Being paid to write! How much should I charge?

[Carla_Dawson]

Hi Everyone,

I just got my first offer to get paid to write for a small company in the USA! My question is; How much should I charge? The company asked me to define a "rate per word". I have been published in the following locations. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

• Moz - Main Blog - http://moz.com/blog/parallax-scrolling-websites-and-seo-a-collection-of-solutions-and-examples
• Moz - Youmoz - moz.com/ugc/website-design-wars-seo-agencies-vs-web-design-agencies-worldwide-trends
• Template Monster Blog - http://blog.templatemonster.com/2014/03/25/seo-as-a-part-of-web-design-process/
• InfoBAE (Spanish Newspaper - I have my own column) - http://blogs.infobae.com/seo-sem/

Thanks!

Carla

[Carla_Dawson]

Hi Egol,

Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a clear and informative answer. This is exactly what I was looking for. The company that made me the offer is not big and your comments regarding "who is paying me" are important. The ranges you posted are extremely helpful

Thanks

Carla

[EGOL]

Carla, I understand what you are saying.  It is hard to decide how much to charge.

I think that how much to charge is also determined in part by who is paying you.

You have probably seen lots of people here at Moz or on other forums looking to buy 500 word articles for $10.  They are simply looking for filler.

When I have hired writers they are usually paid about $500 for an article of about 2000 words.  That is not a standard rate, it is just what is agreed after discussion.

Some higher profile websites might pay a few thousand dollars for an article and include a travel budget with that.  Some of the original exclusive articles on a site like National Geographic might costs many thousands of dollars.

So, you can see some people buying filler for 2 cents per word, me buying expert content at 25 cents, and top content buyers paying over $1.00 per word.

Where does your topic level expertise and salary requirement best match the buyer's expectations?

People who write for me usually have a at least a bachelors degree in an industry-related field and experience as an industry professional.  Most have a reputation for being an expert for the topics that they write about and a lot of previously published work that I can look at to see if I might be happy with their product.  We talk about the article, what will be covered, what photos or art are needed (which will be done here or we pay them extra to provide).  Then I tell them what I can pay for it and they decide if they can do it for the price.

The amount that I can offer depends upon my perceived value of the content for pulling in search traffic, pulling in social traffic, and getting views from people already on the site.  The value of the advertising that might appear on that page is also considered.  It is a calculation of estimated pageviews multiplied by an ad rate.   I gotta make back the money that I pay them, pay for publishing costs here and still make a profit.

What the publisher is able to do with the content is a big factor in determining what they can pay - at least for editorial content for public consumption.

Rates and expectations are different for retail product descriptions, blog posts for low-traffic corporate sites and other types of writing.

[Carla_Dawson]

Hi Egol,

I appreciate your view on this issue especially since I know you are so active in the community. I would be writing as an expert on a site that is dedicated to my field. Unfortunately paying the bills is clouding my judgement and therefore I am actually considering the idea of being paid to write.

Thanks

Carla

[Carla_Dawson]

Hi

I totally agree with your ideas unfortunately I do not even know what the basic market price is. I wanted to start the thought process by knowing market value. Any ideas on a base price?

Thanks!

Carla

[EGOL]

I write a lot every day.  Have been doing that for a long time.

I write for sites that get lots of expert traffic where the visitors will immediately smell a noob author and complain about it.  Those articles need to be tightly worded and to do that you have to do a lot of research even if you already know a lot about the topic.

I also write for a hobbyist site where the demands are a lot less.   I can produce 1000 words for the hobbyist site in an afternoon and have one of the best articles for the subject.  But, on the site with the expert traffic I can spend several full days on an article of same length.

Writing for the hobbyist site does not require a lot of background education.  Writing for the site with the expert visitor can be a challenge for a person with a PhD and decades in the industry.

Just saying, I would not want to be paid by the word if I am writing certain types of content.

Good writing should not be purchased and sold like it is a commodity.

[Andy-Halliday]

My answer is simple - as much as you feel your time is worth.

Thing about things like:

• how much time am I going to have to spend to research
• how much work is involved
• Is this a one off / or continual (you  may wanna charge less for more work)

Give them a price you would be happy to work for and see what happens, if they say no either negotiate or find another client.

Sorry to say, but this is how more of a personal question on how much you think your time is worth / how much you need the additional income, there is not a correct answer.