2) Type of Content: Speaking of “depth involved” for more technical posts that require research, you’re going to want to charge more.

Recently, I did a series of blog posts on routers for one of my clients – a company that sells network hardware. This is a highly technical niche that, unless you work in the industry, you will have to research – even if the post is only 300 words (which can seem like 3,000 if you have to research to gain an understanding of it).

3) Word Count: Speaking of word count, blog posts generally range from 50-200 (considered short posts) on up to 350 words (250-350 words care considered longer posts). They’re shorter than the standard article, which tends to be between 450-600 words.

However, as noted just in Tip #2 just above, a 300-word post can take you a couple of hours to write – easily – if the subject matter is foreign to you. So, keep this in mind when you are setting rates.

The rate per word can mirror what you charge to write articles, or more. For example, I charge 5 cents/word for article writing. However, I charge more for blog posting. My rates are as follows:

You Provide the Topic: $20/per post. Up to 350 words. Posts longer than this revert to a per-word charge (6¢/word).

We Provide the Topic: $30/post. Up to 350 words. Posts longer than this are billed at 9¢/word.

Why is this? Because time is money. When I take on a project, I like to be assured of making a minimum amount of money, no matter how small the project is because I still have to schedule that project into my day. And, every hour of my time is worth a minimum amount. Understand?

Just to provide some measure of how widely rates differ, I found the following quote over on the Digital Point Forums: “My normal rates for blog posting are from 0.02 per word. However, I'm willing to negotiate (within reason).”

4) Flat Rate: Many clients like flat-rate fees because there’s no surprise. As evidenced by my fees listed above, I use a tiered flat-rate system (eg, $20 if they provide the topic, and $30 if I have to come up with it).

I charge like this because it’s much easier to write – for me – when I am assigned a topic. I don’t have to think about what to write and then go and research it.

I can get right down to the writing and/or research if I know exactly what my client wants me to write about (more evidence that writing is more cerebral than many think; it’s the thinking that’s the hard part).

There are many clients who will want you to contribute a number of posts to a certain blog per month and prefer that you quote a flat rate. For example, one of my client asked me how much I would charge to update a mortgage blog he had 5 days a week (250-300 words/post). That’s how I originally came up with my rates. So, in that case, it would have been $400/month.

I found this post on BloggingTips.com from a contributor who charges flat rates. Kris Larson from Carthage wrote: “I write a blog about a web service, where I write 25 longer posts a month (about 350 words each), and it does require some research. I get paid $125 a month.”

As blog posting is a relatively new type of new media job, it will probably take a few more years before we see concrete posting rates. On the other hand, this is freelance writing, and the industry has yet to have a “standard” rate scale for any type of writing.

But, we can all hope, no?

Sincerely,
Yuwanda Black, Publisher
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