Writing for Clicks, Hits and Revenue (Oh My!)
August 6, 2007 by Deb
Filed under Writing Tips
There’s nothing worse than spending a month writing your heart and soul out and ending up with about fifty cents to show for it. I should know, I was suckered twice. Once several years ago when writing for a popular online web portal that paid per 1000 page views, and once during a brief stint with a blog network offering only 40% of the revenue. Never again.
I think it’s one thing to work for free. You know exactly what you’re getting – nothing. When you work for clicks, hits or revenue, each month is a surprise. Many writers work their butts off only to get spare change at the end of a month. Most of them enter into this work with high expectations only to receive a low reward. That’s why most of these jobs have a very high turnover rate.
So why do it?
Most do it for the exposure, or in hopes of bringing in a decent income. I guess by now we all know how I feel about exposure – The “E” word. If you’re going to write for free or the equivalent of a small cup of coffee, you might as well just start your own website or blog, and keep all the money for yourself. Percentages suck. In most cases you’re getting the same amount of exposure anyway.
Before accepting one of these jobs
Find out:
- How much traffic the site/blog brings in.
- How many hits and how many pageviews.
- The Google Page Rank
- The Alexa Rating
- How much revenue it brings in
If the blog or site is brand new, ask yourself how much money you can actually earn. It takes time for a new site to bring in traffic: months or longer. What if the site doesn’t do well at all and shuts down? Do you want to put all your effort into something that isn’t a sure thing?
Even if the site is with a popular network, find out how the actual site does – not the network, since each individual site performs differently. A celebrity gossip blog has much different numbers than, say, a blog about cleaning.
If the money isn’t an issue and this is something you want to do, one of these sites can be a fun project. You can write and earn a little (very little) money on the side. If you’re looking to make actual money, you might want to pass.
Great post. I used to chase badly paid blogging jobs too because I needed the experience. But then I realized the same thing, if I’m going to write for free, why not write for myself? So I did, and it has definitely paid off.
With networks, however, it does give you a little “umph” so to speak. In other words, it’s easier to find traffic at any level as a group than if you’re working alone.
Remember also that sometimes its not just about experience. I write for a network that pays me terribly because it has opened doors to other jobs.
I definitely agree though–know what you’re getting into before you get into it!!
This post came just in time! I was just looking into such a gig, but I was less wary of the low pay, and more worried about the prospect of low pay with litte exposure. I have been thinking for a while of taking my blog to a local alternative paper here in Detroit, and even though my prospect of pay would be dubious, I think I would have more success down the road if I did that than if I did the blog network thing. Thanks for the advice! I love your blog, especially since I have no idea what I’m doing.
I fell for a revenue share offer a couple of months back. I wrote three 600-word serious articles. My earnings after 4 months is exactly 34 cents. Need I say more?
I started my own blog 1+ years ago. I was earning pennies at first. I decided to be patient and give it a year. I earn a little more now, but still not quite enough to justify keeping it. However, I still cling to the hope that it will eventually pay off, so I keep blogging away. I figure if I’m going to write for pennies, it’ll be on my own terms.
I write for one network that offers revenue share, but they offer a flat fee per article too, so even if I’m not making millions with my AdSense ads, I still know that my work wasn’t all for nothing. I wouldn’t take on a revenue share-only project because, in the 4 months I have been writing for this network, my AdSense income has only added up to $12.31.
Deb, I just saw that Simply Thrifty got a link and a mention on Consumerist today. Good job! They have tons of readers – I bet you’ll get a good influx of traffic.
Hi Deb, I love your blog. I recently found it, and read it all the time. It’s very helpful for someone like me, who is just starting out. Although I’ve been writing for about seven years, (some freelance, some not,) I still feel like I’m just learning the ropes of this whole freelance thing. Thanks so much for all the great information!
I just took a job for little pay, but I really don’t mind it too much, at this point. It’s giving me a great chance to expand my repetoire, and I feel fortunate for that. Thanks for the advice, though. I will definitely take it into consideration in the future.
I just turned one down. It certainly was one of my subjects and I certainly could have written it. Then I realized: if it is the major subject in which I am an expert and I had never heard of it, then how was that revenue sharing every going to pay me anything?
There is a finite quantity of me that can hit the page each day. Yes, I could use more jobs, but I have one that pays me $150 per article in my second area of expertise. What I need is more frequency in that one, or more similar jobs in other interest areas. Write for free? I already do that on my own blog, not on purpose, but never have been able to concentrate on optimizing it. Perhaps any residual energy ought to go into that?
Free writing? As a charitable offering to a worthy cause, perhaps. Otherwise, I just say no, because if I work for free, you will eventually work for free and writing for money will end up being the rarest thing on the internet.
Yeah, I’ve done the adsense thing. I sold a few articles fairly cheap (I hate the fact that I “had to start somewhere”) and then posted them elsewhere with those clickable ads. I certainly haven’t made much from those articles. Maybe we need to form some sort of group and go around to each other’s sites to generate revenue.
I keep getting emails from one such blog network trying to entice me to work with my local area channel. I always find myself considering it, but then I come back here and reread! Thanks again.
To be totally honest, I always dismiss listings that pay in revenue share. I would rather get paid for my work right away and know how much to expect. That’s just me, though.
I’ve tried a few of those, and actually the “best” one I found was helium.com. I sometimes use it to fulfill urge to chat, or to get some article ideas (through the “Rate” section).
Ad revenue things can seem like a good idea in theory, but it’s the practicality that always seems to nip “good” ideas.
Good to note. It’s hard to know sometimes.
I’ve just started blogging and have not much of an idea how much to charge when applying for blogging jobs. Does anyone know what a good rate to charge is? Do I charge by the word or by the ‘blog’ itself? Thank you…
Zoe “Digital Midge” Marlowe
I take part in a click for cents writing site. I do it because that’s where I started out and just add more writing to it as I go along. It’s not so much for the money. Eventually it will add up but I don’t put all my time into it. It’s easier for me to review my work and other’s this way also.