, maybe that is an idea for a book. Beginner Freelance for the Economically Challenged.

Kristen King

I’ve never blogged at per-post pay, but I did calculate what I was making per post with my monthly income, and it wasn’t great. But there’s more to value than just the cash you bring in, so depending on the circumstances, I wouldn’t rule out $5/200 words immediately. I’ve blogged for more and I’ve blogged for less, and it’s all been helpful because I picked and chose the times to do that. If it would position me to do something I really wanted to do (and I don’t mean “gret exposhure”), it would be worth it at that rate. But if what I wanted to do was make a decent wage on blogging alone, no way. 😉

kk

Irreverent Freelancer

Not to reopen the neverending floodgates of controversy, but I actually secured my blogging gig from a freelance bidding site. It’s been a steady source of good income for almost a year.

Lori

I won’t touch that, Kathy. LOL!

Sal, it’s a pretty good way to build up credits – that’s very true. And like you said, you’re just starting out and each of us have our pain points when we do that. As you know, I made a whopping $15/article back in the day. I knew then it could be better, but it was my foot in the door and it was credible.

That’s the part you gotta focus on. Like Kristen hinted at, it’s gotta be credible or it gets you nowhere fast. There are lots of credible blogging jobs out there, but there are just as many schmuck jobs waiting to take your time, work you like a dog, and pay you like an elephant – in peanuts.

This blogging gig you have sounds like you enjoy it, you have the expertise for it (thus creating your own niche), and you’re okay with the pay for now. Like I said before, under those circumstances, by all means stick with it. It’s a nice way to get started.

stephanerd

@kirk: I don’t know that I’m the best one to give recommendations on a lot of the paid-by-revenue sites out there as, by and large, I avoid them. I got my main blogging gig for the web mag through a job ad. Unfortunately, finding sweet gigs like that are difficult. My other regular gig I landed when I met someone at a blogging meetup who was looking for, well, what I had. And I suppose that’s the best way to do it. As with anything else, it’s about who you know (or who you meet and subsequently charm).

Of course, you could also go the ProBlogger route (check out problogger.net!) and try to start up your own blog. That’s what I do with Freelancedom but, while I have minimal advertising on the site, it’s not really a project I do for money but rather a means of interacting with other freelancers.

Rebecca Smith

Great question, Lori (and Sal)!

I don’t have any blogging gigs, and I’d only consider one if the pay was good and if it didn’t interfere with my other jobs.

I find that writing brochures, ads, and, yes, even press releases (!) is more lucrative than writing blogs — and those jobs tend to lead to other satisfying projects.

I guess everyone has to go with what works best for them!

Lori

Great point, Rebecca. I think the main thing blogging gigs have going for them is a steady check when you need one.