“Have You Got What it Takes to Become a Highly Paid Freelance Blogger?” plus 1 more

Have You Got What it Takes to Become a Highly Paid Freelance Blogger?

Posted: 29 Jul 2012 01:01 PM PDT

This guest post is by Marya Jan of Writing Happiness

Ask any blogger what the going rate for freelance blogging is and you are sure to get a wide range of numbers.

Some might say $10 or $15. Some would say $30 is more appropriate.

Many professional bloggers and copywriters make in the vicinity of $100 to $250. Heck, Jon Morrow, Associate Editor of CopyBlogger, charges $3k for one post.

I have only been officially “blogging for work” since the beginning of this year and I make around $120.00 per 600-word post. So I am smack bang in the middle, and considered to be making a decent rate.

Most people don't believe me when I tell them that. They think I am grossly exaggerating. Why would anyone pay this kind of money to have blog posts written for them?

Well, well established businesses and high profile companies do. Blogging is a part of their overall marketing budgets and they understand the value of getting a professional on board.

You might have caught this post earlier on Problogger—Jane does exactly the same thing, except she has gotten herself a regular gig. I, too, am a resident blogger for Open Colleges. I also ghost write blogs for two other businesses and this roughly makes half of my monthly income.

But what about you? Looking at the numbers, is freelance blogging something that interests you and piques your curiosity?

You too could potentially start earning money with the help of your blog.

Become a freelance blogger

Plenty of bloggers are doing it: Carol Tice of Make a Living Writing, Oni of Young Prepro, Joseph Putnam of 5 North Marketing and Tom Ewer of Leaving Work Behind are some of the names I am familiar with.

The idea is simple—but not easy.

You approach businesses that have substantial marketing budgets and ask them if they would like to hire a freelance blogger. Simple, yeah?

If they do need one, the question then becomes, Why you? Why should they hire you over others who charge $5 per post? Or why shouldn't they get content from firms that provide them with posts for around $15-$20 apiece?

You’ll get hired as a freelance blogger—and a highly paid one at that—when you show your prospective clients that you are worth every single penny they spend on you.

You prove to them, beyond doubt, the skill and expertise you bring to the table. You explain how by paying you $100.00 per post, they are attracting targeted traffic to their site, converting those readers into leads, and further, into paying customers. You detail the return on investment (ROI) they get by hiring you.

Talk is good, but you need something back it up. And here's how to do it.

You need to have a fairly successful blog

This one seems like stating the obvious, doesn't it? If you don't have a blog, how do you even know if you'd enjoy blogging for pay?

Do you know if you could do it, day in day out, on a long term basis? Can you remain committed to a topic of your choice? Do you know how long it takes you to write a 400-word post? A 900-word one? How much should you charge for them? Can you come up with topics on your own?

Really, if you have no experience of consistently writing for your own blog, you will have a really hard time even getting a response from the potential client.

You need to learn to write like an A-list blogger

What do you expect if you want to hire a service professional? That they have all the skills required to do the job, right?

Well, professional bloggers have skills too, even if they don't have professional degrees in this department. They know how to come up with ideas that are unique and haven't been done like a hundred times before. They possess advanced research skills to find all the content sources.

They craft headlines that entice people to look, and create effective calls to action. Their posts are scannable, concise, screen-friendly, and share-worthy. In other words, the content they create has the potential to go viral.

You need to show the client clearly that you understand the nitty gritty of blog writing for business. All of the social proof on your blog will help make your case stronger.

And the best thing you can do? Demonstrate your topic expertise. When you show industry know-how, clients know they don't have to spend a lot of time training you. You know the ins and outs of the market place and hence have more worth than a generalist.

You need to land guest posts on influential blogs

So, for you to get gigs writing for businesses, you need to have some sort of a portfolio. And what's better than showing off your links on authority sites like Problogger and Copyblogger?

Even if you are an expert writer for print media, writing online is an entirely different beast. While your published clips might impress people and pave the way for you, you still need to demonstrate your skills in writing for the web.

Writing on your blog in one thing; guest-posting on A-list blogs is another altogether. If your posts are good enough for leading blogs and social media sites, they are good enough to warrant adequate pay.

You need to be prepared to act in an advisory role

Can you answer these questions for your client?

Why do businesses need to blog? And how will you help them use their blog as part of their overall marketing strategy?
Can you offer a mini blog review as an added bonus? Advise them on issues like navigation/usability or freebie offers to increase signup rates etc.
Explain to them that by investing in blogging efforts, their ROI will increase significantly.
Have you got any data you can present that will back that up? Have you done any paid blogging before? If so, have you got any results that you can quote? For instance, you might say you blogged for so-and-so company and doubled their email opt-ins.
Can you advise your client with content strategy? Help them with editorial calendar and blog topics?
Can you help them track and interpret the results of blogging?

Really, when you think about it, blogging for business is more to do with online marketing, rather than writing. You are not creating content for them to amuse or entertain people, unless that’s the specific aim of the company itself. You are becoming a part of their marketing team. Gasp!

Still interested?

Marya Jan is a freelance blogger and online copywriter for e-learning, online education and training companies. She writes at Writing Happiness where she happily helps small business owners revamp their own blog content (and copy). Grab her free book 'How to Write Blog Content that Works'. Follow her at @WritingH.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

Have You Got What it Takes to Become a Highly Paid Freelance Blogger?

How to Blog to Build Your Service-based Business

Posted: 29 Jul 2012 07:05 AM PDT

This guest post is by Amy Harrison of Harrisonamy.com.

Earlier this year, through emails with ProBlogger about upcoming guest post ideas, I thought about an article about how blogging fed my business model.

This was the first time I'd really considered how my articles linked to the revenue I’d earned in the past three years.

I'm not a particularly prolific blogger, and I haven't written anything outlandish, controversial—or even had a viral post. But business is very healthy, I've been booked solid all year and will be for the next few months, and revenue is growing year on year.

It was only when I sat down to write this post that I saw how 95% of my business is generated through blogging by:

clients hiring a service
businesses wanting coaching or training
customers buying products.

Whether you also have a combination of the above, or focus solely on client work or selling products, over the next three days I'm going to show you how blogging has helped me generate revenue for each of those models.

Hopefully this will give you ideas of what's possible, and help you tailor your current blogging strategy to better suit your desired business model—whether it’s one of these, or one of the others covered in the recent Blog Business Model series here at ProBlogger.

Today, we’ll look at the first business model in the list: blogging to support sales of a service.

From readers to clients

If, like me, you're a copywriter or other type of freelance writer, your blog naturally lends itself to promoting your skills. If people can see and scrutinise your writing online, they’ll find it easier to consider hiring you than someone whose work they haven't seen.

But a blog also supports other freelance occupations when you're working for hire. It showcases your expertise and personality, making it easier for someone to imagine working with you. If you're in a service-based business this is very important. You probably know that people buy from those they know, like, and trust, and your blog is a way of building this confidence into potential clients.

If you're a carpenter and your blog is filled with how-to articles, and the occasional video of you explaining a process, it is the equivalent of one long demonstration of what you are capable of and what you’re like to work with.

As a result, if someone studies your blog and likes what they see, by the time they do approach you to enquire about your services, beneath the surface, they're already on the path of being "sold" on working with you.

Proving your expertise increases your value (and prices)

Generally speaking, if you approach a company or client looking for work, the balance of power lies in their hands. You're asking them for something. (If you've ever cold called to get clients, you know what I'm talking about).

However, building a solid reputation online through your blog increases your value and lets you charge more because potential clients value your work more.

If you want proof of this, simply look at the difference between the rates of a copywriter, web designer, or developer who has a well-known blog, and those of of copywriters, designers, and developers on sites like elance. Huge difference.

You see, if someone gets to know you through your blog and wants to hire you, it's not just to do your thing, it's do your thing your way.

That sets you apart from the crowd, and the more unique you are, the less likely people are to treat you as a commodity that can be beaten down on price.

Specific blogging tactic to attract clients: guest posting

The strongest strategy I’ve found for attracting clients who want to hire me as a copywriter is guest posting and the relationships I've built through guest posting.

This doesn't mean having to guest post everywhere. I can trace back about $20,000 worth of client work ($12,500 from one client for a month's worth of work) to a handful of guest posts I've written on less than four different websites.

Pick the biggest, brightest blogs and make sure they are in your audience's niche, not just yours. If you make banjos, don't write on the best banjo-making site (where other banjo-makers hang out), write for the best banjo-playing site (where the players—your customers—hang out).

A few tips that I've found to work well include:

Pick blogs that have integrity and are well respected among the audience of your ideal clients.
Go big! Don't be intimidated thinking you have to start small—write great content and aim for the best sites!
Study the site. Study popular posts, comments, and posting guidelines.
Work hard to write an article that will give the audience value.
Be polite but persistent if you don't hear anything. Submit your article and follow up in a week, then a week after that. Try social media, email, and online contact forms to get in touch (but no more than one or two different types of contact methods a week).
Prep your own website. Don't write guest posts before you have any decent content or a newsletter on your own site!
Follow up. If you have a successful guest post that increases your traffic and enquiries, start planning more, or even pitch a series of two or three articles so the audience can really get to know you.

What about you? How have you used your blog to attract clients for your service offering? Have you noticed a difference in how potential clients deal with you if they come to you after reading your blog? Let me know in the comments! And stay tuned: tomorrow we’ll talk about blogging to support your coaching or training business.

Amy Harrison is a copywriter and content marketer for Personality Entrepreneurs wanting to connect and sell authentically to their audience. You can now download her free report on how to write sales copy when personality is part of your business at Harrisonamy.com.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

How to Blog to Build Your Service-based Business