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How Much Do Bloggers Earn? [Survey Results]

Posted By Darren Rowse 10th of October 2008 Pro Blogging News 0 Comments

Read Write Web today published the results of some research that they’ve done with Top Tier Tech Bloggers and Social Media Consultants regarding how much they earn in that work.

To get the information they approached 20 top-tier tech bloggers and social media consultants, half of them responded (so this isn’t a massive sample).

While the sample size is small the results revealed:

  • Most bloggers getting paid about $25 a post (with the full range being between $10-$200 a post).
  • In house/Full time bloggers earn annual pay of between $45,000 to $55,000 (with benefits) and up to $70,000-$90,000 with bonuses.
  • The real money seems to be in consulting with hourly rates not below $150 an hour and $300 an hour the most common rate named.

Read the full report and analysis at How Much Do Top Tier Bloggers and Social Media Consultants Get Paid? We Asked Them!

About Darren Rowse
Darren Rowse is the founder and editor of ProBlogger Blog Tips and Digital Photography School. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Comments
  1. Good stuff…I wish the sample size was a bit larger, you would probably see median’s much lower than the averages, but it’s nice to know there is money out there for hardworking passionate people.

    Matt

  2. If you’re a good writer, passionate about your field and hard working, the skies the limit…

    Thanks for the heads up Darren.

  3. Like Matt, I would have liked to have seen a larger sample. Also a sampling of not just the top-20, but maybe the top-100, or even the top-200. That would give a more realistic picture of what money people are making blogging.

    It was interesting to see how much these people were making consulting, as well. As far as monetization goes, non-advertising sources of income are where I see my future.

    Thanks for more useful information, Darren!

  4. This is a great survey. I’d like to see more of these done with a much larger group of bloggers.

  5. 20 people for survey is not enough, it just a very very small sample from very very big population. but $300 per hour, compare to me hardly to reach $100 per month. good stuff anyway.

  6. I think there is more money in having your own blog than writing for someone else. But this data is not very useful; earning varies very heavily depending on the niche.

    For instance, I write only on my own blog, and I get almost as much (or even more this month) traffic as problogger.net; but I am pretty sure that I get no where close to the amount of money darren makes simply through advertising (I don’t do consulting like darren).

    I wish I would make much more with almost 500,000 uniques per month (at present rate from sitemeter ), but the tech niche is not as good as I hoped for. But I love doing what I do.

  7. As a newbie to the blogging world, right now…. a big fat goose egg !! ;) But I am still doing much more learning than anything else. I have been using the blog tool from GoDaddy, but the more I look around, the more I think that WordPress is the way to go.

    Opinions anyone?

  8. In Russia we count 10$ per 1000 characters. An average post is 3000 ch. So about 30$.

  9. Yea, that looks great but unfortunately not everyone has time for full time blogging. I was running three blogs and I didn’t have time writing enough, so I gave up and currently there is only one blog (updated regularly), with second updated twice a week.
    Paying someone for writing is not an option for me, as that will cost too much, comparing to the possible huge income that will occur (or not) after some years of blogging.

    That’s nice to see that someone earns a lot for blogging. But the same we could write about being a bank CIO. They earn a lot but it’s quite impossible for most of the people to become one.

  10. I think the report is not enough. I would like a clear report where the blogger make money from since they are so many source of income can be make by blogger.
    Affiliate/own products/advertising/third parties advertising

    I think this make me more satisfied.

    Besides, most of the small blogger would like to now how to make $500 to $3000 monthly. I think this kind of report will be much more interesting giving a new view for a new blogger

  11. Very nice post, bloggers seems to be making more and more money now. John Chow makes over 30k. I guess the amount of money you can make is the attention you can grab with your writing.

  12. Personally, I would like to see bloggers paid more per post. I can’t imagine a journalist only getting $25 a column even in a local newspaper and surely the fact that the blog can be seen almost world wide (depending on the subject) should count for something.

    Perhaps a system of ‘Royalties’ or something along those lines. If a blogger writes a really fantastic post that just gets read hundreds of thousands of times and brings in bucket loads of cash for the blog owner is the $25 really worth it? There needs to be more incentive, but as long as bloggers are willing to take $25 a post I can’t see the situation improving.

  13. I agree with the statement, quote ‘The biggest rewards aren’t the money, though, but the thrill of writing and the ability to dedicate time to the subject you love’.
    If you don’t enjoy blogging or writing what is the point, as you won’t keep it going for long.
    Be passionate about what you do and the money will follow.
    Regards
    Jeff

  14. There was a time when I was earning up to $600 per month doing paid posts, but that was before I was Google Slapped and lost all my PR. In those days I did manage to get some tasks that paid over $30 for 200 words but I now find offers of only $5 for 300 word posts. Too damn little and I don’t even bother to read what the task is about.

  15. But the top 20 earners do not represent the blogger community at all. Shouldn’t it have been an open survey?

    Anyway thanks for the survey result.

  16. You should see what financial bloggers earn ……

  17. I would settle for an income of 2K per month from my blog… that’s the target for the next one year though I am far away from achieving it…

    :lol:

    Ajith

  18. $25 per post is really low. I charge advertisers that just to submit their own content to my site. If I write the content for them I charge $150/hr. For me the real money is coming from Adsense and direct advertisers. Not a bad part time gig!

  19. This is great, but I agree with Steven-Saunders, a bigger group result would be nice.

    For Joshua, WordPress is the way to go if your looking for options for you blog. I started out with ? BjEvolution but moved to wordpress for its flexibility. I’m still a newbie though so better look for an opinion off someone more experienced.

  20. Wow thats where the money is then in consultancy. Some good results and incredible money to be made in consultancy.

  21. I would like to see a sample that wasn’t the top anything, but the real people that do it. I mean what kind of sample is based off of the best? You get results that are skewed to one side because it doesn’t take into consideration the people that don’t make jack blogging.

  22. I really don’t know if their earnings are worth their effort, but if these bloggers are coming from my place then they must be earning real good money.

    I have been doing some paid posting on my blogs and my maximum earning is $13 / post. Although the offers are not regular, I am happy with it as I believe I am very much far from being among the top bloggers

  23. Hmm. The sampling is a bit small, but still manages to represent what I’m seeing for a going blogging wage. Generally, corporate bloggers (whether freelance or staff) can make much more (just like corporate writers make more), but that isn’t always the case. When you throw in the revenue sharing that some blog networks offer their bloggers, the numbers can get very, very, large.

    I’ve been happy with diversifying my client list to include blogging and regular writing gigs. There is often a very fine line between what they want. But inevitably, the “Blogging” positions pay a bit less.

  24. How usually the bloggers higher. Is there any list of Web sites which pays per post?

  25. with the current economic down turn, I’m sure more people will be jobless and will join online business as full time blogger. This will improve out top blogger income because they always be newbies reference.

  26. Wow! I’m surprised! That ain’t much — for 10 out of 20 “top-tier tech bloggers and social media consultants.” : 0 !

  27. This is very interesting. Thanks for the info on this.

  28. My blog is still young, so I’m not discouraged by my $0.01 daily earnings on adsense. I am wondering, however, why I’m not generating more clicks…

    Jeff
    http://www.2lincolns.com

  29. :) I make a whooping $300 a month and that is on good days. This is from affiliate websites such as Amazon. I don’t fool around with Google Adsense due to the back reports it has gotten over the past couple of years since it has been bought out from those two kids. I think I might wait a couple of months so that I can make money from blog review sites. :)

  30. well i dont know how to make money on blogs but if you go to my url than you can make some money in your spare time it wont make you rich but it will pay some extra bills it doesn’t cost you anything and they will send you the check

  31. I’m a bit tired of people saying that Bloggers should get paid this or that. It’s all relative.

    Like anything, it’s based on a couple identifiable factors:
    – value of niche
    – writing experience
    – length of post
    – SEO craft
    – talent of writer

    Although my writers aren’t the highest paid, I’ve spent a lot of time teaching them how to create high ranking posts and on top of payment per post, share at least 15% of Google Adsense site revenue with them per month.

    In my case it’s a two-way relationship.

  32. Mark Clegg says: 10/11/2008 at 9:34 am

    So I guess what you’re saying is that b5media pays really, really bad?

  33. Mark – let me start by saying that I’ve seen your many comments around the place – you seem to have some kind of problem with b5 – I’m not sure where it comes as you don’t seem to have had any connection with us before (based upon your name) but if you want to talk to someone about specific issues you’ll probably get better results by approaching b5 management directly than leaving snarky comments every time blog networks or b5’s name comes up.

    Let me also say that this post is about ‘top tier tech blogs’ and not blogs like what b5 has. I can only presume that RWW surveyed bloggers on blogs like Gizmodo, Engadget, TechCrunch etc – blogs getting millions upon millions of readers a month – different to most of the blogs on b5’s network.

    Lastly let me say that we have a growing number of bloggers at b5 who are working full time on our blog, getting paid similar overall numbers to those talked about in this article. It isn’t all of our bloggers by any means but we have a growing number of them.

    Beyond that – if you’d like a specific comment on b5’s pay system you’ll need to talk to b5’s CEO, Jeremy Wright. While I’m a co-founder of b5 I am a minority shareholder and only work part time for b5.

    While I believe in the model and know we’re attempting to build a business that not only is profitable over the long term but pays it’s bloggers fairly (something that takes constant juggling ) I’m not in the day to day management team so for better information you’ll need to talk to Jeremy. I do know that getting the pay mix wrong is not easy – pay too little and bloggers leave – pay too much and the network falls over and bloggers are without jobs. It’s not an easy thing to get right and b5’s model has always been to evolve it to find the best solution.

  34. Interesting, I am a lone blogger, no one pays me, so I guess it is pretty cool that , my blog made $225 last month just for ads and product recommends, which I thought was pretty cool considering it is just me and it is a very new blog!! But I do work my butt off and write some great content (what my readers tell me) so I do feel it is well deserved.
    Thanks Darren

  35. Wow…I didn’t realize bloggers are bringing in those kinda chips…I need to hang out here a little more..

  36. Wow, maybe I need to reevaluate my rates. Being a freelancer probably brings that estimate down, but still… Thanks for the heads up!

  37. Blogging can be quite lucrative. Usually post lengths are not prohibitive and with practice these are a time-saving way of earning good money.

    Of course, blog PR plays a role in how much a blogger is paid for posts.

    Perhaps one of the nicest spin-offs is when you are offered a blogging opportunity at a high pay rate.

    All round, blogging is a good way to earn cash. It takes hard work but you have opportunity to earn income in a variety of ways.

  38. I’m newbie, but I hope sometime get much earning from my blog.

  39. Amazing!
    Yes with full time blogging we can earn money.But will you tell me that who is earning USD 2500/Per day?
    If you follow my url link then you’ll find best tips on blogging but I am not earning much more then $2500/day.
    I want to earn but How?
    Surensera

  40. Wow – the chance to earn money is definitely out there but you have to go and get it!

  41. Very interesting but hey the online money is not for anybody who wishes but who can. You got have skills necessary to get there. When people think about making money, they think it is easy and free, it is all because of the hype of internet marketers.

  42. I’m surprised. I really would have thought the guys and gals at the top of the tech-blogging pinnacle would have been earning more per post. I assumed that because there’s generally more money in the tech field (isn’t there?), it would compute (‘xcuse the pun!) to more money for tech blogging.

    Ah well.

    Consulting seems to be where the money’s at in a lot of fields.

    (p.s.: I’m earning more than $25 per post blogging for a client of mine (non-tech field). It happened by pure chance. I really couldn’t have foreseen the circumstances that lead to it, but I do count myself very fortunate).

  43. Well, i don’t agree with this survery at all or atleast the topic of this post, cause it says, “how much do blogger earn” and the survey only considers the top-tier bloggers only. i think you should better change the topic to “how much do top-tier blogger earn”. then only will it be more relevant.
    else i don’t think it represents the blogger community or most of the blogger community from all over the world. also given the fact that it is mostly the bloggers from the european, australian or amerian bloggers who are in the top-tier list, cause the advertisements mostly pays more since their visitors are more in that region. bloggers in the asian continent and other though with the same effort or more effort earn quite much less. which i think is not fair.

    but this is the sad fact.

  44. Hope to have that kind of earnings too :p Who knows right?

  45. Having your own blog, subject and content are extremely important. Maintaining several blogs adsense is good on one and terrible on another. For home improvement, adsense clicks are good, on a music type blog adsense gets you one cent. So don’t judge based on one blog. But on the other hand attracting paid advertisement is better on the music type blog. What I am saying is that there are micro economic climates within blogs.

  46. I think I made about $10 from my blog so far. I can see that I have a long way to go :P

  47. That’s brilliant. I get paid that as a web consultant for development and marketing work but I hadn’t really given the idea of blogging for profit a large about of thought. Thanks for pointing out the real world values.

  48. the main reason….why too many rich people….hem

  49. How do I become a blogger, where do I start? I know what I want to write about, where do I find other people writing about what I’m interested in?

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