Comments on: When should you start charging money for your blogging experience?

By: sirdorian (stylishkidsinriot.com)

sirdorian (stylishkidsinriot.com) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 01:01:27 +0000

i´m writing about an experience which I got a few months ago with a british retail company. they didn´t asked me to blog there, but they hired a girl to ask blogs for a job as an editor. so one day, she wrote me an e-mail and i really with a few examples of her writing style and i really liked it.

her first post at S.K.i.R was about the new collection of this retail company. it was ok, but it looked a bit like an advertorial. few days later, the second post came in. and it was about this company, again. after the third post, i started to get skeptic and asked her if she can write about other stuff.

no answer. a week later, she wrote about a designer collaboration for t-shirts and the retail company, so i didnt publish the posting and asked her about her relation to the company. she meant that there is no relation, and that she only like the stuff.

i started to research her name and found out that she work for a PR company, and the client was this company.

it was really dissappointing for me that they used S.K.i.R for their PR and didn´t pay a lousy cent. but it was even harder for me that he hired a PR who didn´t tell me that she is one, to post all the stories.

it´s the other side of the medal in the online world and i also think that its getting harder to monetize the blog these days. but i hope that this company stopped doing things like this.

By: ChicAlert

ChicAlert — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 08:50:05 +0000

I’ll be brief….I too have experienced this oh so many times. In fact I get daily pitches from PR firms who are obviously being paid for their time and effort to market their clients so I also expect to be paid for doing the same! While I do enjoy my work, I, like most, have costs associated with running my site and most of the income that it generates goes towards paying those costs.

Sally

By: jennifer

jennifer — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 03:48:15 +0000

Thanks for that Pearl, Yes I too would love to see a post on “what to charge”. For beginners like myself it would take out so much confusion.

At what point do you take into account the number of page hits? And should I ask for samples of the designers work? I am still averaging under 600 a month, but because people are coming to me, I figure they think I have a lot more hits than what I really do.

Sorry to flood the board with questions..Thanks all for your help.
jennifer´s last blog ..The Art of Travel by Louis Vuitton: “Chile, Behind the Scenes”

By: Pearl Westwood

Pearl Westwood — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:55:02 +0000

Might sound harsh but my motto is ‘whats in it for me?’. Of course writing a guest post for a friend is totally different. But for company / product reviews, ads etc you should definately charge.
To Jennifer above, I would ask at least $90 – around £50 as standard, dont sell yourself short. This is another topic I would love to discuss, how much to charge! I point blank refuse any pay per click ads as having a huge ad on my blog makes a big impact on it, so only gaining a few pounds if someone goes through and makes a purchase just isnt enough for me. I have experience with magazine and google ads so I know these cost A LOT! I would rather say no that sell myself short. When you think a tiny 1″x1″ ad in Marie Claire etc can cost £1000 you get more of a perspective. Basically what is your blog worth to you?
Totally agree with LLG above! I will only review products if they agree that my feedback is unedited!
That said I have had some lovely things occur from things I have blogged about just off my own back not expecting things in return. I guess this weedles out the good, bad and the ugly
Pearl Westwood´s last blog ..GIVEAWAY: Win a vintage dress

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:00:21 +0000

Sorry, the link to my blog was incorrect in the previous post.

Thanks so much for this. I really enjoyed reading everyone’s comments. I just started blogging in Aug 09 and I was recently approached by a PR agency asking me to write about a new designer they have. They would like me to to interview the designer and write a feature story on her.

Of course I would like to turn my blog into a business and source of revenue but as someone who is still under 1,000 hits per month, would it be wrong to charge a small fee for my time? I was thinking around $15. Of course I want the exposure, but I also maintain a busy schedule with work and a masters program so my time really is limited. I have asked a few people who said to charge but also some who said don’t charge so I’m VERY confused and would live the feedback of the community.

Have did you all handle a situation like this?

Thanks everyone!
Jennifer´s last blog ..The Art of Travel by Louis Vuitton: "Chile, Behind the Scenes"

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:58:30 +0000

Have did you all handle a situation like this?

Thanks everyone!

By: Miami Olivia

Miami Olivia — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:53:41 +0000

Since this is such hot issue, maybe a forum should be made up and all independent fashion bloggers get together for. Maybe we should choose a panel of bloggers, large companies that use us, editors and fashion designers to hammer out what should “accepted protocol” should be for bloggers. As this is not defined in the business world, we have the opportunity to define it with all interested stakeholders. When trying to come up with what “fair” is, maybe a little more info would help pave the way for what actually IS FAIR to us all.
Miami Olivia´s last blog ..The Edge of Ruffles – A New Valentino

By: Liz

Liz — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:25:58 +0000

Wow this has helped me so much! All the comments are wonderful too. I am coming to a crossroads with this right now-I have banner ads but I would like to remove them somehow…and finally accepting that my time is valuable. Thank you for this!
Liz´s last blog ..Spring Forward.

By: Monica

Monica — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:33:51 +0000

Excellent post Jennine! You’ve expressed exactly what I’ve been thinking for awhile. Although I started my blog as a hobby it takes up more of my time than my full-time job, which I’m happy with my blog because I love it. Recently I’ve been approached by “corporate” to post & I’d rather concentrate my free-time to my blog than “work for free” generating income for corporate. Is my time not valuable too?
Thanks for posting this!
Monica´s last blog ..F is for Fail {beauty report}

By: Lollie Shopping

Lollie Shopping — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:40:14 +0000

Another great article, Jennine. Thank you. I really hope online retailers and other corporations who lust after free blogging services happen upon your post. And I have a few words those people: You get what you pay for.

Pay a blogger for services, and you receive relevant, timely content posted on a dependable and consistent basis. Con a blogger into writing for free, and after three months or so, you’ll have a blogger who flakes out on you. And why shouldn’t he/she? When a company pays a blogger, they’re not just paying for good writing. They’re also paying for a professional, reliable service. And that never comes for free.