Paid Blogging with a Little Control
There are many bloggers who get paid by doing paid reviews. One of them is me. However, I don’t post paid ads all the time. In fact, I seldom do.
I don’t want to sound like someone who doesn’t need money. Of course I need money, most of us blog for money, admit it. Earning online can be fun if and only if the right opportunities present themselves (and, may I add, if the price is right). For this blog, I seldom accept paid reviews fearing that I will lose readership or visitors, which is perhaps the most important element before you can make it big in the paid reviews department.
Other bloggers must be overwhelmed by the number of opportunities they can possibly grab or review which makes them want to post 2 or 3 paid reviews per day. However, if we are to analyze this scenario and determine if our blog’s worth is increasing (in terms of $$$), the answer can be a resounding NO. On the other hand, pragmatism states that if something works, then it is good. Maybe accepting 20 paid reviews at one time and posting them individually each day for the next 20 days (one review each) is good for some bloggers. I can’t blame them. Money is money.
But let me share with you some things I’ve learned about accepting and posting paid reviews. These are only some of the Do’s and Don’ts that I can suggest if you want to retain readership (if by any chance readership matters to you) while earning some cash. You may disagree with me if you want. These tips were deduced based on a combination of personal observations and facts gathered from other bloggers:
- Don’t accept reviews that are not relevant to your site, people won’t believe you and you’ll lose credibility as a writer. Will you gamble on losing readers for a couple of bucks per review? How much does a small blogger make per review? In my experience it’s somewhere between $6.50-12.50 so far. I haven’t tried other paid review networks aside from SponsoredReviews and Blogsvertise due to lack of qualification in the area of blog age (<3 months). Maybe I’ll try PayPerPost, Smorty and Reviewme soon.
- Don’t’ scramble over opps available. Some of you may be racing to get opps from PPP even if the amount to be paid is only $5. Again, money is money but think about the impact on your blog if you keep on posting paid reviews everyday, everytime. You might be able to earn about $500 for 100 paid reviews but at the expense of turning your personal blog into a money blog. Do you really think people will still read your posts and leave comments if all the posts are paid by advertisers? Try looking at your statistics to find out if your Alexa ranking is going up, within the normal range or going down steadily. If you really want to earn big from paid ads, then value your ranks.
- Insert your personal posts after every paid ads. This is my usual advice to those who complain about Google slapping their Page Ranks. Have you noticed the ratio of paid ads to personal posts in your blog’s total entries? Paid review networks even require that the maximum allowable percentage in your blog entries for paid reviews (prior to your application) is 30%. Perhaps they have learned that most advertisers still require a Page Rank for the blogger to be able to grab the review opportunity. Page Rank is a good bargaining chip in paid reviews, so to speak. Maybe not always but most of the time. on the other hand, if you think that you’re ready to lose your PR in exchange for a lot of money from paid reviews, then go ahead. Just evaluate if the juice is worth the squeeze.
- Don’t live each day of your blog life looking for paid opportunities. If paid review opps are all that you care about as a blogger hoping that you can earn enough money to feed your family and raise your kids, think again. A small blog has to do a lot of work to earn enough money (if you’re only paid within the range of $5-10 per review). If you want to increase your blog’s value, then work hard to earn more readers first by way of writing good articles that people might want to read. Top bloggers do not go after opps like crazy. They study these things and assess if the payment is worth it and if the topic is relevant. That’s the reason why they don’t lose their readers, their traffic is high and their ranks are maintained. Top bloggers earn between $500-1,500 per review of a product, based on some reports. You might observe that in their blogs, paid reviews are scarce. They work more on writing good articles, increasing readership, RSS subscribers and tweaking their blog designs so that later on, they can set the tone of pricing when they are offered to review products and services.
- Think about what your readers will think when you do paid reviews. Above all else, think of your readers when doing paid reviews. Will they buy this idea? Will they get turned off? Will they pick up something from this review? Think about the long-term implication of accepting too much paid reviews on your traffic, PR and readership.
For me, I didn’t grab all the review opps offered to me by the two companies mentioned above. I turned down 6 offers already. My wife was surprised at first when I turned down the offers (which all came on the same day). “Don’t you want money?”, she asked. Like I said, who doesn’t need money? Of course, we all do. But I really don’t think it’s right to accept offers that will only add to my entries which are far relevant to my topics of interests. And the pay? OMG! A measly $2-5. I told my wife I’d rather give a lecture where I will earn 500 pesos (around $12.50) per hour than risk my credibility as a writer. In Filipino, I told her “walang kwenta” (It’s senseless) if I will accept opps like those.
Bloggers in my view deserve to be paid more, especially bloggers who really work hard to come up with good materials. One thing I have observed about advertisers and middleman companies is that if you keep accepting ads that pay very little, they will get used to it and keep on equating you and/or your blog with a low rate. I do not want to accept low offers because I do not want to whine and regret having accepted them. This is what many bloggers did before - accept the offers then later on complain about their payment. In the first place, why did they even accept the offers if they’re not happy about the price?
However, inquisitive and scientific as I am, I will carry out a certain form of experiment, just to prove myself wrong (not to prove myself right, to reduce or eliminate bias about my assessment). I will create other blogs that are intrinsically designed to accept paid reviews and make money only. I might as well overuse them to compare it with this blog (which contains more personal articles than paid ones).
I will let you know in 5-6 months the progress of this experiment. My working hypothesis is, the money blogs won’t succeed as much as this blog in terms of long-term income and growth in ranks. I will compare the data for the two blog types using same-age comparisons so that I will be able to get baseline data to negate or support this theory.
Please feel free to leave comments whether you agree or not with my assessment about accepting paid reviews. Share your stories, good or bad, so that others may learn from your experience.
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Tags: blog monetization, Make Money Online
Hmmm..this post of yours makes me think far..You think my blog has a value as a writer? A life blog covers different categories right? I am also seldom in getting opps especially if I don\’t feel like doing it. I was also being paid before with review post but I removed all the badge as what some friends advice because of the PR turned down zero and yeah it happened. What about yours? Yesterday your PR is 4 but now its zero. Naaaning na ako sa google nayan pati wordpress ko na PR4 dinamay wala naman kaalam alam. hehe..
Joy’s last blog post..Award and tag
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I am not writing paid reviews but I would want to try… and yes, with a little control. Thanks for this post. Ibang level ka talaga, friend!
Amor’s last blog post..Between Your Legs
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Ganda! You are right there again. Making a good and quality post is important more than the money. Besides, these companies “underestimates” our writing capabilities. Come to think of it. Would you love to take $5 and 200-300 words minimum is required of you? That’s cheap! I used to immediately grab the opportunities offered to me out of excitement though it isn’t too relevant in my site. But now i have learned my lesson. I am not too ecstatic about paid blogging anymore. I am here here because it is one of my passions and that I enjoy writing, eventhough writing doesn’t like me much, haha! For now, i will have to think a hundred times over before i will have to decide on taking the oopps being offered to me. That way, you offer your readers quality and credibility.
Scotty’s Princess’s last blog post..Friendship Day Award
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Jessie,
First, I totally agree with you about not hurting your reputation as a writer. Some people just do sponsored post after sponsored post and there’s no point reading their blog. As a reader, I don’t mind sponsored posts as long as most of the posts are normal content.
But, be really careful about PR. I’ve seen Google go after blogs and put their PR back to 0 for only a few sponsored posts. They really seem against it lately…
By the way, joy said she see 0 for your PR, but I still see PR4.
Steve’s last blog post..Finding The Best Bank
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@ Joy,
Paid blogging doesn’t choose any niche or category. You can still do paid reviews even if your site is about spirituality. For a moment I thought my site is PR0 again but there must have been a glitch in Google Toolbar when you opened my site. It’s still PR4, so far.
My point here, friend, is be cautious about paid blogging if you care about your PR and traffic. Many readers get turned off when they see that a site contains almost nothing but paid posts. It is in this stage that a blog retards, lose readership and ultimately, essence. We blog learn and share what we have learned. People will see if your intent is purely to monetize your site and more often than not they won’t come back knowing what type of articles they can expect - paid posts. In fact even money-making sites contain very good and useful articles readers can enjoy. A good balance between the number of paid posts and personal articles is a good combination.
jessie’s last blog post..The Goodness of God
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@ Amor,
Ok, friend. Try it to see how it works. Just bear in mind my suggestion - don’t overdo it. Overdoing anything is no different from doing nothing (at least nothing sensible) because you might lose sight of what your real objectives in blogging along the way.
jessie’s last blog post..The Goodness of God
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@ Ellaine,
Very well said… you shouldn’t maintain a balance between making money and engaging your readers with good articles.
jessie’s last blog post..The Goodness of God
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@ Steve,
Thanks for your comment. Yes, it’s a normal reaction for anyone reading a blog. Many people see a blog without normal content as senseless because like you said “What’s the point of going back to the site?”
Simply put, if a blogger fails to engage his readers to read his posts, then readership and traffic will suffer.
Paid posts are good (for the blogger who got paid) but in most cases, readers who see 5 or more successive paid posts in a blog already consider this as an overkill. As the articles points out, there should be a form of control in posting paid reviews so that the blog won’t suffer in the long run. Inserting quality articles (between paid reviews) which will engage readers to read is a good step to maintain that control and number of visitors.
jessie’s last blog post..The Goodness of God
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naku bebe, di na ko binibigyan ng asaynment ng blogvertise kasi sa lahat ng binigay nila sa kin wala akong ginawa….mahirap gumawa ng paid post na ayaw mo gawin diba? lol! kung kailan naman ayaw ko na mag paid post (nakagawa na ko ng isa lol!) sa manilenya e saka naman merong nagbid sa sponsored review ko. heniways, di talaga pang paid post ang manilenya site ko…pero kung may time lang ako I am going to make another blog in English pero di pa ko sure kung mag papaid post ako dun.
manilenya’s last blog post..Para sa Aso
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@ Manilenya,
Bebe kong mahal, tutut, este… totoo yan. Mahirap gawin ang paid review na either ayaw mo, or di bagay sa site mo. The feeling isn’t just right di ba? Parang may moral intervention na di ko rin mawari. As for blogsvertise, i never did any of their offers also just like you. Bwahahaha! First off, the offers are low and second, hindi bagay sa site ko mga tasks. I’m cool with your idea to come up with an english blog. Magaling ka naman sa Ingles eh. Kaya nga love na love kita.
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naku bebe baka kaya mo lang sinasabi yan kasi mahal mo ako lol!!!kakabisaduhin ko muna isang sobrang kapal na dictionary saka babasahin ko muna yung The Pillars of the Earth bago ko simulan yung English Blog ko….nilalagnat ako kapag nagpopost ako ng ingles e lol! hindi yung paid post ang hinahabol ko actually kundi yung disiplina ng writing both in English saka Filipino
manilenya’s last blog post..4. What are the things you usually write about?
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Idol, PR 4 pa rin ang nakikita ko sayo. Pabago-bago kasi paminsan. Di nako magugulat kung biglang naging 0 ako, bwahahaha!
Scotty’s Princess’s last blog post..Friendship Day Award
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@ Manilenya,
Oh bebe, you made me feel so proud of you. That’s exactly what I do in blogging… Your discipline and expertise should be reflected in your write-ups. Writing necessitates discipline, patience and study. Not because blogging is a free-for-all field doesn’t mean that we should write anything without giving the write-up some good and deep thoughts. I salute you for the move. I hope more bloggers will become more aware of this. And i’m so proud of fellow Filipinos who are really good in writing (especially in English). Let’s make our mommas proud.
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@ Ellaine,
Yup, that’s because Google’s servers are sometimes down, indicating that some sites have PR 0’s already. However, whatever is your PR, I will still be your good friend and I will still support your blog. So don’t worry too much about your PR
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WOW! Nakakaiyak naman yan, hehehe! Mag-prepare ka na ng pamasahe mo para sa kasal ni Twerlyn at ng magkita na tau! hehe
Scotty’s Princess’s last blog post..I Won!
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I’m an aspirant for paid blog! Reading your post now made me realized that I have to pick the product carefully and not just think of money!hehehe! Until now, I’m not sure if my blog is capable for paid blogging…i have no guts to register my blog!!!whew!
twerlyn’s last blog post..Blog Contests 1, 2, & 3: Get Featured on a PR4 Blog and Win Cash!
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@ Twerlyn,
You may apply to review companies like Blgosvertise, Reviewme, Smorty, PPP, or SponsoredReviews. Just take a look at their requirements. If qualified and opportunities are offered, approach them with care. It’s still best if the opps are suitable to your blog’s niche or contents. If you feel like their somewhat off-tangent tehn think twice before accepting them. Bear in mind the readers or else they might stay away from you. Choose the opps well and let your better judgment guide you.
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Ugh, I hate thinking about this. I recently started taking paid posts. Partly because I’d like my blog to pay for its own hosting and partly because I want to use some of what I earn as prizes in writing contests on my blog this year. Hopefully anyway. I have accounts with the most popular paid blogging companies to see what are best. Trust me, when you get accepted by payperpost, you’ll see some opportunities that pay more. To be honest, there aren’t many relevant paid posting opportunities for a writing blog. I hate paid posting but it’s a means to an end. If I do some good with it then why not. I am afraid that it lowers the tone but I stay at home with my children all day, I don’t have any other way to fund the contests I’m planning. It’s a tough decision for me. I hate seeing paid posts on my blog but the money can be good.
I have a couple of rules. I have been picky about what ads I take for various reasons and I do tell the truth. I say what I really think. I also write a regular post immediately afterwards. The paid posts are rarely on the top of the main page. Anyway, some people go too far with it, I agree. But to some, even one post a month is too far so the lines can be blurred. I don’t know. I may stop. It’s something that plays on my mind a lot!
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Oops, sorry about that…
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You make very pertinent points, Jessie, and once again, it appears we have a similar perspective on blogging.
Recently, I applied to Pay Per Post for one of my blogs, Reward Rebel, however, my application was rejected. How dare they! LOL. I believe the reason is that when I started my blog I whacked up, barely edited, private label rights articles, and of course one of the prerequisites of PPP is that a certain percentage of the site’s content is original, and Reward Rebel presumably didn’t comply.
After my outraged ego had settle down a little, and I thought about it more calmly, I realized PPP had done me a favour. Firstly, they reminded me about these early posts, which I now plan to remove little by little.
Secondly, I want to write about what I want to write about, not be dictated to, or have someone else pulling my strings, another leash around my neck, another ‘boss’ in a manner of speaking. This is precisely the thing I’m attempting to escape.
So, Pay Per Post, you can go kiss my ….;-D
Reward Rebel’s last blog post..Entrecard Top Drop 3 ~ Make Money Online with EJ Cooksey
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@ Claire,
First off, thank you for leaving a comment. You really don’t have to be sorry for what you said since that is your take about paid blogging. While it’s true paid blogging can be lucrative, there is an imminent danger to overdoing paid reviews. I say imminent because of other bloggers’ experiences about the PR slashing Google seems to be happy doing to blogs (which up to now is an issue and, in my view, is unfair to bloggers like us). In fact, monetizing our sites is supposed to be our prerogative but since all blogs are at the mercy of Google’s policies, we can’t help but be cautious about accepting too many paid posts.
As to earnings derived from paid posts, I don’t have anything against it if other bloggers post 200 or even 500 paid posts in their blogs. If they’re happy about their income, why not do paid posts even if Google slaps their PR, right? I also share with them this philosophy. In fact, I even told my wife that if after some time, I will be able to prove that I can earn some $2,000 per month doing paid reviews, then I’m ready to give up this blog’s PR. This is in line with what I said that we as bloggers should “evaluate if the juice is worth the squeeze”. Many bloggers are hardworking and I hope we’ll get paid more for the efforts that we put in writing articles and paid posts.
If you want my advice, then may I offer the pieces of advice that I stated in my post. It’s still up to you to analyze and weigh things regarding this matter. I’m not against paid posts in any way. I’m simply stating facts about other bloggers’ past experiences and how people view blogs that contain more paid posts than the author’s personal articles. At the end of the day, the blogger himself is the only one who can and will decide what’s best for him and his blog. Mine is only reporting what has happened and what could possibly happen based on previous data.
May you find enlightenment about accepting paid posts. I know some conflicting concerns are bugging your thoughts at the moment. Re-assess your objectives in blogging and why you write.
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@ Reward Rebel,
Thank you for an honest comment reflecting your “outrage” on PPP. You see, since PPP is the King of the Paid Reviews division of blogging and Google is hot on their trails, it’s pretty obvious they have become picky of blogs to approve. Although I’m not accepting paid reviews for PPP at the moment, I’ve seen their rates and while it’s true they pay higher compared to other paid review networks, the requirements are also many (starting from the application process). Some bloggers even complain about the demands of many advertisers and like you, they feel like they are chained in the neck. But maybe it’s just a part of the pains a blogger must endure just to earn money. However, I still believe that writing what you really want, what you’re passionate about should matter more than paid ads (or what is dictated or required of you to write). A blogger’s satisfaction (knowing that his articles are read, reviewed and learned from) cannot equate to any amount of money.
If you really want to do paid reviews, may I suggest that you try other networks and perhaps, if things go your way (in terms of relevancy of products/services to be reviewed and rate of pay), then go for it. I will still pay your blog a regular visit knowing how good your articles are. I also wish you luck in your ventures and may you succeed in making money whether within the PPP network or somewhere else.
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here is my take on things:
if you created a blog for sponsored posts, then do sponsored posts on it. why not? if it is the reason why you created the blog in the first place? and then try to get as much from it. i am not suggesting that you accept 2$ opps… what i am saying is, if you feel that you are compensated well for an opp, why not accept it and write about it in the blog you dedicated for sponsored posts?
if you dedicated a blog just for the joy of blogging or for your readers, then let it be sponsored post free.
vienna’s last blog post..A Lose or Lose Situation for Posties
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@ Vienna,
That’s what I’m trying to find out through my experiment… It could still be a combination of both objectives - write good materials and monetize, but not up to the extent of abusing your site. Like I said, if you want to make a money blog, then do it. For the combination I’m referring to, there should be a form of control on the part of the blogger.
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At Smorty, I do not grab all the offers especially the adverts that has something to do with online casinos even if they pay higher. Basically, because I am not interested in casinos and I don’t have anything worth-reading to say about casinos.
elaine’s last blog post..World’s Largest Shopping Malls
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@ Elaine,
I agree with you… If you’re not interested with the opps offered, don’t grab them. Just wait for the right opps to come.
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True story.
I also can’t do three opps in one day. That’s sick! lol. Also, I always get blogger’s block eh. I need to go out and smell the air. lol.
Nice entry!
Question: bakit ganyan ang permanent URL mo ha? bakit number? ‘Di mo ba ni-SSEO itong bloggage mo?
Laarni’s last blog post..Ashes and Boracay!
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Laarni,
Again thank you for your opinion. As to the SEO thing, that’s ok. The title itself is optimized as well as the tags. I have developed a certain dislike for titles in the permanent URL. The whole permalink becomes so long so I stopped using that type of permalink. Also, if you update often, the search engines will crawl your sites better and you’ll get a higher chance of landing on the first page if the search phrase is right. In my experience, whatever is the type of permalink you use, the effects are the same. What matters most is the article’s content, keyword density and title for better search engine rankings.
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