I’m often asked why I quit content & copy writing to become a full time blogger. The answer is twofold:
1. I enjoy the work more. I can be more expressive when I’m blogging and inject my opinion and personality. As long as I stay on topic (and sometimes, even if I don’t) I can write whatever I want. I can blog 50 words or 500 words and it’s still considered a “post”. There’s a lot less pressure with this kind of work.
2. It’s lucrative. I’m earning more blogging than I ever did writing content. At the beginning of the year, I resolved to earn $10,000 more this year than last. Thanks to my regular blogging gigs, I’ve surpassed this goal.
Now, that’s not to say blogging is for everyone. Just like with web content, and even some small town newspapers, there are plenty of low-payers and non-payers out there. I think some people see blogging as a way to stock their websites with cheap content.The trick is to blog for corporations as opposed to individuals. (Present company excluded, Jodee 
) I’m fortunate in that I have a blog that does well enough I can pay someone to update, plus I have some wonderful corporate clients.
Can you make money blogging?
Absolutely! If you’re looking into this, there are a few things you should know:
Be careful for any company offering only to pay you with a portion of the advertising revenue. It’s my experience that these will probably only end up paying you pennies each month. Go with a set monthly fee, or a per post fee and if you can, negotiate in traffic bonuses or ad revenue.
Many places say they’re looking for bloggers, but what they really want are cheap article writers. If you’re expected to write 500 words several times a day on specialized subjects, price yourself accordingly.
More and more companies are finding it advantageous to jump on the blogging bandwagon. Lots of big businesses are looking to promote or add personality to their web sites through blogs. Finding the corporate clients isn’t easy, but they’re out there. Thanks to a couple of big names mixed with a few smaller names, I’m earning a little more than the salary at my last full time place of employment.
I’m just one person though and I worked very hard to get where I am today. Heck, I’m still working hard. I have my own money-making blogs, and I blog for others. I’d like to hear from others who blog for money. Do you make good money blogging and would you recommend it to others?
July 26th, 2007 at 9:42 am
I have had a hard time making money from blogging. However, I really like blogging as opposed to content writing for the freedom it provides. I feel like I can get back to my writer roots with blogging. Bottom line, blogging allows you to be who you want to be with your writing. So money or no money, it is worth the time for me.
July 26th, 2007 at 9:43 am
I don’t make directly make money blogging, but it’s been very good to me in other ways. I used to work at AOL as a blogger/community manager, and my personal blog has gotten me a number of freelance jobs since. On the one hand, I love the freedom that comes from not worrying about advertising, but on the other, it’d be nice to see some bucks, too.
I’d recommend it to others, but the solitude really does my head in. Even if I’m in a roomful of people or at a coffee shop, the experience can be very isolating. Nobody really told me about that part when I got started.
As much as I love the Web, I also hate it. It simultaneously rewards and punishes me for being a bit ADD — there’s always something else cool to see right around the corner, and I am very susceptible to falling down the rabbit hole. Sometimes it’s four hours later and I sort of snap to with nothing to show for it except some t-shirts in the mail and a richer hatred for the Bush administration.
How do you rein it in? I’d loke to know what your challenges are, what you fight with daily. Sorry for the novel here …
July 26th, 2007 at 9:57 am
I just had a very bad experience trying out for a blogging job with a major website. I went through a 17 day “prep course” where I essentially created multiple layers of content as well as several blog posts — all w/o pay and only to be told at the end thanks but no thanks. It upset me because all the feedback I received during the tryout period was positive — the “prep course instructor” I dealt with never told me anything was lacking or needed improvement, so I kept plugging along, fairly confident I would get this job. In retrospect, I would never take such a large chunk of time away from my other writing projects without some kind of compensation. It was such a massive undertaking. A few sample blogs, sure. 10 articles, 3 detailed blog posts, multiple linked articles, practicing with a unique user interface, and other duties for a tryout? No way…
July 26th, 2007 at 10:19 am
I just got hired by a real estate company to do a blog and am really excited about it. Although it remains to be seen exactly how much work it will require, the subject is interesting to me and something I’m currently keeping abreast of. The hourly rate, based on my estimate of time input versus monthly fee seems to be well worth it.
I’m curious what a typical fee would be for corporate clients.
July 26th, 2007 at 11:29 am
I love maintaining my own blogs, but so far I haven’t brought in enough ad revenue to justify a check. Good thing that’s not why I’m doing it!
I’ve also worked for several paid blogs, albeit none that compare to what I’m making in other areas.
There’s a great book out there about blogging as a business marketing technique. It’s great for anyone who wants to get into being a hired blogger or even a business blog consultant. You can see my review of the book here.
July 26th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
I just started a personal blog about two or three months ago. I haven’t met the payment threshold for a monthly check, but it’s enjoyable and I love blogging. Making regular posts and marketing is difficult because my regular writing gigs keep me busy. One of my writing jobs is scheduled to end within the next couple of weeks, and hopefully I’ll have more time to work on the blog and generate a little income.
July 26th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
How do you get started with corporate blogging? I work as a freelance article writer now and would love to find a way to get more work.
July 26th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
I write real estate based content for a blog. The pay is minimal, but I consider the training to be good. My personal blog has about 100 hits a day, which is hardly enough to justify selling ads.
My gut says that blogging for a living is something like writing novels for a living - a process akin to winning the lottery.
I use my blog to plug my ability, and nothing more.
July 26th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
I have one blog that I’m building up for fun, in the hopes that maybe I can eventually earn money doing it. I’m one of those people who will realize something I want, then set out to make it myself if I can’t find it.
In this case, that desire was for individual song reviews as opposed to CD reviews. I happen to like Panic! At The Disco’s song “Build God, Then We’ll Talk”, but the language alone of most of their other songs drives me away. I wanted to see reviews that evaluated the song’s message and word choices along with the rest.
Ergo, I made it myself. Though I would like to earn money from it, I realize patience will make all the difference. It’s only a few months old at this point. Maybe it’ll earn me income; maybe not. I’m still the n00b at play in that area.
P.S. My website link goes to that blog, this time, if anyone finds the description of what it is interesting.
July 26th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
I don’t make any money blogging and for me, it’s not something I want to do. I only maintain one blog and it’s a non-profit one for a completely different target group than my professional work.
It’s a light and fun creative outlet and it’s doing something ‘on the side’ that I enjoy for a nice change. I do enjoy my day job but I also like the freedom and lack of pressure with maintaining my blog. Oddly enough for me, it’s the fact that I don’t get paid to write in my blog that removes some of the pressure to write.
Congratulations on surpassing your $10,000 goal!
July 26th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
I blog for myself and a few friends, but I’m seriously considering taking it to the next level — if only to break into subjects I am savvy with but have no formal background in. I’m in a position where I can step back and take some time, so I’m looking forward to this new opportunity.
There is a lot to learn though.
Jeff, I do feel your ADD pain on the internet. What you described is identical to my experience (except instead of t-shirts, I have 10 more tracks from iTunes….).
July 26th, 2007 at 4:00 pm
All you really need is a few spurious links and a few links that don’t look like links and away you go. It’s easy.
July 26th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
Blogging IS easy, the difficult part is earning money. If you’re blogging for yourself, it can take months or even a couple of years until you really see a reward. It was about a year and a half before I started seeing decent money on this blog. Now all my profits go to Jodee so she can keep it going while I work on other blogs. (What a cycle, huh?)
Blogging for others can be very lucrative - I’m proof of that, but again, it’s finding those high paying gigs.
Either way, it’s a lot of work and a lot of fun. I never had so much fun working!
July 26th, 2007 at 4:12 pm
I have a few personal blogs that I write for my own enjoyment rather than for money. I don’t have any personal blogs that generate any real income, and I don’t blog for any networks, although I’m not opposed to doing so somewhere down the line.
I have a regular gig for two blogs for which I get paid a set rate per week for a certain number of posts. These are both very easy gigs that pay pretty well for the amount of work involved.
I also have two clients who pay me to write articles for their corporate blogs. These pay by the article and are confidential/work-for-hire gigs. The work is more difficult, but it’s work I enjoy.
All four paying gigs combined take about 20 hours of my time per month and earn me a little over $1500 (before taxes) monthly, which to me is not bad.
For me, blogging is thus far a supplement to other writing jobs and not a full-time income-generating proposition, but I can see how for some people it would be.
July 26th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
Great article, Deb. Lots of legit tips and good sound advice–as usual:)
July 26th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
I too recently started a blog. I was finding myself talking to the dog a lot during the day and realized there needed to be a place for writers to hang out online. I have met a lot of great people with my blog through people writing, emailing, etc. I’m not making much money, but I have stopped talking to the dog as much!
July 26th, 2007 at 9:08 pm
I would like to know how to get started in blogging. I’m a stay at mom, the extra income would nice. I always have an opinion about everything.
July 27th, 2007 at 7:07 am
Question from someone who has yet to see the economic value of blogging (perhaps this is worth another discussion)?
What type of rates do corporate blogs pay?
Thanks
July 27th, 2007 at 7:14 am
@Phil - most of the corporate clients pay a monthly or “per post” rate comparable to that of copy writing. I have one corporate client paying me $500 per month for 200 words a week. I had a short stint blogging for a major NYC corporation that paid $2000 per month for two to five posts a day. Posts that could range in 50 words on up. Sadly, I lost that gig when they decided to bring in a full time staff blogger.
The corporate gigs are more difficult to find, but I predict in the upcoming year, there will be more and more listings for corporate bloggers. Businesses are interested in giving their websites a personality and blogging is the best way to do so.
July 27th, 2007 at 7:15 am
@ Tiffany - Tiffany if you’re looking to blog for others, there are plenty of listings for blogging gigs. I post them at About.com - but have been too busy to update lately. Jodee will be posting more blogging gigs here for those who are interested.
July 27th, 2007 at 9:55 am
I worked for a month and a half for a blog site that claimed to be huge. In the end, they dropped their promise to pay monthly and switched everyone to shared ad revenue instead. Sure there was a signed contract that they broke, but the court fees would have been difficult.
After a month and a half they had spent thousands buying up other blog sites but claimed there was no revenue to pay their writers. I’m glad I got out of it. While I’ve heard some make good money blogging, I was burned once and found I make far more money writing articles. I guess every experience is different.
July 28th, 2007 at 5:22 am
I’ve been an avid blogger since 2000, 2001, though I had no idea it would take off.
Currently I blog for HubPages. They don’t pay a lot per post, but it ads up and I generally enjoy writing about my topic (pet care) because I can use my own voice. It doesn’t take me long to make a post.
July 29th, 2007 at 10:34 pm
Hello Deb could you give me the link to your blogging jobs on about.com………Thanks!