Throughout high school (secondary school), I was crazy about a singer named Amanda Palmer. She is super quirky, a bit moody, amazingly talented and now married to famous writer Neil Gaiman.
I went to her small shows in Boston before she hit it big and always loved her energy. No matter if it was just her on piano and 10 weirdoes clad in black clothing or a sold out venue of thousands, she always shows love for her fans in a truly personal way.
When she grew more popular, she was a pioneering voice behind the music industry on how artists could find new ways to make a living. I’m not talking about Taylor Swift or One Direction – I’m talking about the middle or small guys who are creative, willing to work hard and want to do what they love.
So she did something radical at the time. She crowdfunded an entire studio album. In a month or so Palmer raised more than 1.2 million USD to put her music together, promising people CDs, digital downloads and even house parties in return.
Anyways, what does this have to do with blogging?
Sure, I’d love to slap a “Please Pay Me for My Content” button up on my blog’s front page, but as a writer I have to be much cleverer than that. And also, I rather ask my potential clients and sponsors to back my outlets so my audience can continue to enjoy content for free. But Palmer’s idea of not being ashamed to ask for compensation and help to earn her wage I find fascinating and admirable. I’ve tried to take her mind-set and apply it to my own career.
Some of the biggest questions I see over and over again from bloggers is: What should I be asking for? How much should I charge? Should I do XYZ for free? Is paid content OK? Aren’t I just lucky anyone reads my dribble at all?
There’s three things here before we discuss any of the other variables. One, if you just love the heck out of blogging and it’s an outlet for you to write and have fun, go for it! That’s fantastic. If you like just a couple free perks here and there if they happen to come to you, that’s great too. Enjoy them!
But if you’re like me and you want to make a good chunk of side money or make a living out of your blogs, then let’s keep going and answer some of these questions.
I’m going to tell you something flat out right off the bat. Asking other bloggers what YOUR work is worth is not the best place to start. I have had clients I help find bloggers for sponsored content. When everyone fills out the inquiry forms, rates swing WILDLY. Some charge way too little, some way too much. But clearly everyone’s in the same boat. No one really knows what to charge. As someone on the client side though, I tend to ask those who valued their content the highest, negotiate them down to a reasonable rate and go from there. I want to work with go-getters who will deliver the good stuff.
What you need to do is value your time and effort, just like any other job in the world. Of course blogging is fun and can be a passion, but you need to take yourself seriously. It’s been really, really tough to say no to a few free backpacks or bottles of wine sometimes, but I know the opportunity isn’t ideal for me and my message. Others will come along and I will avoid working with potentially crappy brands who nag for a post 12 hours after I’ve received their trinket in the mail.
Or, if I do really want that backpack, why not ask for more? The worst they can say is no. I might say the bag sounds great, but what about a small Twitter campaign to really show my readers how much I love your brand? How about a two-part series where I dig deep into the backpack’s features and maybe create a video? Do you have a budget for offering me the sample as well as a fee for these additional services?
You’d be shocked at how many brands will agree to this extra exposure and throw you some cash.
It was tough for me personally to drop my traditional journalism hat and turn blogger/marketer. But it’s the way I find approaching brands that works the best when I want them to partner with my blog. And the only way brands will understand bloggers worth is through education (presenting myself as a marketing tool) as well as asking for competitive rates for my time consuming work. The only way brands who just offer items will know that bloggers should be paid is if you ASK THEM to pay you.
And if you over ask and they refuse, that’s OK! Either walk away, or ask them again what their maximum budget is. In sales and marketing your blogging expertise, no doesn’t always mean a definite no.
These tactics will not only benefit you but will elevate ALL bloggers, even the hobbyists, so brands won’t feel they can take advantage of us as a whole with silly ‘free’ content and worthless items where we have to pay shipping on something retailed at a couple quid.
And I KNOW you all hate those, I see it every day in the Facebook group. I hate it too.
I’m not saying either if you have 100 views a month it’s time to start demanding the big bucks from big brands. But if you present yourself as friendly, professional AND follow through in a timely manner with your deliverables, it’s never too early to start asking for what you want.
What do you think? Do you struggle with the art of asking? What do you fear as a blogger? What has been your biggest ‘asking’ win?
Thanks for the great tips. I think we are slowly learning how to ask for what we want 🙂
Thanks Robin! PS, I’m a fellow masshole 🙂
I love this article. I live my entire blogging life by the mantra “It never hurts to ask”.
So true. I was so awkward and weird at first, but you have to stick your neck out as a blogger if you want to get what you want. And it doesn’t hurt, everything will be fine! The good thing about blogging is opportunities will keep coming if you keep at it 🙂
Took me a long time to figure out what I am worth. Now that I know I do not except anything else from anybody else.
That’s awesome Jeanette, keep fighting the good fight! We can only go up from here and elevate each other!
This is a lot of great info. It never hurts to ask for what you want. We’re all worth it!
I get a little annoyed at bloggers who consistently work for free because it isn’t helpful to those of us who use it as an income. Why pay when they can get some other person to do it for free?
I totally agree with you. We try to set our prices and the advertisers will come and say, so and so accepts this and that. That’s really annoying.
Professionalism and self confidence are the key. If we pitch ourselves, we must do it in a manner that is friendly and yet firm. Thanks for this informative article. It is an eye opener for seasoned bloggers and newbies as well.
You definitely don’t want to overwork yourself for scraps. It’s hard to enjoy your work when you do that!
This is such a great article! So often we are asking what we can do for everyone else. It is also important to ask for what you want. Thanks for the inspiration to get more!
It is not a bad thing to ask for compensation, but do it in a nice manner. For the fees, you can usually gauge if the client can pay you much. Most clients love to haggle, so be firm when you think you should be paid more.
I don’t struggle when it comes to asking at all. I want them to know that what we do is not easy and we definitely have to get paid for our effort and time.
That’s fantastic. And there’s nothing to feel bad about either! Businesses with budgets who value bloggers are ready to pay, so why not get on board?
As a newer blogger, I have a hard time as for money. Don’t get tons of offers right now. I have several product reviews for products but no money. I am trying to be more confident asking for pay. Thank you for advice.
Don’t feel bad about it at all! Your blog can be fun and a hobby or new, but the companies don’t view you as a hobby. You’re a potential money maker or marketing tool for them. So talk with your readers about your fun stuff and treat brands as businesses!
Thanks for this. So many bloggers undervalue their work, and then brands can undervalue us as well. We could all learn from this.
Yes – it’s not brands fault soley, we all need to step up our game if we want to blog above it just being fun. Thanks for your comment!
Great info for bloggers. Value our time and hard work 🙂 Never hurt to ask
Thanks!!
Great tips!
When I worked on my blog full time I received a number of requests from SEO companies for sponsored posts. They would ask my rates and sometimes say yes, sometimes they would negotiate and sometimes they would walk away. But because I was part of a community of similar bloggers I knew what these companies were paying and so I didn’t hesitate to ask for a good fee. I figured if they said no, I really hadn’t lost anytime working on anything for them anyways, and the ones that said yes, made up for the ones that said no.
Exactly. I’m STILL working on saying no often to little opportunities I know will be a pain, it can be tough for a lot of bloggers. But if you’re really in it for the fun it shouldn’t matter that you say no, and if you’re in it for income…then you have to treat blogging as a smart business!
That’s a great strategy to turn it into a win/win for both parties. Sometimes I don’t even try to counter their offer and I should more.
I always do just in case, the e-mail takes a minute or two. I’ve won several contracts a little lower then I’d like, but with some big brands that offered ongoing work. Good Luck!
Great tips. My husband always says “closed mouths don’t get fed”. You have to ask for what you want.
It’s true! And Asking for votes or people to comment or things like that can be a bit cheeky (or awkward) sometimes, but asking brands and businesses should be a given – you’ve earned it!
These are all great tips on valuing yourself as a blogger. I think we, as bloggers, are in a weird situation when it comes to being paid for our work. Most companies want us to advertise for free!!
Were still pioneers, there’s no guidebook. But that doesn’t mean we’re not providing value. Sometimes there’s more eyeballs on our blogs than on print publications, we should be valued as that!
Sometime I have a hard time saying what I want but this year have learned to say what I expect and want and so far it’s working.
Good for you, keep it up!
This is a useful post. The digital content marketing is steadily growing and this is a timely post. I tend to send a brand my rates. I tend to aim high so that there is room for negotiations, in case, the brand can’t afford my services. This has worked well for me for the most part.
It’s definitely an exciting time. I look forward to a bit of regulation maybe in the future, but for now bloggers should take advantage of the wild west and aim high!
Some great tips here. I am looking to develop more this year which means I need to start making a bit of money from what I’m doing. I feel very awkward asking though, so will try your tips. I genuinely enjoy trying out “stuff” and don’t mind doing it for free in reality, but I need to man up and start asking so I can move onwards and upwards.
Don’t feel awkward, you deserve compensation for your hard work if brand want to use your hard earned audience to attract sales. Keep it professional and clean, you’ll do great! Good luck!
These are excellent tips! Blogging can be tough and draining at times and these are excellent ways of building for sure!
I am always nervous to counter their offer. I hate the idea of losing the opp or chance all together. In fact I hired an agent to do it for me!
Such a great resource for bloggers. I think you always need to make sure to ask for what you work, so people know that you have spent time on it & that your efforts must be paid back as well.
These are great tips. When I first started I was very nervous of asking but now I have built up more courage and realized that all they can do is say no. Because of that and realizing the value we have as bloggers, I have grown my confidence enough to say yes or no and be a little more choosy
These are some great tips!!! It’s hard at first to ask for what we want. It’s strange to know we as Niger have that kind of power with brands.
It too me awhile to realize the value of my blog. Once you have your audience down it’s important to start valuing yourself.
It is very important to know your worth and not work for free too! These are very helpful tips for bloggers!
Love this post. About time someone spoke up for those looking to make an income from blogging. I even find that a lot of other bloggers often don’t think bloggers should be paid but I think it all comes down to your motivations for blogging, it’s good to know there’s someone out there who agrees with me 🙂
Great post! I have struggled. With food blogging, a lot of companies ask you to do a review. But they really want a recipe – hence you buy other food spend time cooking etc. I have now started charging for the sheer amount of time it takes to create the post and therefore advertising their brand
Thanks for this thought-provoking post, Eileen.
Creating blog posts take time and that needs to be paid for to make it sustainable. It’s remarkable how many companies want bloggers to post content free of charge.
I’m often approached by companies who clearly haven’t even taken a look at my site before asking me to run an infographic.
Very interesting Eileen – thank you for shareing. I know you’re London based now but have you noticed a difference in attitude to bloggers between USA and UK? I can’t help but feel that America is ahead on this and it seems a more established platform. What do you think?
Very interesting Eileen – thank you for posting. I know you’re London based now but have you noticed a difference in attitude to bloggers between USA and UK? I can’t help but feel that America is ahead on this and it seems a more established platform. What do you think?