Say Yes To Pro-Bloggers

I was recently approached by someone who said “I hear that some companies pay people to blog for them.” Granted, this person was not in “the industry,” however, I was surprised to hear the question.

Yes, there are many companies and organizations paying people to blog for them – some as “ghost bloggers” and others are capitalizing on the name certain bloggers have built for themselves, hoping their business blog will glean some of their traffic.

Why Pro-Bloggers are Vital

A blog should really your social media hub, bringing all of your social media sites together so visitors can join you in the formats – or on the social networks – where they are most active. Your blog should be stimulated and managed with strategic attention and care. Pro-bloggers are an asset to any company or organization that just doesn’t have the capacity to regularly feed the hungry content beast that every blog can be.

Savvy pro-bloggers and social media strategists can help you develop important documents such as:

• a blog strategy, theme and name;
• a blog editorial calendar;
• internal blogging guidelines for anyone who might blog or guest blog;
• external blog terms of use for visitors to the blog;
• blog disclaimers and other policies.

Developing blog policies and guidelines in advance is critical to effectively managing your blog in the long run.

Without a blog strategy in place, you can cripple your social media hub. Without understanding how to properly integrate your blog with your social networks, microblogs and media sharing sites, the rest of your social media marketing efforts can float aimlessly in the ether, disconnected, and waste your time, energy and money.

How Much Does a Pro-Blogger Cost?

Speaking of money, every blogger is different and pay depends on their experience, reputation and the type of blog posts you’re expecting. I’ve heard people paying anywhere from $5 per post for simple, repurposed content to $100+ per post (or highly technical or research-laden, industry-specific posts.

On average, $20-50 per post seems pretty standard for professional bloggers. That said, if you expect article-length posts, you may have to pay per word although I haven’t personally heard of bloggers charging magazine-type prices.

If a blogger has a high profile and a built-in following, they could command a higher blogging fee. If they are just starting out, unless they have stellar writing credentials, they’ll probably be comfortable on the lower end of the scale just to get some credible portfolio work online.

Say Yes to Pro-Bloggers

If you want to keep your blog alive and thriving, don’t underestimate the power of the pro-blogger to help you attract and engage a loyal audience. That audience can translate into customers, constituents, funders and fans. A good pro-blogger is worth every penny.

<!–P.S. For anyone interested in pro-blogging, a great source of ideas and information is Problogger.net, owned by Darren Rowse, the King of Pro-Blogging who has a blog network, b5media, that hires professional bloggers for a variety of themed blogs. Also read this post on Social Media Mama.–>

Have you hired a pro-blogger? Why or why not?