I am finding it difficult to set my fees. Either I am accepting too little or when I try to go higher, I get blown off. I could use some help with setting reasonable rates for per post blogs and articles. Thank you!

agreed on that last point, but as the blogging industry matures we’ll see more and more corporate blogs paying big bucks. It’s all about circulation / reach I guess, so if you’re doing good linkbait for a big blog, it pays great.

Amy earns more than I do, but she’s blogging in the financial sector.

To get that kind of money for regular posts (not linkbait), you have to have your finger on the pulse of a niche, to be able to break stories. And such sources of info are closely guarded.

On the other hand, if you can find your blogging rhythm and do 5-6 posts per day, 7 days per week, at say $15-20, you can pull close to $3000/mth. Not loads for N. American bloggers but enough to live on for one person working from home. And that’ll open the doors for higher paid work later.

But none of it compares to the $1500 I made for one feature computer programming article in print. In 1993.

Print pay and corporate work still outweigh the average blogging gig.

I am glad you upped the pay to a more reasonable level. I would like to think my comments had something to do with that. *blows on his fingers and shakes them* But my comment about the difference between blogging and being asked to write particular pieces about particular products or services being different remains true. Blogging is supposed to be a personal opinion about something.

And this is not aimed at you, but when companies advertise for a blogger and then tell you they want 500 words using particular keywords, SEO optimized, they are not looking for a blogger, they are looking for an advertising copywriter and I expect them to pay accordingly. My main argument against the whole accepting low pay because it’s “only” blogging, is that, more often than not, it’s not blogging.

I will happily blog 200 words a time for 5 bucks. As long as I can say what the hell I like and post when I feel like it.

And no, I can’t imagine writing about football shirts is creatively challenging, but I’ve had worse jobs,LOL

yes, this is the same Ahmed Bilal, and yes, I offered $2 per post for articles describing football shirts (not the most creatively challenging subject, I assure you). However, after some thought I upped that to $5 per post plus a revenue-sharing offer, depending on how good the writer is (this was advertised privately, not on Perf).

But the point is, that not all fields pay well enough to allow for expensive bloggers. Like I’ve said in my article, blogs that are bootstrapping will easily pay far less than blogs who have established companies funding them.

I’ve been blogging for less than a year and am still working on finding my voice. For me, blogging is a process, and I am enjoying the experience.

I think that if you’re into blogging strictly for the money, then it isn’t for you. There has to be more. You have to enjoy your subject, and you have to get a kick out of being able to publish immediately. (Small joys!)

I certainly couldn’t live off of the blogging I currently do for several titles. I have to admit, though, that when I write for my blogs I usually get a lot more satisfaction from blogging than I do from my corporate writing.

…and that in itself will help me to become a better writer…and certainly makes my higher paying assigned writing gigs more tolerable!

The great thing about freelance writing is that you can lend your hand to multiple projects if you are skilled enough. Also, the more you write, the better you should get so you have quite a few options.

If you do find a low paying blogging gig then widen your horizons and research other markets too.

Also here are a few other blogging gigs that I dont think I saw posted here: http://www.alldivamedia.com/about/jobs

My highest paying blogging gigs have to do with legal issues, primarily corporate bankruptcy and finance. I blog for law firms and attorneys with private practices, and now also for a credit repair company. These are all ghost-blogging gigs, so I don’t get a byline, but the money is good. I’m in the writing game more for money than for fame.

I also blog for a few freelance sites. Money’s not too bad there either.

However, recently a job surfaced (not sure if I saw it on your list), but I go on a treasure hunt through all of the websites at least once a day, and I saw a posting for $25 for 250-300 word blogs. I applied and a week or two later, he responded and hired me for the job. This job amounts to $2,000 a month …. guaranteed.

Whoever says blogging doesn’t pay is sorely mistaken. Try it!!!

$50/article is peanuts when you’re used to $300 per, I still can’t make blogging pay at anything close to the rate that “traditional” freelancing does.

And that well respected blog? They never paid my invoice.

Looks like you’ve got this blogging thing down. Congrats from a guy who still does mostly print and online journalism work.

Thanks so much for sharing your insight on this topic. I don’t have any blogging gigs with networks or any other arrangements where percentages or bonuses are involved, although maybe in the future I will. Right now, all my blogging jobs pay a set rate (either per post or per week/month), and I’m doing fine with that.

From my own experience, my corporate blogging gigs pay just as well as other freelance writing jobs. For example, a few months ago I started blogging for a corporate client who pays me a flat rate of $1200 per month for five posts per week. Since each post is less than 300 words (often 100 or 200), $60 per post translates into more than I’d be making on an average web writing job. It takes me about five hours per month to write all 20 posts. And that’s all I do. I’m not responsible for networking, building traffic, any of that. The client’s using the blog to communicate with his own business clients and other industry professionals, sort of like an interactive daily newsletter.

A few months ago, my blogging jobs were only earning me a few thousand per month. Now it’s closer to $7000, and all my blogging jobs together take up less than four hours per day. My point in this ramble is that not all blogging jobs are low paying, even though many of them you see on job boards are.

One of the best ways I’ve found to get corporate blogging jobs that pay well is to recommend a blog to my already existing corporate clients who don’t currently have a blog. Many corporate clients don’t know the benefits of having a blog until someone suggests it. And once I suggest it, I get the gig. No competing with thousands of other applicants, because there’s no job ad posted. These sort of opportunities may be few and far between on job boards, but the potential for getting these gigs is there, especially for people with connections in their industry.

The linkbait is the easy part, as far as I’m concerned. I see a lot of blogs out there that have this down. Something I want to read is another matter, IMHO.

Alexa.com enables you to track statistics for any web site or blog. You can also compare one site to another.

Deb, thank you for the excellent article by Mr. Bilal.

I’ve heard of bloggers who make tons, but I also see the company where I had done the blogging gig still actively out there hiring and now I’m more alert and look at the turnover for their writers.

In response to Deb’s comment about looking at their stats, they wouldn’t share them with people. So another warning sign that people should watch out for. I learned the hard way, but hopefully others can avoid it!

Also, it’s imperative that you keep improving yourself as a blogger – you’d do the same as a writer (for example, I learned direct sales writing to improve my skill set and as a result I can apply those lessons everywhere, not just for sales letters).