I figured I would do a blog post on this subject because I have been asked this question three times in the past week by three different people. Before I go into my answer, I thought I would break down what a guest post is and the positive things that can come about when you guest blog on someone else’s site, or they guest blog on yours. Then I will get into the nuts and bolts of the question and give my honest assessment.
A guest blog post is when you write a blog post of original material on someone else’s blog. Simply put, you are working as a guest author for a site and bringing your voice and originality to its readers. A guest blog is a great thing because it allows you to expand your audience to another blog (and therefore gain some readers who will follow you back to your blog) and it shows that you have the capability of becoming an “expert” or “source” in a particular field or genre.
The advantages of having someone guest blog on your blog are tenfold—if you are in need of material, a guest blog post is perfect to fill in the gaps. Again, just as the person guest blogging may gain new readers, you may also get increased traffic from the guest blogger’s audience when the link to your blog is shared with their readers.
A guest blog post is usually a win/win for both parties.
Now to get to the answer, let me first say this. There is a big difference between a guest blog post and being a contributor for another site or blog. Guest posts often do not include payment. It is done because the rewards are plentiful for both parties, so payment is usually a moot point. I have had several guest posts from guest bloggers on The Cubicle Chick and I have never paid them. They usually write a guest post on my site and then I will turn around and do a guest post on their sites, or vice versa.
When you contribute to a blog (which is different from a being a “guest blogger”), then payment is usually standard. I freelance or contribute to several blogs and sites online and I get paid for my services as a contributor or author on the site. This is usually done when you contribute or write more than one piece for a blog or website.
Payment for a contributor may vary—there is no stock answer as to “how much should I charge for a post?”. There is a lot that goes into it—your influence, the popularity of your blog or your writing, the clarity in which you write (i.e is it grammatically correct and free of spelling errors and well edited), the experience of your writing (i.e. have you written for other sites and the frequency in which you do so), and of course the quality of the pieces you produce. When I first started contributing, I got paid as low as $15 per original blog piece or article. Of course that amount has changed considerably, but at the beginning, I was trying to get my weight up (with the body of work I had on other sites), so $15 was okay for me.
You have do ask what you feel your work is worth.
Are there bloggers who pay other bloggers to guest post (meaning contribute a singular post)—probably. But in my opinion, I would not pay for a guest blog on my site, especially when I am returning the favor. However, if a site is looking for a regular contributor, then yes, payment should be made.
I have had several contributors to my site that have been paid based on the amounts of posts written. Since they were contributors, I felt their time should be compensated.
So, in review, the answer to the question at hand is nothing (but if they insist on paying you, then go for it). However, if you are asked to be a contributor of a site, you should be paid. Make sure you know your worth!
I’ve been doing a lot of guest posting lately and was quite surprised to get paid for one of them! So, paid guest posting does exist, but yes, it is rare.
Great post though! Thanks!
Thanks for commenting, Danielle. It’s awesome that you were paid for a guest blog opportunity. If they need more guest posters and they want to pay, please give them my name. LOL!
Thanks for explaining, Danielle! I’ve always thought it would be a lot of fun to do a guest blog post and now it seems even more like a great idea and way to expand!! I’m gonna have to explore more–;-)
Emily, guest posting is a great way to expand your reach. If you ever want to guest post on my site (and I could return he favor), please let me know 🙂
One of the things I’ve been looking into lately is guest posting contests. There is a new site where you can find contests called BloggersCompete.com – there’s a contest on there now with a smallish $75 prize but it was easy.
And JobMob has a contest going right now (still taking submissions) with great prizes (including cash).
The contests are pretty cool.
Here is the site that pays: http://theblueinkwell.com/write-for-us/ – it isn’t a huge amount and she only takes a couple a month but not bad for something you are doing anyways!
Danielle, thanks for the post. The travel industry seems to be guilty of this particular sin at the moment – I’ve been approached by several large travel companies recently and asked to guestblog, but not been offered any monetary compensation in return.
For my hours of work researching and polishing the perfect post I get a little extra exposure, while they use my material as a marketing tool to sell more holidays to that destination. If they’re making a profit out of my work, I expect to benefit too – it’s only fair. Anyone who guestblogs for free in that situation is selling us all short…
Found your blog googling the subject of text links in guest posts.
I have been approached quite a few times regarding two of my other blogs regarding guest posting with paid text links. both have quite high page ranks. I have been hesitant to accept any offers because I don’t want to lose my page rank. One offered me $40.00 to guest post with 2 text links. I told them as long as they were relevant to my blog and well written, I would go for it.
Someone jsut approached me about my other site, which has more traffic and a higher page rank. She asked about guest posting but did not mention any money. I told her that if she was blogging for more exposure, no text link ads, and it was relevant and well written, I would consider it. But if she was getting paid, then I would want a cut. Turns out she does work for a company and they are willing to pay. I was googling trying to figure out how much I should charge.
Anyway.. best wishes,
Hello, I ran across this excellent article on Google…but, I have a situation. I am considered an expert on VPN’s Usenet, and networking security on quite a few article directories that I have been submitting to and have recently been approached by a client whose website was hit hard by the last Google update. He want’s me to guest blog for him. My question is 2 parts…
A) How much should I charge him? I have a set price for the article directory posts I publish for him, and a set price for the site posts. But guest blogging is a “Whole nuther world.” and
B) The client wishes to use a pseudonym. I’m not sure, but the name may not be rated by the article directories. Would this be an obstacle for us to overcome?
I want to give this customer my best, at a decent price for both of us…he’s been with me for a long time. I’ll wait patiently for your answer…
Victor, I say this. Decide how much you want to make per hour for this project and then decide how long it will take you to write each article. If it will take 2 hours and you want to be paid $30 per hour, then the rate would be $60 per blog post.
As far as your pseudonym question, this would be called “ghost blogging” and that is very lucrative. You can still list it on your body of work, unless the contract specifies you can’t. And if that is an issue, you may be able to charge more, since you won’t be properly credited. I hope this answers your questions.
Thank you, yes it does help. The whole question of using the Ghosts had to do with credibility, and I found out later that the “Ghost” writer has some limited credibility. One thing you didn’t approach in this article, (as good as it is.) Many places that accept guest bloggers desire the writer to have at least some measure of credibility in the field/area being written on…