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Freelance Blogging in 2015: What to Expect

Freelance Blogging in 2015: What to Expect

How’s this year looking for you so far?

Do you know what you’re doing and how you’ll grow your freelance blogging business in 2015?

It’s OK if you don’t.

It’s awesome if you do know, but it’s totally OK if you don’t.

I just agreed to get married this year, so I don’t know exactly what I’m doing in 2015 except that it now includes a wedding and a honeymoon. None of that was in my “goals for 2015” list at the end of 2014!

You don’t need to know exactly where you’re headed right now to make this year a success. And in a moment, I’m going to offer you a fat prize that will make 2015 your take-off year.

First, let’s recap where we are and what’s been going on. This is our starting point for a shiny future. 

A brief history of paid blogging

1994-ish to 2000-ish: Diarists went digital

Nobody was getting paid in the dawn of blogging. You had a few internet explorers posting their online diaries, and by the end of the millennium blogging software made it easy for anyone to start a blog using platforms like LiveJournal or Blogger. But blogging was a personal thing rather than a marketing tactic, and everybody’s budget was pretty much zero.

2001-ish to 2006-ish: Hello, bloggers

Blogs and bloggers started to get noticed for citizen journalism, political commentary and collections of helpful advice on topics like parenting, money saving or DIY. Some personal bloggers attracted ever-growing audiences simply by being 100% honest (and often slightly nuts). Advertisers and PR people soon viewed blogs as a rising opportunity for brands to get their messages in front of those audiences.

Traditional journalists split into two camps: blogging was either a new medium for serious journalism, or an abomination allowing biased reporting and self-obsessed drivel from any scoundrel with an internet connection. Newspapers added blogs or syndicated blog feeds to their ever-expanding websites, and WordPress made blogging easier with user-friendly content management, design themes and plugins.

2007 to 2009: Online audience attraction

Smart bloggers successfully monetised their blogs. Many other bloggers tried to earn an income from blogging and failed miserably, bringing in a few dollars a year through affiliate advertising agreements with Google or Amazon.

A few writers were hired specifically to blog by businesses that were ahead of the curve, but most of my work was for clients who called it website content or online article writing. They often wanted 10 or 20 articles to keep in a resource library, undated and organised by category. It was early content marketing, and I made roughly 10 cents a word in my first couple of jobs.

2010: Businesses got blogging

Business leaders thought Seth Godin was Internet God. Suddenly every business had a blog, or wanted one.

Everyone published frequent short articles with dates on, most recent first on the index page. They often called it their News section, and the articles ranged from salesy puffery to how-to tips and updates about what the company was doing. A lot of them were written by staff members with no blogging skills or training. Some corporate blogs were brilliant; others were terrible. I earned $50-$150 per post writing for them.

2011: Content was cheap (or not)

Then people got worried that a dated blog post might look, well, dated if someone came to it a year after publication. So they hid the dates on posts, but continued organising them by date on the index page.

300 words didn’t seem like enough to fit in all those keywords the SEOs wanted, so the “ideal” post length went up to 500 words. Lots of people got hired through crappy places like Textbroker to provide 500 words of keyword stuffing for $5 a shot. Google got annoyed with all the low-quality filler content, and launched the first Panda algorithm update. Meanwhile, blogs that understood the point of content marketing were making money and hiring bloggers at $100+ per post.

2012: Penguins and pandas ruled

Google smacked the SEO situation repeatedly and the value of blogging went through the floor — or through the roof, depending who you ask. 😉

Those who failed, failed hard. Those who’d always published informative, relevant, decently written posts barely noticed the changes, except that some low-budget companies dropped out and were replaced by higher-budget newcomers. Black hat SEOs hid in a corner, rocking and twitching, mumbling animal names.

2013: Be a Freelance Blogger was born

When I started this blog, “freelance blogger” was a relatively unknown job description, but I’d been making a good living at it for a few years. Blogging paid $3 to $300+ per 500 word post, according to the data from my 2013 reader survey.

Some writers saw a difference between “blog post” and “article” format, but businesses hiring online content writers often used the terms interchangeably. Most paid blog posts were based on use cases, tutorials or tips.

Posts could be as short as 300 words, or as long as 2,000+ words to please the SEOs’ new guidelines. But a blog post could be a video or an infographic instead. And a piece of 2,000+ words might be published as an e-book, white paper, or whatever. In short, we entered Tower-of-Babel territory when it came to categorizing content formats.

2014: Guest blogging was dead (or not)

At last, business websites caught up with their mobile-loving audiences and switched to responsive website design. Ghost blogging was on the rise as more and more business leaders saw a need to be thought leaders online. Guest blogging for SEO was over; guest blogging for fun and traffic was still cool. Google Authorship died for realz.

Readers and Google both liked long, in-depth written articles on websites, so many companies allocated more budget to getting them written.  I saw bloggers earning anything from $30 to $1500 for a blog post of 1500 to 3000 words, with higher rates for posts that include original quotes, screenshots, data visualisations or video.

Freelance blogging tips for a happy 2015

2015: The future of freelance blogging

Your client doesn’t have to be a big corporation to have a big blogging budget. Small businesses set aside surprisingly large amounts of money for top quality blog posts (which they may or may not call “articles”, “content” or even “copy”). Content marketing is the norm, so the priority is to thrill and inform website visitors.

Online audience attraction, again

Now that blogging is something everybody does, it’s stopped being cool. And when mom’s a blogger, teenagers look for something else to do — the next generation of humans will use the next generation of communication platforms.

But as long as the internet exists and there are words on it, people will blog. People will read blogs. They may be micro-blogs on Twitter, they may be one-view-only blogs on Snapchat, they may be long tutorials or single quotes. They may be called article libraries, online magazines, news feeds or whatever. Doesn’t matter.

Where there’s an audience, there’s an opportunity. Businesses will be interested. But attracting and growing an audience takes honesty, empathy and effort. And some companies will need help with that, at a wide range of budgets, so there’ll still be clients for freelance bloggers at a wide range of rates.

Win exclusive freelance blogger training

I want you to succeed as a freelance blogger.

I want this to happen for you so much, I might come back in a while and post a video here of me jumping up and down giving you the double thumbs-up. Yep, that much.

To give you every chance of success, I’ve already created two training programs that walk you through getting started and finding high-paying clients. But those training courses are closed right now, because I’ve been updating them both for 2015.

Before I re-open the training programs to new students, I’m going to celebrate Be a Freelance Blogger’s 2nd birthday on January 15th.

And I’ll celebrate it by giving away what we’ve been calling a “Be a Freelance Blogger scholarship” — one BAFB reader will win a free place in both the training programs, with personalised feedback and support.

The contest

For your chance to win this BAFB scholarship, write a short post or personal essay (250-300 words) on your reasons for becoming a freelance blogger, how your career’s going so far, and what advice you can share to help other freelance bloggers succeed.

The deadline for submissions is the end of January 11th.

We’ll announce the scholarship winner on January 15th and publish their winning post as part of Be a Freelance Blogger’s birthday celebrations.

YOU MUST CLICK HERE to submit your entry. If you post your entry as a comment on this blog post, it won’t go to the right place and it won’t count.

Feel free to drop a comment below and let us know if you’ve entered or plan to enter the contest. We’re won’t read all the entries until after the deadline, so it’ll be nice to get a few clues about who’s up for the challenge!

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Comments

  1. I remember most of this timeline! I started freelance writing in 2010 when getting paid 1 cent per word was okay with me and apparently everyone else. I remember the Google updates and how they immediately changed the blogging world. The thing is that I don’t see blogs going anywhere soon, and if they do, then content in some form is never going to die, so I think freelance blogging is a great career to have right now.

    And if it does die, then there are so many skills you can transfer to other industries. I never thought I’d like to do what I do now, which is a huge mix of communication, PR, advertising, social media marketing, and tons of other things that I’ve learned to love.

    I also think it’s cool that you’re offering a scholarship. I hope the winners use it well!

  2. This was fascinating! I first heard of blogging about 2005 and have wondered about the history of it. I hear a lot of people say the written word is dying, but I actually think there’s more of it now than ever. It’s good to know there are opportunities with small businesses. Congratulations on your upcoming marriage!

  3. First of all – Congratulations on your engagement.

    Also, thanks for your inspiring blog.

    This year I am trying to analyze my involvement in social media. While there is no doubt that you provide the freelance community with valuable information, other forums and blogs for freelance writers do not or are very repetitive. So, for 2015 I decided to focus my blog on clients, explain the reasons that freelancers make sense, what marketing changes are coming this year and more. Now for my unblushing plug: please visit my new site at:. http://www.alanedwardsfreelancer.com/. Followers and comments are welcome!

    • Thanks, Alan! Your site strategy sounds excellent. One thought: if you’re targeting the site to an audience of businesspeople who want to learn more about marketing, then the site title “Freelance writer for hire” may confuse your visitors.

        • Alan, if you want my opinion, your site’s URL and name should be the same. Your tagline, however, can say who the site is for.

          An off-the-top-of-my-head suggestion for a title and tagline could be something like:
          Alan Edwards, Freelancer: Helping Others Market Effectively Online.

          You should also add an About page so that people can get to know you and be clear on what you do. Also, offering a free ebook is a GREAT way to get subscribers!

          Best of luck with your new site.

          … And Sophie, congrats on your upcoming nuptials and anniversary! 😀

          Great summary post, too. 😉

          • Lorraine,

            Thanks for the advice. I am using Weebly and they only allow four pages before having to go premium. As soon as I see my first months metrics I will revisit this.

            I want everyone’s opinion BTW.

            Alan

  4. Let me start by congratulating you on agreeing to get married. It is a bold step with serious commitments. Best wishes.
    I discovered blogging and its power on 2011. I started just playing around and created several free blogs but never did much with it back then.
    Over time I have evolved from just writing to web design, social media and internet marketing.
    I believe there’s still opportunity for anyone willing to thread this path.

  5. Very inspiring, accurate overview. This is one of the reasons why I love this site. ALWAYS up to date, actionable information presented in a motivating way. Happy 2015 to everyone. : ) Looking forward to seeing us all make a difference. Sophie, you’re amazing.

  6. Great post Sophie,
    I enjoyed reading the history of paid blogging. You summarized it succinctly.

    BTW I submitted my essay for your contest. Fingers cross I win!

    • Yay you! I’m resisting the urge to peek at the essays before the deadline — I know if I look at just one, I’ll sit there all day reading them all.

  9. Congrats on your engagement! I didn’t know you’re just celebrating the 2nd anniversary of the blog, congrats on that as well:-) Looking forward to submitting my story. Also loved the history this post provided.

  11. Congratulations on the engagement and the anniversary! You’re doing great stuff here at BAFB, and it’s wonderful to hear that your personal life is thriving too.

  12. Congratulations on the engagement Sophie! I’m totally toasting to you for 2015!

    PS – I remember when BAFB was just a landing page! It was one of the first and most important freelance writing sites (besides Make a Living Writing) that really gave me hope about a freelance writing career. I’m proud to say that I’ve written for you guys (kudos to Lauren as well) and I continue to enjoy your content.

    Story coming soon!

    • Yeah, BAFB was a landing page for about 6 months – that’s how long I spent guest posting and creating the first ever Ultimate List before I published a post here! Thans for sticking with us, Daryl. 🙂

    • Hmm… if your need is *that* urgent, freelance blogging is probably not the immediate solution — you might not get paid for a month or two with some clients. Sorry to break it to you, dude, but ebaying all your unnecessary belongings will get you money sooner.

  14. Great to see that you are getting marry this year! You will be very happy and yet very busy with all the preparation.

    I am glad to pop in here and say hi to you now. Look like search engine will bring me to somewhere – Great!

    Will join in the contest!

  15. Congratulations, Sophie!

    I have to admit, I’ve seen a fair number of these changes, but from a very limited view. In other words, I tried to do a personal blog when that was cool, and even after it wasn’t, and failed. Multiple times.

    But that’s also why I love reading this blog! It gives me direction and inspiration as I bumble my way along into a freelance career. Plus, this is one of the rare places that I’ve felt able to share an idea and gotten feedback that helped.

    I’ll be entering your contest, and I definitely look forward to what you share with us this year!

  16. I entered the contest! Thank you for the opportunity. Congratulations on your engagement. Don’t let the wedding preparations drive you nuts. It will be your day so make it a fun day!

  17. Hi Sophie,

    First of all, let me congratulate on your engagement.

    I am a newbie to this site but it is already looking to be very useful. I have blogged for 2 or 3 years but now want to step it up a gear and go freelance. It is feeling a bit daunting right now but I am sure I can do it.

    Entering your contest is therefore a must for me so expect an entry before the deadline.

    Jo

  18. Yes!! Date set! Woohoo! I’m still suffering post-bride depression so please keep me up to date. Or if you need someone to vent to that’s an unbiased third party or need ideas, count me in. So excited for you!

    Yep, this timeline is perfect. I wish I would have made more of an effort to be a blogger and not a diarist early on. Coulda have had a massive audience by now.

    I’ve been sick since New Year’s, but I’m going to get an essay to you ASAP.

  19. Wow! Interesting stuff, as always.

    And to know that this is just BAFB’s 2nd anniversary is amazing!

    Thumbs up, Sophie, and congrats on your engagement.

  20. Congratulations on your upcoming wedding and BAFB anniversary!

    I see major changes to BAFB and it looks great!

    I can connect with your timeline but only post 2007 when I was first introduced to blog world. I still remember reading “Blogging for dummies” hand book. I was instantly attracted by the idea. I have seen a lot of changes in blog world since then.

    Hoping to make the most of 2015!

  21. What an excellent post! The blogging world can feel so overwhelming and hard to enter. The reminder that there will always be an audience out there is very welcome. I’m entering the contest and I look forward to reading the winning submission!

  22. Congrats on the engagement and BAFB 2nd anniversary ! I love the blogging timeline–I just got into the game last year, so I didn’t know very about the history of blogging.

    A BAFB scholarship!!! What a wonderful opportunity! I plan on entering the contest. Fingers crossed 🙂 Good luck to everyone who has entered. I look forward to reading my weekly BAFB post in 2015!

  23. Congrats on your wedding & the second year BAFB anniversary. I like the post, it is awesome.

  24. Happy New Year! Great post! I’m a newbie in freelancing job, so this reminiscence of blogging was fun for me 🙂 And, yes, I’m up for the challenge! 🙂

  25. Sophie,
    I must say, I am very excited about the prospect of freelancing… but knowing where to start is a bit overwhelming. I look forward to your emails each day and enjoy browsing the blog. To win your scholarship would be a dream as life has been more have to’s, instead of want to’s. Funds are low, but drive and passion are high. In case it isn’t obvious, I’m definitely entering. Congrats on your engagement! 🙂

  26. Hey Sophie, such a great overview of how blogging turned professional, thanks!

    I’ve been following you for probably a year and a half now (sharing and recommending you a lot tho, I’m probably your biggest fan in Serbia) and the first time I’m commenting is just to say – well, thanks for everything, but CONGRATS ON THE ENGAGEMENT, such a great way to enter a new year!

    Wishing you all the best 🙂

  27. Congratulations on your upcoming wedding and BAFB’s anniversary!

    I’ve always been grateful to you and your blog. I’m a better writer and blogger because of you and your trainings.

  28. Hey Soph

    Man, I would love to win some free sessions with you – how do you pen such poetic prose about a boring topic like the HISTORY OF BLOGGING? YOU ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    More importantly, congratulations #HUGSSS Your fiance is one lucky guy 😉

    BEST wishes
    Kitto

  29. Holy crap, only the 2nd birthday? For some reason I always thought you were around longer. 🙂 Apparently, I was there with your site from the beginning, and now that I think about it, I remember signing up on your landing page way back when.

    Congrats! (Also, I like the new layout!)

  30. I’ll throw my hat in to this ring! I’ve got nothing to lose. I’ll submit in the above link later today. Thanks for the opportunity!

  31. I just love your enthusiasm and true desire to help others, Sophie! You are such an inspiration and I always look forward to every post you surprise me with when a new email from you pops up in my inbox 🙂 Haha!

    You are just such a doll and such an optimistic person and I couldn’t be happier for BAFB’s big anniversary this month! I look forward to what you have in store for us as the new year unfolds 🙂

  32. WOW! Congratulations on planning such big changes in the new year!! Engaged is such a lovely word – your fiance is a lucky guy and I know you are going to have a very happy life together. How can you not?

    Like so many others above, I didn’t realize your blog was only two years old. You certainly have come a long way in a short time! Thank you for giving me someone to look up to and be inspired by. And the idea of a scholarship is too much to resist. Thank you for all you do!

  33. Congrats on your engagement! 🙂 I’ve been down that road (been married since 2010), and it’s fun and crazy, so just embrace it all!

    I took the plunge and entered the contest.

    I’m also glad to know that blogs are still needed in 2015. The internet audience is going to continue to grow and it’s a good thing businesses are recognizing that having valuable information is key.

    Great article!

  34. First of all, congrats on your engagement! It’s a big step in your life.

    And now I want to thank you, for inspiring me to write my first English text, for this contest. I don’t really hope that I could win, but just writing it down and sending to you is a HUGE step for me. Thank you!
    (And I apologize in advance for possible grammar and spelling mistakes, but you’ll understand the essence of it 🙂 )

  35. Many congratulations on your upcoming wedding, Sophie! So very exciting! I wish you a lifetime of happiness.

    I just submitted my entry, and I feel like I wouldn’t have had nearly as much to say on this topic if it hadn’t been for your AWESOME Freelance Blogging Success course! It has made such a difference for me.

    Looking forward to reading the winning essay!

    Warm regards,
    Sarah

  37. Great post Sophie! We in Bosnia and Herzegovina are in 2007-2009 unfortunately, but progress is visible.

    The contest is great and I am in!

    Congratulations on your engagement 🙂

  38. Hi Sophie,
    Congratulations on your engagement as well as the second anniversary of BAFB!
    Thanks for the marvelous overview of blogging – it’s fascinating.

    Thanks also for the first contest of 2015.
    I am submitting my essay today – all the best to all of us. 🙂

    (One of my goals for 2015 is to participate in all BAFB contests.)