During our Content Creation Workshop with Jeff Herring, I made the comment that any blog post I write is worth a minimum of $250. That deserves a little explanation.
$250 is my rate to write a featured editorial, also known as a sponsored blog post, across any of my blogs.
Why? Because I earn at least that much on my own posts.
It was only very recently that I tested selling advertising of any kind - on any of my sites & blogs. As an affiliate marketer, I've always valued the space far more for myself than the rates most advertisers were willing to pay. That said, I enjoy testing a variety of methods to monetize my blogs, and ad sales was one I had not yet tested.
The main point I want to discuss today though, is the value of your content. Do you have a specific dollar amount that you would place on each article or blog post that you write? My "$250" is a bare minimum, and I'll explain why...
How To Make Money Writing Content
Obviously you can make money writing content for other people, as a service.
And you can make money writing sponsored blog posts or paid features.
But how does your own content make money? And how can you increase the value of your content, so that every article or blog post earns you even more money?
Simple!
You include a "Call-to-Action" in every single post.
Basically, that means you give your reader the "next best click." You should know what your call-to-action will be before you ever start writing the content.
It's called having an Objective. 😉 Without a clear objective, it's really hit or miss.
Call-to-Action Examples
This post on my low carb blog is not a "product review" but rather a conversational post about a product: Zumba Workout DVD. I talk about my decision to purchase it, where I ordered it, and invited them to check it out on Amazon and join in as well.
Here's a similar post about Discount Restaurant Gift Certificates Online, which is conversational - but has a very clear call to action: "Click here to browse around the site and see which Restaurants are listed near you."
Another example, from here at ClickNewz, is a post where I am promoting my own product: How to Choose a Domain Name. In addition to selling a product, with a very clear objective and call-to-action, you'll notice a text link in the third paragraph. I charge $150 for that type of contextual advertising.
The Long Term Value of Content
The great thing about web content is that you write it once, and it continues to work for you... forever! It doesn't matter if it takes you 30 minutes or three hours to write an article or a blog post. Once it's done, it's done!
To give you another example, my post about Online Jobs: Work From Home ranks very well for that term (which is a searched keyword phrase). I wrote that post over a year ago, yet it ranks in the Top 3 at Google for "online jobs work from home" on my end (yes, logged OUT of Google).
In addition to top rankings that continue to bring in traffic and sales over and over again - for YEARS even! - there are ways to repurpose your content.
You can change it to a different format (audio, PDF, video, etc) to reach even more people. You can turn a series of articles or posts into an e-course to build a targeted mailing list. You can combine related posts and articles into a Kindle book or short report that you can sell online. There are lots of possibilities!
After You Write Web Content...
What do you do after you publish a new article or blog post? Perhaps you share it via social media, and it goes out to your Feed subscribers and email list. But what else?
Don't just sling it out there and then move on to the next piece of content, never giving the already-published content a second thought! 😉
Put your best posts in your blog's sidebar as "Featured Topics," or better yet put your best review posts in the sidebar under "Featured Reviews" or "Featured Products."
Refer back to archived blog posts contextually in new posts you write - which you can see I've done in THIS post. This gives those important posts on your blog more internal links and more weight, as well as more exposure to your readers.
Get external links to your best archived posts, too! The two easiest ways to do this are Guest Blogging and Article Marketing. The more internal and external links you have pointing to those archives, the better (and longer!) they will rank well in the major search engines. 😀
You can also repurpose your archived posts into free downloads, rewrite them a bit and use them for Article Marketing, or group related posts together like I mentioned above and publish them as an ebook or on Kindle.
The Value of YOUR Content
If you're just starting out with a blog, or with content marketing for your website, the value of your content may seem very low at the moment. That's okay! Building a strong online business takes a substantial investment of time and energy.
I've been blogging for eight full years now, so when I throw out the number $250 - it's definitely on the low end. Especially considering the long-term revenue, which will continue to come in for... infinity? LOL, who knows!
Just keep in mind that content is VERY valuable, and once you publish that content it will remain online and continue working for you for years to come.
On that note, let me ask you a question...
Would you invest 30 minutes of your time for $300? What about three hours for $300? (I would! All day every day!) And keep in mind that $300 is a guaranteed bare minimum, and your time investment may just have a $3,000 return! But would you still invest the time just for the minimum? Of course!
That minimum return may come all at once on more established blogs, or it may be spread out over a year or two on less established blogs.
And of course there are things you can do (um, known as "marketing") to see your ROI faster - or to increase it dramatically.
Let's say you do have a blog post in your archives that is consistently making $300/year. It's a post you published a year ago or more, and you haven't even so much as looked at it since. Should you just let it hum along consistently earning it's minimum every year? You could. Or you could revisit that post and determine how you could increase the traffic and conversions, and multiply that revenue. 😀
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I hope this discussion has inspired you, or given you some things to consider when it comes to marketing and monetizing your content.
Leave a comment below - I would love to hear your thoughts!
Best,
p.s. Did you know that you can get an article or blog post written for you for as little as $3.00 through Jiffy Articles? They also have thousands of Content Templates that make content writing a breeze!
See article writing and blog content for screenshots and examples.
About Lynn Terry
Didn't know that you can ear $250 per blog post, wow! I am now motivated to blog more on my site, even though there's small traffic at the moment. Hopefully I'll be able to have the skill to earn just like you, thanks a lot Lynn!
All it takes to grow your blog is being consistent with content, marketing and engagement. ANYone can do it! 😉
250$ is really amazing! Strarting blogging now too 🙂
As Lynn said in the post, $250 is actually on the low end. 🙂
She could be charging a lot more. If she wanted to.
And so can you. 😉
Great post Lynn, and a great reminder for bloggers. For awhile I looked into the websites that allow you to sell content or make money off of it. Yet it's rarely worth the time and effort to write for someone else. Sometimes it might be hard to figure your ROI if your blog postings are all related to your product line, but the more you post the better the ROI will be. I think of it this way - everything I post is somehow related to my business. It may be something designed to be viral, with the intentions of gaining followers on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest (which, in turn, brings in sales when product links are posted), or it might be information directly related to my industry where I can weave in my products or links. Either way, if you are always working towards a goal, content you write will always be worth more than if you sell it to someone else. 🙂
That's so true, Kara! Having an objective is the key, of course - whether that be engagement, list building, or conversions - as you said.
Very impressive. More proof that you can use your head to improve your situation.
Have you noticed a big difference in your content integrated ads versus banners? In terms of value/performance?
I'm testing them all at the moment, including various placement and sizes. Images definitely get more attention than text links, whether that's affiliate product images or image ads...
Hey Lynn... GREAT post! Very motivating! You do an excellent job of describing/detailing all the steps to get from point A to point B, and you invariably have at least one previous blog post on each individual step. With this kind of information that you provide I feel like I'm getting a fail-proof plan for success online. Clicknewz.com is a goldmine to me. Thank you so much!
Thank you, Chris! 😀
If you have any questions at all, just let me know!
HI, Lynn,
I've been doing this type of marketing for a short while now, making each post monetized in some way. But, as a freelance writer it's a bit disturbing when marketers promote buying articles for $3 - $5 dollars a pop. I realize those monetizing their blogs need ongoing posts and probably prefer getting them cheap, but it's a not a good thing for writers like me.
How good is the quality of a $3 article? If you say great, it'll be disappointing. 🙂
I wish there was a solution for this.
When I purchase inexpensive article writing services, I expect to do editing - and add my own voice. But it's very helpful in the task of content creation. Some articles I've purchased for around $10 were great as-is, but they were specific "resource lists" and things like that.
I also use ghostwriters and freelance writers from time to time, on bigger projects, and expect to pay more for those of course.
Interesting. Is it the case that not every single post will earn you money? Does the bulk of blogging earnings come from linking to an offer within the post?
It would be more accurate to say that not every blog post earns money *directly*. Some are meant for engagement, social media shares & links (link bait), list building, leading into something (anticipation), etc. But ultimately yes, they all work toward the monetization goal. Or should, if you're blogging with a clear objective. 🙂
To put it another way, some posts make you money right away. Others bring make you money in the long-term. 🙂
Hello Lynn! Your blog is really a wealth of information. I really enjoy reading it. I am trying to work on my call to action. I don't know if that is the problem or I just need to get more traffic to my blog.
If you're not earning what you want to be earning (yet), it is one of two things: traffic or conversions. Figure that out, and work on it. That's all there is to it! 😉
Tip: you can't just guess which one it is, you'll want to analyze your stats.
Great article, Lynn! Call to action is very important because, from what I've learned, people want to be told what to do - so to speak. My question for you is: are graphics, such as what I use saying "buy at Amazon" as effective as written, as you provided in your examples? I've not really seen any difference but I admit I never dedicated enough time to really know. I'd really be interested in hearing your opinion.
Hi Kim 😀
You're right. And it's actually RUDE not to give your readers "the next best click." Imagine reading a great article that tells you all the how-to, and then just leaves you hanging on how to implement it (which tools, where to get them, etc). Like I said, RUDE. 😛
Every market responds differently so it's important to track, test & tweak in your niche and on your blog. Graphics pull the eye, so they work exceptionally well with the right placement. On that, see: http://www.clicknewz.com/3291/heat-map-and-color-psychology/
*cheers*
Hmm, never thought of it as rude. Definitely want to mind my manners! 🙂
I've tried to make a determination with Google Analytic but I can't make heads or tails of a lot of that info.
Thanks for the info on color psychology. I think I'm going to give that a try. 🙂
I use awStats which is in the cPanel with most web hosts. Very simple, easy to understand, stats. 🙂 I like simple. lol.
Great blog this thanks Lynn.
On the subject of stats if you don't like Google Analytics or AWstats - there's a great little stats program called statcounter which is very powerful and easy to use. It's free to use (although you can upgrade it) - you can install it as a wordpress plug in. It's really worth a look,
Anyway enjoyed the read - Neil
When I firstly open this post I see "any blog post I write is worth of minimum 250$". I really like it after this I thought I must read all the article. Then I read all your post and open your web links they are also awesome. After reading this post I have desire to become an article writer. Thanks for sharing good stuff here.
I have to admit I charge a lot less than you, but I charge nicely per article most of the time, though there are a few people I charge a lot less to because they were good to me when I first started writing for money. What I find is that people in general don't know how to value services and that's problematic when trying to advertise them. Heck, even I have an initial kneejerk reaction when I take my car to the shop & they say it's $95 for an evaluation, and yet I know how much I need my car.
Still, I evaluate my rates every year for all the things I do, and sometimes I wonder if my rates hold me back as far as not being as active as I could be. Then I ask myself "what do you need to live on" and that thought goes out the window.
seriously very helpful article this is! Definitely going to implement all these techniques on my blog.
I found this a very enlightening post. I have been reading quite a lot lately on content and this one ranks among the top. Thanks for the tips.
Working online whatever it is like any other conventional offline jobs. It needs hardworks and serious efforts to do it. Writing content on a blog may give us money if we do it professionally. We must focus on our niche if we want to be a professional. Thank you for sharing this nice posting.
Hi Lynn
This is a very engaging post with an angle I have overlooked .I have avoided advertising on my blog as I am of the same opinion that the space is more valuable and the loss of visitors to competition out ways the gain .
However, if the value is greater than the value of the time I would have to agree with your
train of thought and give full respect to you .
Thank you for this excellent post
I look forward to returning for much more of your content.
many thanks
regards
Frank
There has been lots of conversations concerning content marketing, re-branding, and affiliate marketing. We can call it what we like but in the end we are selling something and hoping to make a few bucks along the way. Thanks Lynn for keeping the tips fresh and flowing.
Every time I read another post; I get something to make me think twice....the only thing about content is that we do all have a different voice with a different method of thought.
Thanks for the post.
"The great thing about web content is that you write it once, and it continues to work for you... forever!"
Definitely. I think considering the long-term when you publish posts is paramount.
External links, internal links to create synergy, etc.
Often bloggers create posts as one-offs. Or sometimes with only the short-term in mind.
But thinking a bit about how to tie in your posts so they support each other and push each other forward for the long-term can help a lot.
Especially considering that they're going to be working for you ... forever.