Let’s face it — most blogs don’t pay for guest posts. It’s considered a marketing activity by the writer, who gets a link back to their site.
That can be worth it, too. I’ve gotten some amazing connections and clients from blogging on popular sites.
But I believe writers should be paid for their work. And sites that take guest posts still get a piece of writing out of the deal.
So I did a crazy thing…
Back in late 2010, I did something sort of nuts — I decided to start paying for guest posts.
At the time, my audience was pretty small and I was still earning most of my living from freelance writing.
It didn’t make economic sense on the face of it. I just thought it was the right thing to do.
I needed to put my money where my mouth was. I hoped I might inspire (or is that shame?) some other bloggers into paying for posts as well. I also hoped being different from the norm by being a paying writing market might get this little blog some attention.
And it worked
On both fronts, it worked! Make a Living Writing has received loads of attention, subscribers, and traffic from being published in many digests of paying markets. Even better, quite a few sites decided to pay after seeing me do it.
But I’ve neglected a critical last step here — to connect you to those paying markets so you could rake in some cash.
Fixing that now. Here’s my personal list of blogs that pay around $50 a post or more, from my own writers’ guidelines page. They’re listed in the order they began paying for posts, most recent first:
- Your Online Biz — Thrilled to have inspired Darnell Jackson to top me — he began paying $100 a post in March 2013. Nice job, Darnell.
- Write Your Revolution — Sarah Russell’s blog joined the ranks of $50-a-post paying markets in February.
- Be a Freelance Blogger — Sophie Lizard has joined the smart set and now pays $50 a post.
- The Renegade Writer – Excited to add Freelance Writers Den’s Other Den Mother Linda Formichelli to the list of people who’re taking the high road and paying $50 a post.
- ReadLearnWrite – Paying $50 a post after seeing my Problogger post about paid guesting in Feb. 2012.
- David Worrell’s blog, Rock Solid Finance (formerly Your Inside Guy) was the first niche blogger to jump on board my bandwagon and start pay $50 for guests posts back in late 2010. So I think he’s the coolest. You should definitely read his blog.
- Freelance Switch – they pay around $75 per post. So I think they’re cool. And now I even guest blog for them on a regular basis myself. (They are owned by Envato, which has a half-dozen other sites that pay, too.)
- HouseLogic – This site operated by the National Association of Realtors pays $1 a word — I had an opportunity to interview their editor a while back for an article for The 2013 Writer’s Market. If you’ve got a good twist on a shelter story and strong reporting skills, you know where to go now.
- One Spoon at a Time — Paul Wolfe was inspired to start paying $50 a post back in Fall 2011. This one was inspired by my announcement…feels good to know I’m helping to create new paid markets for writers.
- OnText – OK, they only pay $40 a post. But maybe some of you would like to know anyway, I’m betting.
- Patch – AOL’s Patch.com, as of this writing, often pays $50 and up for short blog-postlike articles.
- Make a Living Writing — can’t forget to mention my own site! Still proudly paying $50 a post. (Due to overwhelming response, I now only take guest posts from students or grads of Freelance Writers Den or Jon Morrow’s Guest Blogging course.)
Those dozen get you started. Fortunately, a couple other bloggers have been busy compiling more helpful info on blogs that pay, and now there are several other good lists out there — and I’ve collected links to all of them here.
How to find 100+ more paying markets
Two are by Bamidele Onibalusi of the newly renamed Writers in Charge (formerly YoungPrePro), and one is by the abovementioned Sophie Lizard of Be a Freelance Blogger. One older list is from the freelance-training site Matador. The assignments range from blog posts for niche bloggers to fully reported online feature articles for major national magazines’ online sites.
Here are links to those below:
I got curious and compared all these lists to see how many listings were unique. Eliminating all the duplication between the lists and counting my 12 above, there are nearly 120 unique paying websites and blogs listed in all. Nice, huh?
I’m thrilled to have helped add a few names to these lists of places that pay. Possibly my finest achievement here on the blog.
Now that you know how many markets pay, I have to ask:
Why not get paid?
As a blogger, you’ve got a choice when you look to guest post. If you’re going to guest post for exposure, I say, why not get paid, too?
I recommend making paying guest markets your top priority. That’s what I’ve done and it’s allowed me to earn quite a lot while also getting attention for my writing and my blog.
And if you have a blog you’re looking to build, consider paying for guest posts. Just a suggestion.
Ever gotten paid for a guest post? If you know more paying markets, please add to my list.
The sun has been out this week and I know I have not been wanting to write!
Written anything fascinating lately about blogging, marketing, writing, freelancing, productivity, or work-from-home issues?
Yes, spring has sprung, and it’s that time again — time for writers to share their best post of the month on my new First Friday Link party!
