Staff Blogging: Get Paid To Practice Your Blogging
Posted on November 10, 2008 by Eric Hamm |
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a guest post by Ali Hale of The Office Diet and Alpha Student.
Google Adsense, writing ebooks, affiliate sales … all great ways to make money from blogging, but not generally big cash-cows when you’re just starting out. I’m a pretty typical small-time blogger: I’ve been writing The Office Diet since January 2008, and launched Alpha Student in September but have fewer than 1,000 subscribers total, and haven’t yet received my first Google Adsense check…
However, I’m paying my rent (and more) each month through blogging – by getting paid to write for several blogs that are much bigger than mine.
What’s Staff Blogging?
If you’ve read a few blogs, chances are you’ve read some posts written by “staff bloggers” – people who, like me, write posts for pay. Any blog which has a number of different regular authors uses staff bloggers. Here are just a few examples in several different fields:
- Freelance Switch (for freelance writers, designers, graphic artists, developers…)
- Digital Photography School (for digital photographers)
- Pick the Brain (covers personal development and self-improvement topics)
- Diet Blog (health and fitness news and feature articles)
The description “staff bloggers” distinguishes paid, usually regular writers from “guest bloggers” who are unpaid, usually occasional writers on a blog. (I’m often a guest blogger too – like with this post!)
Why Become a Staff Blogger?
The big advantages to staff blogging, when you’re just starting out, are:
- Getting a guaranteed sum for each post, rather than a few pennies from Adsense
- Learning on the job; working for a big blog gives you an insight into how these blogs become – and stay – successful
- Receiving feedback from a wide audience about your post content and writing style
Money
The money factor may seem a little mercenary, but it’s important; many of us are under financial stress during the current economic times, and even a couple of hundred extra dollars a month can make a big difference. Maybe your spouse, parents, friends or colleagues think that your blogging is, at best, a harmless hobby, and at worst, a huge waste of your time. Showing them that you can make good money at it is a sure way to change their minds!
Learning
Don’t decide to become a staff blogger just for the money, though. One of the less tangible benefits of staff blogging is that you’ll learn faster than if you just write on your own small blog. You’ll get an inside glimpse into how blog editors run things – invaluable if, a couple of years down the line, you’ll be hiring people to work on your own blog. You’ll also start getting an idea of how much administrative and promotional work goes on behind the scenes of popular blogs.
Feedback
If your own blog gets a couple of comments every week, staff blogging is a fantastic way to open the feedback floodgates. Big blogs tend to get a good number of comments, and there’s nothing better than both getting paid for a great post and having lots of readers tell you how much they enjoyed it. Sometimes, you’ll receive negative comments; learn from these, but don’t obsess over them.
Finding a Staff Blogging Job
If I’ve sold you on the idea of staff blogging, you might be wondering how on earth to get started.
Your blog
First of all, you’ll almost certainly need your own blog: no blog editor is going to hire you if they can’t see samples of your writing, and they’ll usually also want to know that you’ve got a basic understanding of the blogosphere. It doesn’t matter if your blog is quite new – I landed a staff blogging job within six weeks of starting The Office Diet.
Guest post
All of the blogs I currently work for as a staff blogger are ones which I wrote guest posts for first. Keep an eye out for blogs that you’d like to write for: some will have a “write for us” page if they take staff bloggers, but others won’t make this explicit, so try looking for blogs with multiple authors. Send a short, friendly email to the blog editor (or whoever is listed on the contact page), with a guest post attached.
Ask!
If the guest post goes down well, drop the editor an email to ask whether he uses staff bloggers – don’t wait to be invited! (I did get my first couple of jobs when the editors simply asked “Would you like to staff blog?” but with the others, I made it clear I was available.) If you’re a little shy about doing this, build up a stronger relationship with the editor by doing another guest post a few weeks later.
Apply for jobs
The other route to getting a staff blogging gig is to look on blogger advertising boards (ProBlogger’s job board and the Freelance Writing Jobs listings are the best I’ve come across). This can be trickier, though, as often the blogs advertising aren’t on topics you want to write about – and they also receive hundreds of applications, so your chances of being chosen are low.
Give It A Go
If you’ve never heard of staff blogging before, or never thought that it was for you, think through the blogs you read regularly. Are there any which you could write for? It could just be the kick-start that your blogging career needs…
Ali Hale is a writer, blogger and postgrad student. She runs The Office Diet (RSS feed) and Alpha Student (RSS feed), and writes for several large blogs.
Be sure to check out the latest at “Motivate Thyself” and find out the answer to the question, “What career is right for me?” and “How To Motivate Yourself“.
Another great recourse is this Teaching Sells Review over at The Blueprint. Be sure to check it out!
Oh, and one more thing. Check out Sean Platt’s latest gig as a Ghost Writer!
Loading ...
Your Friendly Neighborhood Computer Guy
November 10th, 2008 11:11 amSo how much did you get paid to write this article?! =-) Just kidding!!
Very helpful post Ali. This is a great idea, as starting out as blogging on your own will rarely make you enough money to make a living. I would be interested to know how much the average staff blogger is paid. Is it per post, per word, per subject? etc.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Computer Guy´s last blog post..Top 10 Reasons To Be Nice To Your Computer Guy
Writer Dad
November 10th, 2008 12:00 pmThis is wonderful advice, Ali. Thanks. I would LOVE a staff job, it would just have to be writing about the right thing. I don’t think I could be a regular blogger about collision insurance, but if the right offer came along, I’m sure I’d jump over the candlestick to take it.
Writer Dad´s last blog post..Bright Ideas
Ali Hale
November 10th, 2008 4:48 pmComputer Guy - this was a freebie, aka a guest post
I’m not JUST in it for the money!
As regards pay - the blog posts I’ve been paid for have ranged from $10 (a couple of very short posts) up to $100. In my experience, the rate depends more on the blog’s size than on the complexity or length of the post written. Obviously, I’d rather not disclose pay rates for specific blogs.
Writer Dad - I see you guest posting on a good few blogs; maybe try one of them for starters? Good luck if you do aim for a staff job; I’ve read quite a bit of your stuff and I’m sure any editor in their right mind would jump on the chance to have you write for them!
Ali Hale´s last blog post..Using quotations effectively in your essays
Writer Dad
November 10th, 2008 5:05 pmAli: Aw shucks, and gee willikers. That’s the nicest thing anyone has said (er..um, written I mean) about me all day. Thanks!
Writer Dad´s last blog post..Bright Ideas
Sid Savara
November 10th, 2008 5:52 pmFrom personal experience, I’d add when you DO apply for guest posts and staff positions, be sure to do it professionally like Ali, and include links to relevant previous articles.
Don’t follow in the footsteps of one writer I had apply, who neglected to check that the domain their writing was on had expired, and accidentally pointed me to a porn site
Sid Savara´s last blog post..Motivation is Like Love: Coping When Your Passion Fades
Maya
November 10th, 2008 8:03 pmThis is indeed good advice Ali. The “why” and How-to are really useful for me. I would do it to reach a wider audience and getting paid for it would just be great!
Maya´s last blog post..Slideshow: Dogs Lessons for Life and Work
Jeremy Day
November 11th, 2008 12:36 amHi Ali,
Another great guest post. You weren’t kidding when you said you were going on a guest writing spree.
Eric, I hope you don’t mind me letting your readers know that I did an extensive interview with Ali that they might find worth the read. Here is the link:
http://www.insightwriter.com/2008/11/09/interview-ali-guest-blogger-extraordinaire-prolific-writer/
Thanks Eric!
Cheers,
Jeremy
Jeremy Day´s last blog post..Why NOT Cut Up Your Credit Cards???
Ali Hale
November 12th, 2008 11:01 amSid, I’ll definitely remember that tip about checking writing sample links — yikes! Did you tell the writer?!
Maya, do give staff blogging a go if you think it might be for you — guest-posting is a great way to dip a toe in the water!
Jeremy, thanks for putting the interview link there
Yes, if people want to know a bit more about my own staff blogging, they can find details in that interview.
And by all means do drop me an email (ali@aliventures.com) if you’ve got any questions about staff-blogging that you’d like me to respond to privately.
Ali Hale´s last blog post..Keeping a time log (part one)
Tess Marshall
November 13th, 2008 12:21 pmThanks Ali! The first article I’ve read on where to get freelance work. I applied at Today.com. I’ll let you know if I’m hired. I’m also going to write other bloggers about being a guest! Thanks for the encouragement.
Grateful,
Tess
Tess Marshall´s last blog post..
Eric Hamm
November 14th, 2008 11:53 pmI just wanted to thank Ali for sharing such a helpful post. We all appreciate it and enjoyed the great insight! Eric.
Katy
November 20th, 2008 12:20 pmGreat post, with very specific and helpful ideas. I’ve guest posted for some sites, but never occurred to me to ask about staff blogging.
Do they generally ask you to post regularly or just ask you to post on a specific topic once in a while?
Katy´s last blog post..Improving communication
Ali Hale
November 21st, 2008 4:39 amTess, best of luck, and well done for having the courage to apply! Good luck with the guest posting efforts too; I’ve found that most bloggers are incredibly generous and encouraging towards guest posters (like Eric has been to me here on Up and Coming Blogger :-)).
Katy, most of my experience of staff blogging has been of writing regular posts. The frequency on mine varies from one per month (for The Change Blog) to three per week (for Diet Blog). I’ve seen blogs advertising for writer to do up to 20 posts a week though (yikes!) Occasionally, I’ve been asked to do a one-off post on a specific topic (I wrote a couple for Brazen Careerist), but the regular posting seems much more common.
Ali Hale´s last blog post..Straight to the top of your career path: the Brazen Careerist blog
mcwalka
November 21st, 2008 2:45 pmi like those but its looks like its a hard thing for me. Please who will lead me.
mcwalka´s last blog post..Banky W. - "Don’t Break My Heart"
Erwin Tan
November 29th, 2008 1:30 pmGreat article!
I was thinking about this maybe say in future.. And it makes you more friends from the blogging world as well..
Erwin Tan´s last blog post..Secrets To Success Is To Fail
Steven Smith
December 30th, 2008 3:43 amThanks for the ideas.
I write mostly martial stuff at Real Taijiquan and I anticipate that finding blog cash in that niche will be difficult.
Steven Smith´s last blog post..Peeling George W. Bush
Isokind
May 3rd, 2009 9:56 pmemm.. amazing
Tess The Bold Life
May 3rd, 2009 11:23 pmAli and Eric, thanks for a great post and sharing your information. One thing new bloggers are grateful for is information that will move them forward. It seems like the higher people climb the more they forget where they started from. With both of you this is not the case. And I’m grateful.
Trackbacks
July 10th, 2009 11:37 am