As you become better known in your niche, you may also have other bloggers approach you asking for blog posts.
The question I’m often asked is: How do you know how much to charge? You don’t want to charge too much and lose the gig, but you also don’t want to give it away for free.
When charging for your blogging services there are several approaches you can take:
Charge by the word: This is pretty old-style and you won’t see it much anymore, but some bloggers charge by the word. For example, they’ll charge 20 cents a word, which works out to $100 for a 500-word article.
Charge by the article: This is probably the most popular method. Bloggers agree to write a post for $10, $30, $350, or whatever they agree on. Generally, a minimum length is also agreed on.
Charge by the job: More and more bloggers are realizing the benefits of being a long-term contributor on a high-ranking blog. They might charge by the week or the month, or a set number of posts, etc. In cases like this you might also want to consider lowering your fee a little in exchange for some type of promotion for your own blog.
Charge by the hour: I know a freelance writer who writes for several blogs and she charges by the hour. It’s not a common practice but it works for her because she’s a fast writer but some of the content she produces requires hours of research time.
If you’re looking for a suggestion, there is no “industry standard.” You’ll find high-quality writers on Fiverr.com who’ll write a 500-word blog post for just five bucks, and at Elance you can probably find someone who’ll write for half that. On the other side of the coin, you’ll find A-list bloggers who charge $200 just to open up their laptop.
What Is Your Time Worth To YOU?
In the end, what matters most is that you’re making the money you want, and need, to make for the amount of time you’re investing. This is where most bloggers make a fatal mistake, and it’s fodder for a whole ‘nother article, so I’ll try to keep this brief…
You need to consider three things: How much money you need to make to meet your financial obligations, how much money you want to make to meet you personal goals, and how many money-making hours you actually work each week.
If you sit at your desk 40 hours a week, chances are you’re not doing something that makes money every single hour. You’re promoting your blog or answering emails or organizing your day or… you get the picture.
Let’s say you decide you want to make $25 an hour, which isn’t unreasonable at all these days. If you can write 2 blog posts in one hour then you’d want to charge at least $12.50 per post. Charge less than that and you’ll always be behind the eight ball.
However, you also need to include time you spend researching your articles, formatting, and any other tasks you agree to perform.
Keep in mind, too, that there are plenty of people out there willing to write for pennies on the dollar. If you want to charge more, your writing has to be worth it. Your content has to attract traffic and keep readers on the page.
There are bloggers out there who can command hundreds of dollars per post, but they’ve been at it for a while, they know all about SEO and engagement, and they attract tons of traffic wherever they blog because they have a stellar online reputation.
Don’t worry. You’ll get there, too.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below!
