Comments on: Blog Networks and How they Split the Cash

By: Scrivs

Scrivs — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 14:27:21 +0000

I can give some minor input and say that 9rules works on a basic tiered structure. Bloggers earn a certain % once they reach a monthly revenue goal. Either:

* 60%
* 70%
* 80%

Real simple. If you are blogging you have enough to worry about already, you shouldn’t have to worry about if you are getting paid enough for your work. But there are so many different models you can work with and so many people willing to join that it’s fair to say there will never be a “right” way to do things.

By: Ashley Norris

Ashley Norris — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 11:07:17 +0000

Interesting debate. Just for the record we have used a series of different approaches. Some of our bloggers get a flat fee, some are on a revenue share and some are paid per post. They all seem to work reasonably well, though there are obvious issues with the revenue share approach which mean it can only work in very specific circumstances.

By: MEX Blog

MEX Blog — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 08:54:12 +0000

Blogeinnahme Modelle und die Krux am Traffic
Online Journalism Review betont, daß es smarter ist, nicht traffic-optimiert zu schreiben, sondern viel mehr auf guten und stetigen Content zu achten. Im Zuge des Artikels werden Blogmodelle wie zB Weblogs Inc. und Gawker betrachtet, deren Bezahlmetho…

By: Shai Coggins

Shai Coggins — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 08:10:54 +0000

This is a very interesting post, Darren. Thanks for sharing it. I have recently started a small blogging network (currently with 6 blogs “live” and about 5 more in the making). I’m experimenting using a combination of blogger payment — letting bloggers run their own ads (with some guidelines) together with network-wide ads. When ad sales start, I plan on using revenue splitting with that. But, I also plan to incorporate bonuses, etc. When you say you keep revenues to yourself 100%, what do you mean? How do you pay your bloggers in your network?

By: Jamie

Jamie — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 05:28:34 +0000

Duncan’s right – for a new network, revenue splitting is the only realistic way to go. It would probably be ideal to have a salary based payment system, but that just isn’t going to happen until you start dealing with the same kind of revenue as the bigger players.

For the record: our split in 70/30 in favour of the bloggers – http://blogambition.com

By: WR

WR — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 03:50:30 +0000

From the blog networks point of view, I believe a salary based system is the way to go. When there is growth, the network wins. Ofcoarse, blogger salaries should be reviewed and adjusted periodically, but all-in-all it is best for the network to handle all advertising etc.

By: Darren

Darren — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 03:17:46 +0000

Agreed Duncan – I think the revenue share model would have to be the way to go unless you had some VC.

Another model I’ve toyed with is rather than paying authors you let them run their own ads on your site (or on a % of the impressions of their posts). This is something I’m going to experiment with on our little blog collective.

The only problem with revenue sharing is that when a blog first starts there is so little to share that it can be quite disillusioning for bloggers and doesn’t give them much incentive to write. Perhaps a base weekly salary is a good idea with an incentive plan built in when they reach certain revenue goals.

By: Duncan Riley

Duncan Riley — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 02:59:49 +0000

I’ve got to say that Calacanis usually gets a bad rap around the place yet Creative Weblogging only gives authors 40%! Anything less than 50% has got to be pretty close to theft. Interesting that Calacanis has changed the model. Although the new version is better I would think that for any new network starting up it would be a difficult proposition to follow (serious VC funding aside) and that the revenue split model is the best way to go.

By: Alex Moskalyuk

Alex Moskalyuk — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 02:54:05 +0000

A friend of mine and I started a simplistic network. The blogs are at http://startup.blogscorp.com/, http://psp.blogscorp.com/, http://seo.blogscorp.com. The idea being – if you own the blog 100% (write daily, etc.), you get 100% of the earnings. But you also link to others on the network, and if you feel like, contribute to collective blogs, where all the earnings would go towards the network server costs, etc.

By: Danger Stevens

Danger Stevens — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 01:52:54 +0000

I’ve considered the feasability of joining/starting one of these networks and I came to the conclusion that while it’s relatively easy to be successful, it’s exceedingly difficult to distribute earnings fairly. I have no idea which of the above models I prefer – but I’m quite happy going solo for now.