Many people blog as a hobby. Blogging can be therapeutic, a great way to stay in touch with friends, great way to keep your memories organized, and a great way to connect with like-minded people on the Internet. For this reason, many try to make money online through blogging. There are three ways to make money as a blogger:
1. Work as a blogger for a company. The company will pay you to contribute articles to blogs across the Internet. All you need to do is incorporate a link back to the company for SEO purposes.
2. Do freelance writing/blogging. Many websites will offer payment for quality content.
3. Own and manage your own blog. By owning and managing your own blog you are setting yourself up for a platform for advertisers. However, this takes a great deal of time, money, and work to create a profitable blog.
Now starting a business and creating a profitable blog is a long and sometimes frustrating process. In other words, most bloggers begin their careers as one of those first two options. I am one of the lucky bloggers because I blog for a company who pays me full-time. No matter how many articles I get placed and no matter where they get placed, I know I’m getting paid. Unfortunately, most bloggers aren’t quite so lucky and they have to jump from blog to blog to try and find websites that will pay for content.
However, I can’t help but notice that more and more blogs are beginning to offer links back to a website as opposed to payment. There are, of course, many blogs that still pay for quality content, but slowly more and more are moving away from this idea. This led me to wonder: Is it a good idea to offer content to a blog who doesn’t offer payment?
Top 3 Things to Consider before You Blog for Exposure
This has actually been a huge controversy for quite some time. Many websites and blogs used to make promises to writers about payment and never follow through, so many writers have spoken out about how wrong it is to not pay a writer for great content. I have to say, regardless of the fact that I am a writer, I couldn’t agree more with these arguments.
However, now that many businesses are catching onto the fact that they can get great content for nothing but a link in exchange, finding places to publish your content is becoming increasingly difficult. Even if you do find a website that will pay for your content, you need something to show for it. For this reason, many bloggers are working simply to gain exposure in the hopes of landing a job with a company or build a portfolio. There are a few things I would keep in mind if you’re going to blog to gain exposure:
1. Metrics – If you’re going to blog for exposure, you want to make sure it is for a site that will really deliver. In other words, check the Google PageRank of the site, the social media efforts of the site, and ask the editor questions. See how many unique visitors the site gains per month and ask them what they will do to promote your article and help it rank well on a Google search engine page.
2. Time Limit – You should definitely stop yourself from blogging for free after a certain amount of time. Tell yourself that you will try it for one month, and then if you don’t see any paid opportunities popping up then quite blogging for free. If you really are gaining good exposure then keep it up, but don’t continually extend the time you’re going to “give blogging for free a try.”
3. Savings – It may sound obvious, but you will want to really analyze your finances before singing up to blog for free. Although exposure may lead to a paying job, you must be able to afford getting there.
In general, I would say that I find more authoritative blogs who do not pay for content as opposed to those that do pay for content. I would also say that I have gained a ton of exposure through blogging and it absolutely has opened the door to many well-paying writing gigs. Nonetheless, it took me a long time to gain this exposure. I would not have been able to get to where I am today by blogging for free. It would have been impossible for me to live five months without getting paid.
My advice: blog for free only occasionally. Do not make it a habit. Your writing and your time is valuable, and it deserves compensation. In most cases, no one would ask any other profession to work for free; writers should not accept this kind of treatment unless they know they are getting something (great exposure) out of it.
Do you ever blog for free? Has your experience been positive or negative?
Photo Credit: anatomyofadinnerparty.com
Amanda DiSilvestro is a writer on topics ranging from social media to credit card processing. She writes for an online resource that gives advice on topics including 401k limits to small businesses and entrepreneurs for the leading business directory, Business.com.
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Thanks so much for reading! Blogging as a hobby is a great way to keep your thoughts organized and really think about certain issues. I know I have always enjoyed it and will probably have a blog for many years to come.
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That’s a good point! I guess some also make blog to express themselves and communicate with people they would never be in touch otherwise!
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Yes definitely. I think that’s the best part about blogging :)
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wilson , nc – alla fine di una strada sterrata , dietro alcuni alberi di grandi dimensioni , penne diverse casa 38 cani, per lo più walker segugi . alcuni appaiono estremamente sottile . \”questa è la negligenza e l’abuso nel senso peggiore \”, ha detto sandy norris , un volontario con la wilson humane society.when norris ha visto i cani che lei chiamava delegati dello sceriffo . norris ha detto che la maggior parte dei cani morivano di fame , con tutto il loro cibo e ciotole d’acqua vuote . \” si nota ossa dell’anca sporgenti \”, ha detto norris . \” questo è un segno di grave malnutrizione . \” deputati chiamati a wilson county animal control di indagare , il cui parere sulla cura del cane è diverso da norris ‘ . \”c’è un problema di salute , ma non borderline una carica crudeltà \”, ha detto animal direttore controllo carl utley.utley ha detto che ha identificato quattro cani che sembravano essere in cattive condizioni di salute e ha preso quei cani ad un veterinario locale . \” la maggior parte degli altri cani erano soddisfacenti , erano buoni e sani \”, ha said.investigators identificato il proprietario come michael godwin . il figlio dice che è stato Bandage Dresses alimentando i cani ogni giorno, perché suo padre era malato , e mi ha detto di non aver mai notato alcun funzionario della società problems.humane hanno detto che credono il problema è molto peggio di quattro cani denutriti , e vogliono un veterinario per esaminare tutte le cani . \”penso di controllo degli animali non ha risposto a questo modo appropriato , \” norris said.norris detto gli ufficiali di controllo degli animali sapevano della situazione alcuni giorni fa. utley ammesso wral che hanno ottenuto una denuncia circa gli stessi cani un mese fa . \” non abbiamo visto alcun segno di crudeltà quando siamo andati lì il mese scorso , \” utley lati said.both intenzione di seguire da vicino i cani . ufficiali di controllo scarpenikedonna degli animali dicono di non Moncler Jacken avere alcuna intenzione di confiscare qualsiasi figlio del proprietario dogs.the detto godwin ha allevato e venduto i cani per più di 20 anni , ma ha aggiunto che il padre ha intenzione di uscire dal business e vendere di tutto il dogs.reporter : mike charbonneauweb editor : dana franchi preseason allacc team ha annunciato , matt ryan named presea raleigh igiene dicono i lavoratori settlement insufficiente esposito sottolinea campagna di base per il 2008