When Is It a Good Idea to Blog for Exposure and Not Money?
More and more writers are beginning to figure out a way to make money through blogging. While many writers have their own personal blog that might make a little bit of money, it is working with companies that can earn someone a full-time salary position.
If you’re a great blogger, there are opportunities out there to be a guest contributor for a particular company or their clients (this coming straight to you from someone who does it full-time).
The problem, however, is that getting the exposure and practice that you need to become a guest blogger isn’t always easy. In many cases, making this happen requires a writer to forgo making money. The question then becomes: Is it worth it in the long run to blog for exposure?
Why Blogging for Exposure Is Sometimes the Option?
Although blogging can be a fun activity, that doesn’t mean it isn’t time consuming. Blogging for exposure means that you might have to take time away from other work or other activities because it can be hard to get paid to blog if you don’t work for a company. In a sense it is a catch 22 because you usually need the exposure, but it’s hard to get it unless you work for a company that can pay you for your work.
This then puts bloggers in a tough spot. Because more and more blogs are offering links back to a website in exchange for content as opposed to paying writers (except this blog!), it leaves writers with little choice but to blog for exposure only. However, there are really two things to keep in mind before you quit your day job:
- Make sure that you consider your finances and the time commitment involved.
First, consider the financial aspect of the idea. It isn’t always necessary that you quit your part time job in order to make this happen (I was exaggerating a little bit above); however you do need to consider how long it’s going to take you to really make this work.
To really start building a name for yourself in the blogging community, you’ll want to regularly contribute to at least one or two sites, and you’ll want to try to have at least one article per week on sites across the web until you find a full-time gig (which could take a few months). Do you have the time to make this happen and keep a job that brings in enough money for your lifestyle? It’s something to consider.
- Make sure that you’re posting your content on the right blogs. Think metrics.
Although it may sound obvious, blogging for exposure is much riskier than blogging when you have no time or money to lose. You want to make sure that you’re really going to gain some good exposure if the website isn’t going to pay you. Talk with the editor and make sure that they are going to share your article on social media, and consider asking about their reader base. In most cases, you can do a bit of research yourself by checking out the number of tweets and Facebook likes found on an average post on that site.
In the end, it’s tough to say that writers should accept working for free because you won’t find this in many other industries. However, although it may be because of Google that writers are put in this position, Google has also opened up many more opportunities for writers. Yet another catch 22.
- Why You Can’t Achieve Success in Blogging Career?
Over to You!
What are your opinions about blogging for exposure? Do you think this is something that will benefit writers? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.