Can you make a living writing blog posts? Absolutely. Is it easy? No. Like most other internet-based businesses, blog writing was a cash cow when people first started doing it back in the late 1990s. That cash cow gradually began losing weight with every new blogger who decided to try his or her hand at professional writing. Today, it is a lot more difficult, which leads to another question we hear quite frequently: how do blog writers charge for their services?
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Clients ask us this question for obvious reasons. They want to know how we determine a pricing structure for the work they are ordering. Unfortunately, we cannot divulge that information in a blog post. But we can tell you about the three basic models blog pricing is based on.
Model #1: Advertising Revenue
Independent blog writers who maintain their own sites almost always rely on advertisement revenue for their income. They are, in a digital sense, similar to newspaper publishers of decades’ past. They fill their sites with content that they hope readers will want to consume with the expectation of being able to turn around and sell advertising to companies who want the attention of those same readers.
Advertising revenue can be generated in one of two ways. The first is direct advertising in which a company pays a flat fee to place an ad on the writer’s site. The other is the pay-per-click system. With pay-per-click, advertisers place their ads free of charge initially, then pay the site owner based on the number of clicks the ad generates.
This model used to work very well even for blog writers with only moderate talent. Now, not so much. It is very difficult to make a living this way unless you are an excellent writer with a huge following.
Model #2: Writing Guest Posts
The internet is rife with websites that actually pay blog writers for content. These sites are owned by individuals or companies who want to keep content fresh and engaging by posting regularly. Many of them post multiple times per day for that very reason. They are willing to pay professional blog writers to generate high-quality content that keeps traffic flowing.
Like advertising revenue, the guest post model is tough to make a living from. Only the very best writers can command £50-£75 per piece on a regular basis. Furthermore, companies willing to pay this much for blog posts are very picky about the kind of work they will accept.
Model #3: Charging Per Post
This third model is the one that works best in the now-crowded environment we work in. Under this model, blog writers charge a certain fee per post as agreed with the client. There are several ways fees could be assessed:
- Flat fee – Writers charge a flat fee regardless of the size of the post or the amount of research required.
- Hourly fee – Clients are charged a fee based on the amount of time spent researching and writing.
- Per word – Writers charge a certain amount per word based on the complexity of the job.
Charging for blog writing on a per post basis is what most companies like ours do. This model supports our ability to provide high-quality content while getting paid fairly for the work produced. The previous two models are really intended for individuals trying to make their living as blog writers, whereas Connotations does a lot more than just blogging.
For the record, we provide a full range of content from blog posts to white papers to case studies. We price our services on a case-by-case basis so as to provide maximum flexibility and the best possible value to customers.
Now you know how blog writers charge for their work. Do you think you can make a go of it as a professional blogger?