Turning Paid Blogging Into Supplemental Income
Nov 3, 2009 Blogging, Freelance Advice
I am a freelancer, which is the term I prefer over “work at home mom”. Calling me a stay at home mom is an insult. I had a career before having my child, and I’ve worked hard to have the liberty to work only for myself. I’ve been self-employed for many years now, but I also freelance in several fields including writing and web design. I also write web content, articles and anything else for private clients that come and go. Therefore the term freelancer best describes my working situation.
As I’ve mentioned on this blog many times, I write for several online publishers such as Associated Content and Demand Studios. I try to write for Demand Studios every single day, since their paycheck is consistent and always guaranteed. My other online writing gigs are more for fun. I can’t say that you can turn Associated Content into a steady and full-time paycheck. Maybe a writer or two would argue this, but I do not see it happening. It is still a fun writing gig and a way to make extra money. This month I expect to receive close to $500 for my October page view bonus from Associated Content.
Besides writing articles and content, I do paid blogging using this very website. I could start several blogs and run paid blogging on each site, but I just do not have the time. Still this single blog can make more than $500 a month in paid postings. The troubles with paid blogging are that every website has its own rules and payout schedules. The other problem is that you have to wish and hope that an advertiser will pay well. Advertisers do not always pay well for paid postings, sometimes they try to ask for everything and pay nothing.
Paid blogging however can be a great source of supplemental income. The time that I spent with my sick child, I was unable to work and had only enough free minutes to keep up with my e-mail. This affected my income but paid blogging payouts rescued me. I ended up receiving several payouts and meeting several minimum payout amounts, which gave me money when I needed it most.
I have done 65 blog posts for PayPerPost, and their requirement is having to wait 30 days for a blog post payment. Thirty days seems like a long time but it is a standard requirement across the board. The good thing about PayPerPost is that the payment is sent out on day 30, after a review and approval. There is no need to meet a minimum payout amount.
PayPerPost v4.0 comes from the same company that owns PayPerPost. This system is a little different, advertisers find you and make an offer. You write a blog post and after approval it is paid out in 30 days. However, you have to meet a minimum of $50 balance in order to withdraw the funds.
Izea, the same company that owns PayPerPost, also has SocialSpark. I like this system the best of all Izea brands, because it pays well and the blogging opportunities can be really interesting. After your paid blog post is reviewed it is paid out in 30 days, but this system has a minimum $25 withdrawal. So you have to wait for several opportunities to be paid out before cashing out.
I also use Sponsored Reviews, BlogToProfit and Blogvertise. I’ve never had problems with these companies but I haven’t had much in offers. The payments have usually been reasonable, but I’ve noticed a few advertisers trying to sneak in too many links for the price of one. Advertisers need to understand that we are trying to make a living too, it’s unfair to ask for 4 or 6 links in a single blog post and pay as much as they would for a single link.
Paid blogging payouts can take some time to meet. I’ll be the first to admit that I get annoyed waiting around for payments, but I also completely forget about them. Then one day I get e-mails that payments have been sent to my PayPal account! This week I was lucky to meet payout requirements for most of these websites. They certainly saved my behind when I needed the money and had no possible time to work. So paid blogging gets a big “Thank you!” and thumbs up.
If you are a writer for Associated Content, Demand Studios or any other content website, consider having a blog. It does not take much to setup a decent blog and start building up traffic. Monetize it and do some paid blogging, then use those funds for supplemental income. You can do wonders with the extra money that shows up in your Paypal account.
Tags: blog, paid blogging, payperpost, sponsored blog, sponsored post
