Determine How to Compensate Writers for Your Mom Blog

By Wendy Piersall from Mom Blogging For Dummies

The amount of diversity in the ways bloggers are compensated is enormous. Some bloggers write for free, some are paid per post, some are paid a monthly fee, some are paid for a specific number of words or pages, and some are paid based on a percentage of advertising revenue. Some occupy the in-between pay scales in all these approaches, or use a combination of different approaches.

Mom blog writers work for free

Pros: Having writers work for free only works when you have something else to offer besides money. It may be exposure, prestige, experience, or mentoring — but no writer’s work is truly free. The other good thing is that if you have so much going for you that people are willing to write for you for free, you can probably find more than one person to do it.

Cons: Without the incentive of money, you can’t rely on your writers to produce consistent content. Plus, you’ll usually be last on their priority lists after they’ve written for their own blogs and for paying clients. Plus, the turnover rate is extremely high. When they don’t need your exposure, prestige, experience, or mentoring, they’ll be gone.

Mom blog writers paid per post

Pros: Paying writers per post is a great way to budget your expenses and predict revenue. Plus, you can dictate what topics the blog posts are written about, filling in your editorial calendar around the things you don’t have time to do yourself.

Cons: Once your writers have published their posts, they aren’t likely to be invested in helping you to promote them. They’ve already done what they’ve been paid to do. Plus, if a writer gets sick or busy with other clients, you may only get three posts that month instead of ten.

Mom blog writers paid a monthly fee

Pros: Paying writers a monthly fee is another great way to budget expenses and predict revenue. It should be clear that you expect a minimum amount of writing or hours worked within that month. You might also be able to have these writers help with other aspects of the business, such as promotion or site maintenance, if they can still do it all in the agreed-upon time frame.

Cons: Again, if your writer gets sick or busy, you’ve lost out on content — and in this scenario, you’re paying for content you aren’t getting. Rarely, you’ll find writers who will milk the agreement by writing extremely short posts, or dragging out the time it takes to complete tasks.

Mom blog writers paid per word or per page

Pros: Paying writers per word or per page gives you the most control over the quality and quantity of the content you expect to receive, and (again) is very predictable in terms of payments and income. Freelance writers who work in this manner tend to be more experienced, and will make your work a priority.

Cons: As with writers paid per post, these writers are not typically invested in your business beyond delivering the content you hired them to write.

Mom blog writers paid a percentage of advertising revenue

Pros: Paying writers a percentage of ad revenue means that the writers have a vested interest — not only in creating great content, but also in helping your blog succeed overall. When you can find the right writers, they’re the most motivated — and usually go above and beyond the scope of what any other writer will do for you.

Cons: It is very difficult to find good writers who are willing to work based on pure incentives, because there is no guaranteed income. Additionally, these writers can get so invested that they feel like they’re entitled to more than just the advertising income, and can become increasingly demanding to the point of being inappropriate.

Writers are paid a combination of flat rate and incentive percentage

Pros: Paying writers with a combination of a flat rate plus a percentage of ad revenue can only be truly effective if you ensure that the base amount you pay will be completely covered by the revenue generated by the writer.

Cons: In theory, this should be the best of both worlds, right? In reality, it tends to be the worst of both worlds.