How to Calculate Your Worth as a Blogger – Is Your Time Worth Nothing?

Several months ago, I wrote a post about whether or not bloggers should post free content. In the post, I touched upon my journey as I transitioned from a blogger who posted everything for free to a blogger who is able to bring in a little bit of money. This post is meant to expand on that post, focusing more on how much “worth” bloggers have.

I’ll begin this post by saying, if you aren’t trying to monetize your blog, or turn your blog into a business, or to make blogging a full time job, that’s totally fine! There are lots of people who blog purely for the fun of blogging. The question of value might not be an issue for you because you get everything you want as soon as you hit the “Publish” button. I think all bloggers can learn from that perspective and it’s a reminder that even if bloggers blog for money, this should still be fun.

That being said, there are also bloggers who want to supplement their incomes or use blogging as a full-time job to help pay bills or save extra cash. This post is mainly for you. This post is for bloggers who want to make money through their blogs but maybe don’t quite know how to start.

Follow the Money Flow

We’ll begin with a picture:

Do you want money to flow to you?

Companies are here for one thing – to make money. And they do make money. They make money because they have something that the consumer wants and will pay money for. Then the company takes some of that money  and advertises to more consumers to get more people to spend more money buying from the company. The company has money flowing in and money flowing out.

Part of the money flowing out goes to their employees – at least one of which is some sort of marketing manager or VP of sales or some other title. Regardless of what they’re called, that marketing person does not work for free. They get paid. They get paid for their knowledge and expertise in advertising, marketing, and growing consumer demand. When they interviewed for the position, they likely had a minimum salary requirement and possibly negotiated for a higher salary.

Sometimes the head of marketing will also work with an external marketing or PR firm. The external marketing or PR firm does not work for free. They get paid. They get paid because they offer a service, have knowledge, or can provide something that the head of marketing needs. When they were hired for the job, they likely submitted a bid or negotiated a rate to compensate for their time.

Company marketing folks and pr firm folks both work with bloggers. The question here is: Do you want to be a part of the money flow?

The company makes money. The marketing people make money. The PR firms make money. Why shouldn’t you?

Overcoming Doubts

I’ve noticed that many bloggers, especially ones that are first starting out, immediately start making excuses for why they shouldn’t get paid.

I’m just starting and my numbers are too low.

What if I ask for too much money?

What if they say “no”?

To all of those things, to all of those doubts, I say STOP BEING AFRAID.

In the working world, even interns fresh out of college get paid. If someone is contacting you about posting on your blog, then they’re contacting you for a reason. They see value in you.

If you ask for too much money, most companies that value you and your time will negotiate. Negotiations are standard business practice for all businesses – including blogging.

If they say “no” then what do you lose? They weren’t going to pay you anything anyways, right? I know many may think “But what if they don’t email me anymore? What if I lose the business connection?” And to that I say, “What’s wrong with losing the connection to a company that doesn’t value you or your time?”

Squash all of those fears right now. YOU ARE WORTH SOMETHING.

To help drive this point home, let’s say a car wash need someone to stand on the corner holding a “Car Wash This Way” sign. They email 100 people and say “Hey! We need someone to stand on the corner for 8 hours holding our sign!” Do you a) email them back and say “yes! I’ll hold your sign!” or b) email them back and say “I love your car wash! Is there any compensation for standing on the corner holding your sign for 8 hours?”

If your answer was a, please watch this video – you need a pep talk YOU ARE WORTH SOMETHING. “You were made to be awesome.”

If your answer was b, then we’re ready to start negotiations.

Calculating Your Worth

How much is your time worth?

Once you’ve decided that your time is worth something, the next question is usually “How much?” For some, it can be a box of crayons. For others it can be $500. You determine how much your time is worth.

Blogging, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest – those are all considered “social media.” As a blogger who manages and maintains all of those things for your blog, you’re doing the work of a Social Media Manager. According to PayScale, social media managers with less than 1 year of experience earn from $8.79 – $24.66 per hour. At a minimum, that’s what the “real world” values your time as. If you took your skills to a company as a social media manager, you’d likely make at least that (and probably more) right off the bat. Is your time worth less because you’re working for yourself?

An article on Babble last year proposed the following equation:

# of page views + # of twitter followers ÷ page rank # x $ .01 ÷ 2 = your approximate sponsored post rate.

While that can be a good starting point, that rate is based heavily on page views and Twitter followers. The author also states it doesn’t work for blogs with a high page rank – or even a page rank of 0. This equation also doesn’t take into account your influence, quality of writing, or reader engagement. The article also shares some of the rates and numbers that other bloggers were charging at the time and could give you some ideas of what other bloggers were successfully able to ask (and receive) for their work.

For me, it’s ultimately about finding a number that I can live with. For example, if it takes me about an hour to write, edit, and optimize a post, 30 minutes to photograph and PhotoShop, and additional hour of promoting across the social networks, at a minimum, I’d want to feel like I was fairly compensated for 2.5 hours of work.

How much time does it take to write a post?

Do you do any shopping or prep work or testing?

Do you take photographs or create custom graphics?

Do you promote your posts on Facebook? On Twitter? In a newsletter?

All of these things are valuable and are things people will pay for.

I suggest you take the average amount of time it takes for you to do these things, multiply by an hourly rate that you’re comfortable with (I’d suggest at least $15-$20,) then add on $10 (or more or less) for “negotiating room.” If you have engaged readers, lots of traffic or lots of fans, add more.

It’s a matter of how much is your time worth? How much money or compensation would you need to receive so you didn’t feel like you were taken advantage of when the work is done?

Starting Negotiations

Now that you’ve decided how much you want to charge, it’s time to start negotiating. Unfortunately, with the way blogging is now, if you don’t ask for something, you’ll rarely get offered something. There are PR firms that will offer some form of compensation up front and there are companies that will pay you for your work. But for the most part, you need to ask in order to receive.

There are a lot of PR companies that follow the “spray and pray” technique. They’ll email 1000s of bloggers in hopes of getting some percentage of them to respond and/or post. I recommend using a standard response for all of these types of emails such as:

Hi {PR Person’s Name},

Thank you for contacting us about {opportunity.} This would be a great fit for our readers and we would love to discuss how we can partner together to help promote {brand.} I’m attaching our media kit for your review, which includes some ideas on how we can work together and our rates.

Please let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,
{Your Name}

By using a standard response, it takes out all of the guess work of whether or not or what to respond. I don’t “feel bad” about asking for compensation because it’s my “standard policy.” You might be using a little Jedi mind trick on yourself, but it helps to detach from the situation and remove any worries or doubts when it becomes a matter of copy and paste.

I won’t paint rainbows here – most of the time I hear crickets when I respond with my media kit. Don’t let that bother you. If you hear crickets, it’s not because they don’t like you. It’s not because they don’t like your blog. It’s because you won’t post their information for free. You are not their target blogger. They are targeting the bloggers who will work for free. Shake it off and move on.

But when you do get a response, woah – is that awesome! It’s awesome because you’ve found a company that appreciates you and the time you’ve spent building your blog. It’s awesome because you’ve found a “marketing partner” that you can truly work with. Sometimes they’ll ask for more information. Sometimes they’ll counter with a lower rate. Sometimes they’ll counter with more product. This is all good stuff because now you’re talking/emailing with someone that does value your time and wants you to be happy working with them. This is the type of company you can create a real business partnership with.

From Me to You

It’s possible that you’ve read all of this and think “That all sounds great but…” And to that I say, “I’ve been there.” I’ve been in your shoes. I was on Blogger. I didn’t have my own domain name. I had a PR of 0. I had no connections. I posted everything for free. I know what it feels like to think you don’t have whatever it is you need to make money blogging. I’ve experienced those doubts and fears and worries, and thanks to some very supportive friends have faced and overcome those fears that were holding me back.

As a blogger, there’s still so much for me to learn. I’ve seen my income grow from nothing to something. Would I like it to be even more? Most definitely. Part of that journey is consistently and constantly placing a value on my time, my blog, and my knowledge.

I’m here to tell you that it is possible to make money blogging if you want to. But the first step is to believe you are worth something. Because you are.

If you have any questions, want some advice, or want to share some advice, please leave a comment below. Let’s support each other and grow as a blogging community that can benefit our readers, our brand partners, and ourselves.