This post was written by Jennifer
Typical Blog Wages - How Much Money You Should Make Blogging
First off there are no typical blog wages; not if you blog for yourself, and certainly not if you blog for others. Clients have different budgets, different advertising, and different situations. Still, everyone always asks about actual wages.
That said, I figured I’d post some wages that either I’ve accepted, or wages that I know other bloggers have accepted recently. This may help to give you some idea of what’s decent vs. unfair vs. really good.
Variables: In all of these situations, I’m assuming that one, the topic is one you know well, and two, you know how to do blog tasks easily. If you don’t know a topic well, or understand how blogs work, your wage goes down because you’ll waste time researching topics and trying to figure out how to work the blogroll. Also while some clients require say, five posts a week, you’ll need to consider that if you’re paid page views, you’ll likely be posting more often.
Typical blog wages:
$500.00 a month: Flat rate. Wages may not go up anytime soon.
Blog stats: Decent page views, good hit worthy topic, huge niche.
Work required: Daily posting, 20-30 posts a week (but short), post-dating ok, good creative freedom, some networking required, almost no behind the scenes blog work required (like blogroll, polls, etc).
Management: Can be annoying, does not always answer emails, tech support slow, payments can be slow, and sometimes edits your work with no explanation.
$300-450 plus a month: Combo of base pay and page views, bonuses sometimes, rates will increase steadily because blog is growing well.
Blog stats: Decent page views, semi-hit worthy topic, smaller niche.
Work required: Six posts a week, networking, post-dating ok, keeping up the blogroll and other typical blog tasks. A lot of creative freedom.
Management: Easy-going, nice, open to suggestions, and helpful. Always emails back and good tech support. Pays on time most of the time.
$300 a month: Flat rate, page views may be negotiable sooner or later, wages also may go up.
Blog stats: Newer blog, so page views currently low, possibly good hit worthy topic. Medium sized niche.
Work required: One post per day, networking, no behind the scenes tasks, good creative freedom.
Management: Nice but needs issues explained a lot, not too bad to deal with though. Pays on time.
$120 plus a month: Combo of base pay, page view pay, and paid reviews. Sometimes bonuses.
Blog stats: Poor page views, smaller niche topic, problems on client’s end may be preventing page views. Changes coming that may make a positive difference - i.e. increase page views and earning potential.
Work required: Almost none, easy quick posts, and some networking. Post-dating ok. Also some basics like moderating comments and blogroll but since blog is doing poorly, that’s not much. Good creative freedom.
Management: Easy-going, nice, open to suggestions, and helpful. Always emails back and good tech support. Pays on time most of the time.
$1000 a month: Flat rate plus holiday bonuses.
Blog stats: Big niche with decent page views.
Work required: 2 posts a day, no behind the scenes work, and very little networking. Corporate blog and they want topics written about in a specific way, but nothing bizarre, so it’s easy to manage. Not too much creative freedom. Must attend weekly chat meeting.
Management: Fine, not overly friendly, but not bad, responds to emails. Usually pays on time, but forgets to tell you if pay will be late.
$200-$400 a month: Flat rate.
Blog stats: Ghostwritten blog. No creative freedom - client tells you what to write. Post-dating not ok. Very small blog niche with little chance of ever having top notch page views.
Work required: 1 post a day, that’s it.
Management: Fine, not overly friendly, and can be snotty, but not too bad, responds to emails, and provides new training programs to bloggers. Always pays on time.
$7-12 per post: Per post rate only. When client needs you to do a post they email. Thus monthly check varies. Some topics earn more per post.
Blog stats: Varies depending on blog.
Work required: Posting only. Amount of posting varies depending on client’s changing needs. Some creative freedom - client tells you what to write. You may be writing on different blogs, not simply one dedicated blog.
Management: Not bad, responds to emails, pays late sometimes, but always emails and lets you know.
$900 plus a month: Combo of base pay and page views, bonuses sometimes, rates will likely increase, but based on topic popularity could also go down.
Blog stats: Excellent page views, currently very hit worthy topic, large popular niche, but one that fluctuates.
Work required: Six posts a week, networking, post-dating ok, keeping up the blogroll and other typical blog tasks. A lot of creative freedom.
Management: Not too bad, but demands a lot of posts - more so than contract states. Always emails back and good tech support. Pays on time most of the time.
As you can see there is no typical wage. It’s a lot to consider. Blog wages seem to vary from around $100 (too low IMO) to $1000 plus. It’s a little obnoxious, right?
You could make $900 at one blog and $300 at another for the same amount of work, but because one has a more hit worthy topic, you make more. That said, you may really enjoy that $300 blog, and if your rates are steadily increasing it’s worth it. You can make $400 a month for what seems like easy work, but the lack of creative freedom, and the fact that they won’t allow post-dating (so no days off ever) can seriously get you down. You may have clients that become so annoying that almost no amount of money makes it worth the stress.
In any case, above is what I’ve seen around lately wage-wise, and should give you something to work with when negotiating with clients.
What wages have you been offered lately - and how much work does that gig require?
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26 Responses to “Typical Blog Wages - How Much Money You Should Make Blogging”
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Hey, great post.
I’ll be doing a blog with a local green focus that pays $10 a post, but I won’t be able to do the posting myself. I’ll have to send the copy. Have you ever done this?
[...] one blogger’s earnings, visit Jennifer Chait’s post at Network Blogging Tips entitled Typical Blog Wages: How Much Money You Should Make Blogging. If you’re sharing wages, this is how it should be done. Nice breakdown of the work involved: [...]
I just received an offer of $500 + a percentage of the revenue for several posts per week- the amount is up to me. I have complete creative control and while I’m encouraged to build community and promote the posts, management does a huge chunk of this as well.
@Peggy thanks, actually I had one offer to take on a blog where they’d be paying me $40-50 per post and I’d send it to them and they’d post it. Our negotiations fell through though based on some various factors. That’s the only time I ever heard of someone hiring a blogger to send in posts - I thought it was odd, but it’s not too bad, because it saves you (the blogger) time. The only thing I’d be leery of is them changing your post, maybe getting facts messed up, with your name still attached to it. I’d check that.
@Deb $500 seems to be the most average wage lately that I’ve run into. It’s not bad for a nice stress-free blog set-up, because you could pay most of your bills on a few gigs.
@Jennifer - Actually, both ,my current blogging for hire gigs have me sending in posts which the client then posts on the blog! I actually like this arrangement since I don’t have to worry about page views, or promotions. Pay is quite decent, so I don’t miss the bonuses. Regarding editing, one is a personal injury blog and they don’t change a thing, unless the SEO guy there suddenly decides he’s in the mood for geographical keywords. The other blog is on a travel site, and the client occasionally edits, but always for the better! I swear he makes me sound so witty! It’s great to have my name on those posts when he injects his brand of weird, but cool humor in there! Of course, it would be another matter altogether if he was ruining the posts…
Jennifer, this editor hasn’t changed much on the articles I’ve sent her, so I feel ok with it. When I write posts myself though, I like to see it in preview and then change some paragraphs breaks and decide what to bold. So, I won’t be able to do that. But I guess it will save time. I don’t know how comments might be handled or if it will have that feature. Probably not since it’s not in blogging software. It’s a blog feature added to a website and I’m not sure what kind of software she uses.
Preschool Mama, how do you include the links in copy? That seems like it would be the annoying part.
@Peggy to handle links in copy you send, you can write your post in blog software - like an offline editor, then cut and paste it into a text (like word) doc. The links will transfer. Or add them in HTML.
@PreSchool Mama - You’re more patient than me. I would want my editors to insert their own jokes and words in my posts because then it loses my voice and it’s not mine anymore. It sounds as if you’re happy though, and that’s what counts.
Just adding that I usually get $30-60 for a 350 word blog post (real estate related blog)
Thanks Deb and Jennifer. This is really helpful. I’m enjoying the new blog! Thanks for all the knowledge!
@RiteWriter thanks for adding a wage - the more the better as it helps newbies sort out the chaotic world of blog payments. When I did basic freelancing, I thought wages were complicated, but blog clients have taken it to a whole new level. I’ve noticed some real estate blogs around that pay really well - must be a good niche.
Looks very inline with what I’ve experienced. I have blogs that fall into the ranges of what you have there - one is so dead on, I swear I must have written it! LOL.
Here’s what I’ve seen recently w/some job openings:
$30/900-word post, twice weekly, plus community building (well known, tons of traffic)
$50-150/month plus traffic bonuses (needs some promotion to increase readers)
$10/post (flat rate)
$15/post (flat rate)
$50/post, twice weekly + community building
PS) I wouldn’t mind that $1000/month gig.
@Peggy, I don’t worry about links either. The law firm has their own SEO guy who does all internal linking, and the link to the main news story. Same with the travel site. All in all, I like this set up. If both of them asked me to post on my own tomorrow, that would be perfectly fine too, but they’re quite anal about their blogs, and I totally get that. Like I said, the editing is very rare, so I don’t mind.
Interesting post! I’ve never blogged for a network, so this was interesting info to learn.
Peggy - one of the law firms I blog for has me email my posts in.
[...] how much blogging can earn you, Jennifer Chait, a well-known network blogger has a good round-up of probable blogging wages and her tips on what it may require for you to earn per income bracket are very informative as [...]
This is a fantastic idea, as it is an OFTEN asked question. I’ve been blogging for pay since April 2007 (so 1 year this month), and the pay is/was low.
But:
1.) I like my topic alot
2.) When i started i was a newbie blogger
3.) I’ve learned everything (i now know) on blogging, SEO, social media, etc
4.) It pays better now, in fact, just this week, i was given less of a daily workload
5.) It’s been a springboard to more work
So all in all, its been good to me. I am now looking for another gig, to supplement my income.
But i will say that I make no less than $500 per month on this one gig, which according to this post, is the average.
Great post topic, lets see what others chime in with.
Missy.
This was a very interesting post. I started blogging as a hobby, then a part time business, and most recently I’ve been looking for gigs to get closer to writing full time.
@Missy Thanks for adding your input - good to see wages are running somewhat typical. (or as typical as they can be).
@Frugal Dad Good luck - blogging FT is pretty fun, hard, but never dull.
[...] how much blogging can earn you, Jennifer Chait, a well-known network blogger has a good round-up of probable blogging wages and her tips on what it may require for you to earn per income bracket are very informative as [...]
Sounds like a great post but I can’t seem to get to the whole thing. Nothing is clickable in the abbreviated version (title or the ellipses) and even from Categories, it only provides up until the Blog Wages part. When I click “Read More” it sends me back to the abbreviated version.
Please help me read the rest
I just started experimenting with blogging. This is all new to me, really. I’m used to writing for print and some Web sites, but never blogging.
I took on a job where I get $2.50 per post but I also get the revenue from the Google Adwords. Over time, I’m hoping the Google adwords revenue will increase and be significant. I could have opted for a higher per-post pay but then I would not have gotten the ad revenue. At any rate, I get more cash from other clients and this is a learning process for me.
OK I can see it all now, thanks
Very interesting; always nice to see what’s out there…and yes, $1000/month ain’t half bad
Jen,
Thanks for this great, informative post!!
I have two blogging gigs… for one, I’m making $20 per 400-word post, 2 X a month. (Frequency could increase if their budget goes up).
The other, I’m making $5 per 400-word blog and I feel vastly underpaid.
Still, no marketing or anything other than writing the blog required for each one, so it’s not bad “extra money.”
i have one blog. i post 1 post per week. make around 300-400 monthly.