A writer friend mentioned that she had read an article about a website, and she was horrified. The website is BlogMutt, a blog writing service. Their headline says “Weekly, all-original content for your business blog for $79 a month.” Sounds good. As you can tell by the (in)frequency of my blog posts, I could seriously use a service to add useful content to my blog every week.
So what’s the problem? At the bottom of the home page is a link to information for “Freelance writing jobs.” Follow the link and learn about “… a whole new breed of an opportunity.” BlogMutt sums it up in 2 sentences: “You write posts for businesses. If they like and use those posts then you get paid.”
If they LIKE AND USE THOSE POSTS THEN YOU GET PAID.
Ok, so the bottom of the pay range is $0 per blog post.
The top? I used a contact form to send a question asking about the pay scale. I got an answer back right away: they pay $8 per post. BlogMutt claims that 90% of posts are accepted, so there is only a 10% chance you won’t get paid at all. If 90% of your posts are accepted, you’re averaging $7.20 per post written.
BlogMutt has a point system for writers which can eventually qualify writers to earn more. But if my businesswoman hat fits properly, I calculate that a writer can never be paid more than $19.75 a post (minus whatever business expenses BlogMutt has per post), or BlogMutt would be losing money. Clients receive “all-original” content, so BlogMutt can’t sell each post more than once (which would be SEO suicide for businesses anyway).
Googling revealed that the required post length is usually 300 words. This is 300 words right… here. So posts are short at least. Some clients might ask for longer posts, or require more time for research.
At $8 for 300 words, each word is worth 2.6ยข. Not a lot, but (sadly) more than some sites pay. A writer could probably earn more than minimum wage if they write fast and if all of their posts sell. Still, you’d need to write 13 posts to (possibly) earn more than $100.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2010 the median pay in the US for writers and authors was $55,420 per year. Let’s see: to earn that on BlogMutt, you’d need to write about 27 posts every weekday for the entire year.
And before someone brings it up, you must be located in the US to write for BlogMutt. So much for the $8-a-post-is-good-pay-in-some-countries argument.
You might think that being a paid writer via BlogMutt will pay off in experience and clips to show to future clients or employers. The site pushes that angle. But if you are speed-writing short blog posts, will you be proud of the writing? Will future clients read them and appreciate your talent? Will you have time to hone your craft? Unlikely.
I want to hate the site, but really I’m ambivalent. On one hand, it devalues the work of professional writers who charge enough to earn a living wage (and are worth it). Fast and cheap posts probably won’t be well-written posts. And there is a chance that a post won’t sell, and the writer won’t get paid. That’s spec work, and I want to hold up garlic and a wooden stake and chase it away. On the other hand, it’s not as bad as some sites and might be a viable alternative to a part time minimum wage job for some people.
What do you think?
The whole value of writing a blog – and I think BlogMutt misses the mark here – is to create original content about what it is you do. I suppose, if you are a terrible writer you could outsource the writing, but that sort of defeats the purpose. Blogging is supposed to be genuine, from the heart. It isn’t advertising, nor is Facts upon facts. It is you and me communicating to an audience and possibly having a few followers. I write about all sorts of different subjects at http://www.BoulderRealEstateNews.com Some days it is a dining review, yesterday it was an update on mortgages. Feel free to bring your stake and garlic water, I think you will find my site is real and fun to read. Thanks for letting me know about BlogMutt, hope you understand if I stick to writing my own blogs. – Bob
I am a writer on Blogmutt and I can tell you didn’t quite catch the true benefit to a writer. First of all, those disclaimers of how much you earn are just legal markers. True if a customer likes your work they will buy it and true if they never do you make zero dollars but I can tell you from the Gods honest truth I make 50.00 a week screwing around! Seriously, one guy on there writes for hours and sells hundreds of dollars a day in posts. If you follow the rules and you post honest original material that is fairly good quality you will get paid.
Not only that they pay what they claim that you earned. They spell out for you exactly what you are earning and they pay you exactly what you earned, with NO MINIMUM THRESHOLDS! For all the customers who bought they paid. Other sites like to monkey jerk everyone around about your earnings.
The staff are always on the forums and answer both normal and video chat requests in emails.
True you are ghost writing but come on! You get a fair and pretty lucrative experience.
If you wanted to get posts from us I can aim you at the management and they can get you set up. You will get quality content and fill up your blog.
Thanks for your input. I appreciate you taking the time to write.
Thanks Jason for that 2 year old answer. I don’t seem to find anything in 2016? I’m still having a problem with that sentence..Subject “set” then use “lay” or “lie” (but not fibbing) Good grief!! I get ” you’re almost there, we know you can write, but try again!! Is there anyone out there that can just give this old writer, who honestly have had things published a HINT?! ๐
Thanks Donna
Actually, BlogMutt charges clients $89 a month for one blog each week. They pay their crowd-sourced writers $8 a blog, and clients generally prefer 350-500 words. At this time writers cannot earn more than the $8 flat fee, and if a client rejects the piece, the writer can tweak the article and offer it to a similar client. (I write for BlogMutt and have recycled over 60 of the 100 or so rejections. The rest I have used for other clients.)
With due respect to Mr. Gordon, bloggig isn’t about writing from the heart — at least not totally. It’s about adding value and currency (i.e. being up to date) to a site and getting the web crawler to find your site in the sea of white noise disguised as CEO. Not everyone can write or has the time, and outsourcing blogging is a huge business now. BlogMutt is on the low end of the business, but it’s a great place to start for new writers.
I appreciate your comments and your right to say them, but your overall put-down of Blogmutt is way off base.
First of all you backed up your opinion with BLS info on the “median income” for all writers. As it explained, that includes those who “… develop written content for advertisements, books, magazines, movie and television scripts, songs, and online publications…”
That means the stats are an average that mixes up the highest paid writers with the lowest, and most certainly doesn’t include those writers who had very little to no reportable income.
Instead of commenting based on a “A writer friend mentioned that she had read an article about a website, and she was horrified…,” why not give a more factual first hand accounting of the site. That might have included a little snippet about Blogmutt profit sharing, which no other similar online site offers.
At the very least you might have asked maybe one or more of the site’s writers how they feel. Many of us have written for a number of online sites. We judge Blogmutt against those other freelance sites and find that it offers a good writing opportunity for productive writers.
Last of all if you’re bashing low online pay, perhaps your post shouldn’t be next to an ad that offers $1 photos.
I just wanted to add my 2 cents, or in this case $8 bucks. I have seen many forums and articles that kind of look down on BlogMutt and its writers. Being one of them, among other sites, really makes me sad for a few different reasons. First of all, for many who lost jobs and can’t find another one immediately, or SAHMs, or retired people – BlogMutt is an excellent option. The ability to write at your own pace, on topics you choose, whenever you want is something that can appeal to many people. The site is friendly, supportive, and the founders and staff are amazing. That, I can tell you, is not something I have found at any other writing forum or site – and almost worth its weight in gold. The quality of writing I have seen on that site is as good or better than I’ve seen elsewhere. Let alone what I have seen businesses write on their blogs themselves.
If you think the pay is too low, that’s fine. If you are making more – fantastic. But please, realize that there are many writers there who are very happy with the arrangement, the pay, and site. And with good reason. Making it sound like an online writing sweatshop where you may not get paid is not fair and is far from the truth. No one has to work there – we do it by choice. Our working there does no harm to anyone else. We take nothing away from other writers.
Your belief that you don’t hone your craft, you don’t gain anything, and you learn nothing from it is far from the truth. I have gained much knowledge, experience, and skill writing there. I know others who have also gained much from the site as well. So, while it may not be for you – I believe your treatment and attitude towards the site and the people who write there is unfair, rather judgmental and a bit condescending. With a little research, you could have found many places where the writers have written about what they like about the site, why they write there, and how well they have done there. Perhaps looking into that would have given the article a little more balance, along with sources, forgive me – straight from the Mutt’s mouth. I would hope you, as a writer, would put more research into your other articles. Respectfully yours – A fellow freelance writer.
I’m glad to see that someone has discovered this post I wrote in February, 2013.
As I mentioned in the post, BlogMutt does pay more than many sites. It might be a viable choice for some writers, and I’m happy to hear from those who have had a positive experience with BlogMutt.
Don’t mean to pile on here, Betty, but I had to mention that your piece had a factual error that may have caused you to criticize on a false premise. Namely, your wrote:
“But if my businesswoman hat fits properly, I calculate that a writer can never be paid more than $19.75 a post (minus whatever business expenses BlogMutt has per post), or BlogMutt would be losing money. ”
As I pointed out previously, BlogMutt writers only get $8 a post.
I’m on your side here to the extent that we BlogMutt writers get only about 36 percent of the take for doing 80 to 90 percent of the work. It is, however, easy for me to criticize, because I don’t have the staff overhead, marketing expenses and need to generate a cash flow that will satisfy BlogMutt’s initial investors.
Given the great opportunity to access hundreds of clients who like our work, I’d be willing to settle for about 55 to 60 percent of the take. I really think $8 is embarrassingly nominal for any self-respecting writer. But eight bucks is eight bucks and it beats no income on a slow day.
As you can see, we at Blogmutt are passionate aboout what we do. We strongly belive in our site and what it stands for. Blogmutt is not a content mill or a spam factory, it is a community of Mutts who are all working together to form a productive system that gives the world quality content!
As mentioned earlier, level up high enough and Blogmutt will give you amazing options in the company! What other sites do that?
Weather you are looking for a content for a blog or site, or you are looking to earn while writing..”we are the ones who work like a dog to fill up your blog”.
Also, it has not escaped my notice that all of us blogmutt writers names link to nothing. Is that your doing?
While I have in the past been a staunch defender of the BlogMutt business model and convenient writing platform, I cannot defend their meager pay policy. Writers do 85 to 95 percent of the work and receive 35 percent of the proceeds for single blogs. The situation only approaches equity when clients order additional posts at $15 each, and the writer gets a bit more than half.
I’m not sure what you mean about “amazing options” in the company. When you get to Level 8, you get a stock option certificate, and Scott has admitted that the option is mostly a gesture of recognition, rather than a potentially huge amount.
I’m not advocating the generous split that Writer Access and Scripted offer writers. I would settle for 55 percent of the take (about $12 a blog) and write a heck of a lot more for BlogMutt than I have recently.
I think it’s time to hear from me because there are some perks mentioned above, but others that are left unsaid. I was forced to retire due to disability and struggle to do basic things. Living on SSDI is not easy. Fortunately, I have been writing for five decades, am well-educated and have two degrees and three certificates in fields that are hard to find in a writing pool.
I write for several content sites, but the first articles I write are for BlogMutt. Depending on the topic, it could take me an hour or a couple of days. Does it matter? NO, because there is no pressure when I write for BlogMutt.
This is not to say that I spend a couple of days on a single article because I can always refresh my batteries by writing something different at another site and come back to the BlogMutt post after that. Can you say that about your writing sources? I can because I write at BlogMutt.
Most consistent writers make it to Level 5 in 9-12 months. Once there, the “perks” pop in and include your LinkedIn badge, a high-quality BlogMutt polo shirt and shares of ownership in the company. Do the places where you write give benefits … or just a paycheck that is weeks or months in the making? I get these benefits because I write for pay at BlogMutt.
Can you go to a Forum and get answers, perspective or assistance from other writers? I can because I write for clients at BlogMutt. Can you write to meet a goal or challenge initiated by writers as you strive for the next level? I can … because I WRITE AT BLOGMUTT!
Depending on the company and their keywords, the research can be as easy or as hard as you make it. Every blog post I write has a learning component to it. Can you say that about the writing you do? I can because I WRITE AT BLOGMUTT.
I doubt that you would ever make the grade as a BlogMutt writer and I say this because your research skills are quite thin. You seem content with using “hearsay” as evidence to build a case against a company when you don’t know anything about it. I humbly advise you to do your homework before you write the next blog post for yourself – or anyone else.
If you read this far, thank you for hearing me out.
I think that most of you are missing the point. The article begins with a comment made by a writer friend who was horrified, not by Betty herself.
Betty then goes on to layout the information she found about BlogMutt, and sums it up by saying she wants to hate the site, but is actually ambivalent, and concludes that it might be a good choice, and better than others, for some people, but it is not for her.
I like the conversation this has generated, but any personal attacks, (I’m thinking of one in particular,) are out of place and unjustified.
My objection to Betty’s dissertation was that it was not factually correct. Specifically, when she says, “BlogMutt has a point system for writers which can eventually qualify writers to earn more,” she demonstrates a misunderstanding of how the site works. I started two years ago and have worked up to level 9 as a result of thousands of points. I still earn but $8 a post, and I don’t a bright future in earning premium bucks for writing for BlogMutt.
Also, and to repeat what I told Betty previously, her comment, “I calculate that a writer can never be paid more than $19.75 a post (minus whatever business expenses BlogMutt has per post), or BlogMutt would be losing money,” is also mistaken. Do the math: $89/month for each client subscription divided by 4 posts for month = $22.25. BlogMutt pays out $8 and keeps the rest.
Thanks for clarifying the points system.
Note that when I wrote the post, BlogMutt charged clients $79 a month, not $89.
^5 to all the MUTTS. I second all of the BlogMutt writers comments! There is a network of people there, including the owners, that far out weigh anything from other writing sites. Having cancer, doing daily chemo, and the stress that goes along with all of that, I didn’t want to write for a site that was going to cause me more stress. There are many days in a row when using one hand is a challenge, let alone both to type a blog. What I have discovered with the writers at this site is they are genuine, heartfelt, and helpful. That to me means more than any amount of money I could make elsewhere. I am grateful for every single writer there, and I know you would be grateful too if you used the BlogMutt service for your blog.
I have to echo what all my BlogMutt friends have said here. Yes, I said friends because that what we are. I came on board in March, 2013. Was I a bit apprehensive? Of course! Unlike the other writers at BlogMutt, I had zero writing experience on other sites and I really didn’t know what to expect. But you know what, Betty? This BlogMutt family has made this visually impaired lady feel so very welcome. I had a lot of silly questions and stuff that I needed help with–even AFTER reading EVERYTHING in the Help menu and no one–I repeat NO ONE–has ever made me feel stupid for asking the questions. Not once. Everyone there is extremely helpful, honest, sincere, encouraging and very kind.
When I had to suddenly slow up on my writing for BlogMutt towards the end of April and vented to the Mutts recently of the stress I was feeling with my husband who had a second small stroke in a year and that I’m to have in the future a cornea transplant that will cost me the sight in that eye, the support I received overwhelmed me to tears–and it wasn’t just from the writers but from the owner and support team at BlogMutt as well.
Scott, Courtney, Wade, Liz and Max all do a superb job at keeping BlogMutt running smoothly and don’t allow their customers to leave harsh or rude comments to the writers. The staff never pressures us to write–we set our own hours and write as little or as much as we choose. That creates a stress-free environment which is something I really need right now. Scott and the rest look out for us and, in turn, we look out for them by writing the best posts we can for them because we love what we do and we love working for BlogMutt.
You, Betty, probably think $8 per sold post is nothing. I, however, would MUCH rather make $8 per sold post at BlogMutt where the writers AND staff treat you with respect and dignity than on another site for, say, $15 where the writers and staff treat you like garbage!
I am also a writer on BlogMutt. I love it. I do not look at this as a full time gig, but it is definitely a great way to get paid to write. No, the pay isn’t fantastic, but if you search for companies to write for where you are familiar with the work, then you can cut your research time in half. And if you write a great blog, then chances are that you will get more work. I love that I get paid for my work, and the people at BlogMutt who do all the work behind the scenes are helpful and friendly. I certainly recommend this site.
Wow, what an informative post. I was thinking about partnering with them to write some work at an agency I work at. Then I saw the writer rates. Appalling! As a few writer myself — both full time and freelance — I would never settle for that low of an amount. Guys. Writers. People. You’re worth more.
It’s a shame you were so attacked over this, though I also find it a bit humorous. Someone riled up all the mutts somewhere.
Who let the dogs out? Who? Who? Who? Who?
Haha not makingn fun of you guys, just couldn’t resist that pun. It’s a cute site and comes across as very personal, but again: you deserve more.
Allison
With blogmutt, the problem isn’t just low pay, its not getting paid.
I had written over 200 blog posts for blogmutt over about 2 months when I logged in to find a message that my account had been locked and they “will not answer any emails regarding reasons for suspensions”. This means that $900 just disappeared.
I had a lower than average rejection rate, no plagarism and, though I don’t know every word of the terms of service by heart, I can’t imagine how I could have violated it in any meaningful way.
At this point, I consider blogmutt to be a scam.
Hi,
Interesting article as I’ve started using BlogMutt to fill my companies blog with relevant content.
Whilst I agree with the amount a writer earns is low, there are lots of other websites out there that advertise cheaper prices. It’s hard for US based writers to compete with overseas pricing and the bottom line is all some people will look at.
The problem I see is that the writers will vary in quality and you may not get a good writer again, unless they can look out for your articles.
I’m not aware of any sites that link bloggers to website owners, so I’m using BlogMutt to get my content. Perhaps if writers had a place to advertise through, it might be different.
Karl
Hi, I’ve been writing for BlogMutt for about six months now. I would like to say ditto to the above “Mutt” comments, and add something. I have sold every single post I wrote except one and that is because the client was suspended. Why did I sell all my posts? Because I am talented and people like reading my posts. Jon, If you wrote 200 posts and received 0 pay it is one of two reasons. #1 You skipped research on how the platform works and submitted all 200 posts to companies 25 plus posts deep. If a company only buys 4 posts a month it could be a minute before they even get to you. #2 You lack the talent it takes to write. I would like to say BlogMutt pays weekly, on Monday, rain or shine. I’ve submitted invoices on Monday mornings and received my direct deposit on Monday night. No issues, no run around. I am almost to level four and will start making more per blog. I feel optimistic. I believe I will continue to sell posts and I believe they will continue to pay me right and on time. Also, BlogMutt helped me tremendously on honing my skills. I am pretty new at writing for pay and they helped me with grammar, sentence structure, punctuation. Things I don’t remember from school 25 years ago. I am grateful for the time spent helping me and I learned a lot. Thanks for listening.