Kyle Hepp

October 1, 2008

Weirdly enough, I haven’t gotten any emails from people about moving to Chile in the past month. I have, however, received numerous requests for information on how to blog for a living. So, as usual, I just decided it would be easier to put up a post instead of rewriting the same information to everyone who emails.

First of all, let me say this — you’re not going to like what I have to tell you.

I got all my blogging jobs by luck. There really isn’t much of a secret. The first one I stumbled into and really worked my butt off until I got promoted to editor. After that every other blog I now work for came through a recommendation of a coworker. I touched a little bit on how I got started here.

So I know that’s not what most people wanted to hear. Everyone keeps asking me, what website do I need to go to, where do I find jobs? I don’t know, because I’ve never used a blogging website to apply for one. This: http://www.weblogsinc.com/ is Weblogs’ website where you can apply for blogs in the AOL network. I work for 3 AOL blogs (Yes, aside from Stylelist and Greendaily, I just got hired for another one that hasn’t yet launched!). Another website that was recommended to me by another coworker is: http://jobs.problogger.net/

I definitely recommend having a personal blog. None of the blogging jobs that I’ve applied for have ever asked for a resume. Everybody just wants samples. Of course, if you’re applying for a specific blog you should tailor your sample to the style of that blog. But, it’s also helpful to have a personal blog (that you actually update) to pass along so that the person hiring you can get a better idea of your own writing style. I think, especially if you have a personal blog that you update regularly, it also shows that you enjoy writing, that you’re able to commit to do it consistently.

Also, think about what you want to write about. Then read blogs on that subject A. to figure out what options are out there for you, and B. e-mail the blog owners of sites that you like with samples if you think you fit their writing style and just ask if they’re hiring. You never know.

Along the same lines, what has really worked for me is to position myself as an expert on one subject. I wrote about celeb gossip for about 7 months before I applied to a fashion blog. But rather than try to write about straight up fashion, in my samples I submitted I wrote about celebrity fashion and then did a cover letter type email explaining why my experience covering celebrities would help the fashion blog get more traffic. I now also cover celebrities living green and will soon be covering celeb related holiday stories. It may sound shallow, but I’ve always read celeb gossip — I know the life stories and dramas of every A through D-lister out there. Following them was a hobby for me and then when I figured out that I could make that work for me, it became a career of sorts (if you can actually call blogging a career). Also, I know a lot of people think they want to do this just to make a little extra money, but if you want to actually earn good money — trust me, you need to be a good writer and you need to love writing. People think this is an easy cushy job, but when you really get into doing this and you spend 12 hours a day on the computer writing, loving it is the only thing that keeps you going!

As far as figuring out which positions are legit and which are not, I don’t have a lot of good advice, but I would say definitely look for a blog that pays per story and not based on your traffic. That’s always a little shady and shows that they probably aren’t expecting enough traffic to be able to give you a regular salary.

Price per story varies. For short stories, say, less than 100 words (like the sort of thing I do for celebrity gossip blogging), $5-8 dollars is typical because these stories should take you no longer than 10 minutes to write. For longer posts like 100-300 words, it varies highly depending on who you’re working for, but I’d say normal pay is anywhere from $10-25 per post. And for over 300 words, personally, I wouldn’t do anything for less than $50. All my blogs pay to my U.S. bank account, one via check, one via Paypal and three via direct deposit. The big blogs usually have international options too, like wire transfers.

Also, don’t forget that since you’ll be subcontracted (you still fill out a W-9, but that’s it) YOU are responsible for withholding your own taxes. As a self employed person you WILL get screwed. There’s pretty much no way around it. What a normal person would pay if they’re actually an employee of a company…you will pay double. So depending on how much you’re making you’d have to set aside 20-40% for taxes alone. If you make under 79k, I think is the cutoff, then you’d be eligible for the foreign exclusion tax — which would then make you liable for paying taxes under the Chilean tax rules. So there’s no escaping it!

Cons of blogging: No insurance, no benefits, no paid vacation, no coworkers, lots of solitary days, when the dollar drops your salary drops (assuming you’ll be blogging for U.S. companies), no stability (blogs come and go and you’re not under any contract that obligates them to give you compensation for being fired), everybody wants parttime blogging jobs so there’s a lot of competition, I work 7 days a week, every week without fail or I won’t make the money I need to make.

Pros of blogging: Make your own hours, make as much money or as little money as you want depending on how much you feel like writing, take a vacation whenever you want, a U.S. salary goes pretty far in a third world country (assuming you’re living in Chile), work from your house and be comfy all the time, writing is way more fun than a lot of jobs I can think of.

Leave any questions you have below and I’ll respond in the comments! I hope this helps those of you who are curious or are hoping to get started in a similar career path. Also, Lori and Kristen (my coworker at 3 of the 5 blogs where I work), I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject since you two both work in this area too!

Also, for those of you who asked how to make money on your personal blog — I have no idea. If you find out the secret let me know, but I put so much time and effort into this blog but I can honestly say that I don’t do it for the money — I make all of $30-50 bucks a month, hahaha! So I’m definitely not the one to ask in regards to that topic.