Am I offering a fair wage to freelance bloggers?
May 22, 2009 8:18 AM Subscribe
How much do I pay a freelance blogger?
The company I work for has four shopping blogs. We're looking to hire freelance bloggers to write 2-3 posts per week. The posts require a minimum of research and no expertise. That is, I don't care if the writer has a college degree as long as they can write 50-150 words about blenders or coffeemakers or home theatre or whatever. This isn't meant to be expert bloggers giving complicated instructions; its more like the advice you get from a friend who knows a bit about whatever product you're shopping for.
I've been told $5 per post is about right for the kind of writing I'm trying to get. Is that an okay rate?
The company I work for has four shopping blogs. We're looking to hire freelance bloggers to write 2-3 posts per week. The posts require a minimum of research and no expertise. That is, I don't care if the writer has a college degree as long as they can write 50-150 words about blenders or coffeemakers or home theatre or whatever. This isn't meant to be expert bloggers giving complicated instructions; its more like the advice you get from a friend who knows a bit about whatever product you're shopping for.
I've been told $5 per post is about right for the kind of writing I'm trying to get. Is that an okay rate?
What do you want out of it? A quick bit of filler to go alongside some nice pictures, something that sounds like a genuine personal recommendation for a product, or a professional blurb? The first could be farmed to Mechanical Turk for very little, but output can be almost anything. Option 2 could be done for $5, but that's someone who is a "hobby" blogger or just looking for quick money. Option 3 is more the range of a freelancer.
I'd think anyone who considers themselves a freelance anything intend to make a living from this. Maybe there are some industrious writers who can crank out hundreds of advert puffs a week, but I wouldn't consider that person a blogger. They're freelance advert writers.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:17 AM on May 22, 2009
I'd think anyone who considers themselves a freelance anything intend to make a living from this. Maybe there are some industrious writers who can crank out hundreds of advert puffs a week, but I wouldn't consider that person a blogger. They're freelance advert writers.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:17 AM on May 22, 2009
$5 per post is about right for the kind of writing I'm trying to get.
As a (sometimes) pro-writer, this figure strikes me as insultingly low, regardless of how minimal the amount of work required. What you need to do I think is package it (ie: ten or twenty or fifty short blurbs for a few hundred bucks). Make it at least a day's work.
posted by philip-random at 9:35 AM on May 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
As a (sometimes) pro-writer, this figure strikes me as insultingly low, regardless of how minimal the amount of work required. What you need to do I think is package it (ie: ten or twenty or fifty short blurbs for a few hundred bucks). Make it at least a day's work.
posted by philip-random at 9:35 AM on May 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
Thoughts. (He says some people consider $15 per post insultingly low.)
posted by Jaltcoh at 11:53 AM on May 22, 2009
posted by Jaltcoh at 11:53 AM on May 22, 2009
Response by poster: Not sure if anyone is still checking this thread, but I thought I would tie up the loose end anyway.
I posted the listing on Craigslist in Cleveland, Detroit, and New York showing a rate of $4 to $10 per post depending upon length. In Cleveland and Detroit -- where the posting was free -- the ad got flagged and taken down. In New York, the post has been live since May 22 and has gotten a little over 140 applicants ranging from people with their masters in english lit to kids just out of college. I ended up hiring three people for an average of $6 per post.
I can't say for certain that the Cleveland and Detroit posts were flagged by people who were insulted by the low rate, but that is what I think happened.
posted by ben242 at 2:22 PM on June 10, 2009
I posted the listing on Craigslist in Cleveland, Detroit, and New York showing a rate of $4 to $10 per post depending upon length. In Cleveland and Detroit -- where the posting was free -- the ad got flagged and taken down. In New York, the post has been live since May 22 and has gotten a little over 140 applicants ranging from people with their masters in english lit to kids just out of college. I ended up hiring three people for an average of $6 per post.
I can't say for certain that the Cleveland and Detroit posts were flagged by people who were insulted by the low rate, but that is what I think happened.
posted by ben242 at 2:22 PM on June 10, 2009
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posted by nitsuj at 8:26 AM on May 22, 2009