Advice needed: How much should this institution pay me to do their blog?

[Plot Device]

Hi Guys,

I have never professionally blogged before. But I have a tentative offer from a super-well-endowed (money buckets galore, even in THIS economy!) non-profit organization to do their blog.

They set up a fancy, snazzy web site a few years ago, and on the advice of some web design consutant they included a blog page on the site to tell the public about the latest whatever going on with them. No one at the non-profit has been keeping the blog. It's been inactive for over 8 months now. They have decided they need to hire a professional writer to do the blog.

I do not yet know how many blog entries per week they will require. I do not know the full scope of the desired content. I do not know how many words per blog entry they want.

All I know is they are asking me "How much do you want us to pay you?" And they want as answer ASAP!

But I have no answer.

Can anyone direct me toward an answer? (Or the general guidelines to help me ballpark an answer?)

Thanks!

[mshaw2268]

There are way too many "I don't know's" for you to come up with a figure because a lot depends on your interests and the amount of work that will be put into it.

Is it a topic you actually enjoy? For example, one site I write for pays approximately $2 per 200 word post. I definitely won't get rich with that kind of pay but I enjoy the topic and used to write about it for free so the pay is just icing to do something I enjoy.

How often do they want posts written? Is there a minimum word count? Will they provide sources or do you need to find the info yourself?

A lot of non-writers don't think of things like that, so you might consider helping them out by saying something like, "I can provide X number of blog posts per day/week/month at X number of words per post for $XX per day/week/month."

That way, there's room for a little bargaining. Your rate for 4 posts a day might seem steep but they could be okay with 2 posts a day at a slightly lower price.

Hope this helps, even though it doesn't actually answer your question. It's just really hard to come up with a price when they haven't even told you what the actual job consists of.

[shelleyo]

First, decide what your time is worth. Should you be making $20 per hour, $30 or are you comfortable with $10? Decide what you should be making per hour, then estimate how long it will take you to write each blog post. If you can do one in a half an hour, charge half your hourly rate.

I do not yet know how many blog entries per week they will require. I do not know the full scope of the desired content. I do not know how many words per blog entry they want.

All I know is they are asking me "How much do you want us to pay you?" And they want as answer ASAP!

I'd never agree to a price without having at least ballpark answers to those questions. Ten dollars for a 300-400 word blog post that's full of very general information might seem reasonable to you, but what if you'll need to do 30 minutes of research to be able to write it? What if you agree to a price and they want posts twice as long as you'd figured?

Pin them down on a few basics and then quote a price that gives you what you want per hour, or quote them X dollars per X-word blog post, according to your hourly rate and about how long you think it will take.

Shelley

[Keyan]

I wrote a detailed answer to this ... and AW wouldn't let me post it. It's gone. So before I try again... this is a test.

Originally Posted by Plot Device

Hi Guys,

I have never professionally blogged before. But I have a tentative offer from a super-well-endowed (money buckets galore, even in THIS economy!) non-profit organization to do their blog.

They set up a fancy, snazzy web site a few years ago, and on the advice of some web design consutant they included a blog page on the site to tell the public about the latest whatever going on with them. No one at the non-profit has been keeping the blog. It's been inactive for over 8 months now. They have decided they need to hire a professional writer to do the blog.

I do not yet know how many blog entries per week they will require. I do not know the full scope of the desired content. I do not know how many words per blog entry they want.

All I know is they are asking me "How much do you want us to pay you?" And they want as answer ASAP!

But I have no answer.

Can anyone direct me toward an answer? (Or the general guidelines to help me ballpark an answer?)

Thanks!

[Keyan]

If this is still alive... they may want you to write a proposal. Here are my thoughts:

Project: Maintain and update SWENPO's blog with succinct posts that relate to its activities and mission.

Frequency: Two posts per week.

Content: Approximately 400-500 words on topics relating to events, activities, and philosophy of SWENPO. The blogger will be responsible for researching and developing the topic, and writing the post.

Contract: Initially for one year, may be terminated with 2 month's notice on either side.

I'd suggest that a 500-word post would take maybe 5 hours to research and write. I'm guessing you should be charging maybe $250 per week or so (they'd pay a lot more to a professional journalist). Of course, they could also get an intern to do it for free, but then they haven't, have they?

IMO, professional writing is a lot different than creative writing. If you don't charge a professional fee, neither you nor your work will get the respect it deserves.

Originally Posted by Plot Device

Hi Guys,

I have never professionally blogged before. But I have a tentative offer from a super-well-endowed (money buckets galore, even in THIS economy!) non-profit organization to do their blog.

They set up a fancy, snazzy web site a few years ago, and on the advice of some web design consutant they included a blog page on the site to tell the public about the latest whatever going on with them. No one at the non-profit has been keeping the blog. It's been inactive for over 8 months now. They have decided they need to hire a professional writer to do the blog.

I do not yet know how many blog entries per week they will require. I do not know the full scope of the desired content. I do not know how many words per blog entry they want.

All I know is they are asking me "How much do you want us to pay you?" And they want as answer ASAP!

But I have no answer.

Can anyone direct me toward an answer? (Or the general guidelines to help me ballpark an answer?)

Thanks!

[arainsb123]

Always ask for more than you think you're worth.

So long as your figure isn't astronomical, the worst that can happen is that you bargain down to a lower rate. They'll never pay you more than you ask for, so ask for more than you think you can get! :-)

I've learned this the hard way throughout my various kinds of freelancing work: if I offer what I think is a great deal at first, the client will still try to bargain me down and become resentful when I demure. Better to start with a price that's a bit high--to frame the question of your worth in a flattering light--and then to come down.

[Maryn]

Psst! Peter! This thread's last activity was over a year ago. It didn't need resuscitation.

Maryn, guiding the new guy