Professional Blogging

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treehugger

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Does anyone blog for today.com? They are apparently hiring: www.today.com/apply What do you think? I'm completely new to the world of blogging-for-money. Is $5 per 100-word post a decent rate, or is it kind of paltry? Is today.com a reputable company, or am I better off trying to "break in" somewhere else?
 

Uncarved

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today was the first day and I would love a bunch of great comments to kick it off!!

Its a Today.com Chronic Pain blog, and I am going to try to have daily entries ranging from all conditions, treatments, and diagnostic procedures.
Thanks for any visits and comments:

http://chronicpain.today.com
 

razibahmed

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“For the first month of blogging you are guaranteed $5 per 100+ word post.”
Yes, it is a decent rate in Blogging world.
“A maximum of one post can be published per day for pay.”
This is the problem. Your daily earning will be just $5 and only for one month. Then, you are on your own and you will have to get decent amount of traffic regularly to get $5 per 100+ word post. It is logical that your payment will be based on the performance (page views) of your blog but $5 per post math may not work anymore.
 

treehugger

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The one post a day part doesn't bother me as much, since I probably wouldn't be posting more than once a day anyway and I'm just looking for a way to get my feet wet. But, yeah, that "for the first month" part was worrying me... Has anyone blogged for them long term and made decent money?

I might apply anyway and see what happens.
 

L M Ashton

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today was the first day and I would love a bunch of great comments to kick it off!!

Its a Today.com Chronic Pain blog, and I am going to try to have daily entries ranging from all conditions, treatments, and diagnostic procedures.
Thanks for any visits and comments:

http://chronicpain.today.com
You could always join in the blog comment blitz if you like. Link is in my signature. :)
 

jenfreedom

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They pay lower than some places, if they do only pay based on traffic after the first month. What bothers me more though about them, is they don't seem to know about blogs. For example, they have a heading that says, "Fresh blogs" and then they list posts - to me it's a major danger sign when a "network" can't tell the difference between a blog and a blog post. It makes me wonder who is running things.

Just one opinion.
~ Jennifer
 

razibahmed

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“We are presently only accepting applicants from Canada, United Kingdom, and USA.”
I wonder what is their problem with Asia and Australia or other countries of Europe (except UK)?
 

sgunelius

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I contacted Today.com for a possible article on About.com Web Logs (I wanted to make sure it was a decent/legit opportunity before writing about it on About.com). I sent a message asking a few specific questions and asking to discuss further for a profile on About.com. They responded by telling me to check out their website for information. Typically, legit companies are thrilled to be profiled on About.com. Since they didn't answer any of my questions and simply directed me back to the website, which did not answer any of my specific questions, I have to give them a thumbs down at this point.

I also don't like the pay model which drops to page view payment only after the first month. Of course, each person joins different blogging networks for different reasons, and it's not always about the pay.
 

treehugger

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I sent in an application last week and haven't heard back yet... and maybe that's not such bad news after all.

So what is a good place for newbies to apply for paid blogging jobs?
 

treehugger

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Well, it turns out I was accepted after all, and I thought I'd give it a whirl, since it would be good to have some semi-professional blogging experience, and at least I get paid something for the first month. We'll see what happens after that.

If you don't mind stopping by and taking a look, I'd really appreciate feedback on my new blog. I'm still fiddling around with formatting stuff, but the basic structure is there, and I've got a few posts up.

http://allnaturalcat.today.com/
 

gina

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I applied last Tuesday when I saw they were still looking for celebrity bloggers. Submitted my application in the morning, and I heard back just after noon with them accepting me. I've been working on writing and promoting my blog this past week, and so far things look okay. I'm interested in seeing what happens after the first month. My blog with them is Celebrity Today!
 

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Hi Tree Hugger (Sonya)

Woweee, what a lovely blog!

As a writer who dabbles in the pet niche especially cats, your site is really good, informative and has photos. I like the piece about grow your own catnip!

Well done!

Reece
 

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I've been offered a blog?

Hi Everyone,

I am totally new to blogging and need your advice.

I have been writing cards for a new online greeting card company who have just asked me if I would like to blog for them - writing about occasions.

Here's their deal (which quite honestly sound seriously bad to me):
400wds for $10, 4-8 times a month - That's It!

Can you please give me some feedback?

Thanks

Reece :Shrug:
 

razibahmed

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If you are a new blogger then there is nothing wrong with "400wds for $10". Do you have to get traffic for the blog? Do you have answer comments? Do you have to promote the blog in Internet?
 

Reece10

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Hi,

I went to check out Today.com on Friday 23rd in the hopes of signing up and it states it is closed to the public?

Reece
 

DTNg

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A lot of the Today.com bloggers are upset because their pay was lowered from $5 per post to $1 per post after a few weeks of blogging. They were told their traffic isn't good enough and each month the rate will go up and down depending on their review.

Don't they know it takes time to build traffic to a blog?
 

DTNg

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But if they weren't informed ahead of time that this would happen, I can completely understand being upset about it. I would be. Is this practice spelled out to the bloggers in advance?

We have a post about this at Network Blogging Tips - with some Today Bloggers commenting. From what I gather it does say in the contract that the today editors can lower pay after review of the blog. No one expected to be lowered from $5 to $1 and after only a few weeks or a month as it takes some time to get a blog going, so I can understand the frustration. Especially since they can blog all they want but only earn $1 a day. Not very motivating.
 

L M Ashton

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Ah, so the warning was there, but the terms were not spelled out in detail? Yeah, that's not cool. I'd be upset, too, and I also wouldn't feel the motivation to keep blogging with them. Actually, based on this, I've written them off as a possible place to apply for (not that I was looking or thinking of it seriously...)
 

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I thankfully wasn't one to be cut down in payments, but I am not seeing how I can bring in the numbers they are wanting in as quick as they want it (1000+ a day) I don't look for me to stay at the $5 rate the next review as I'm not getting anywhere NEAR that, haha.
 
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