Should blog writers be paid for the work they do or for their performance

Mar 06, 2008

In commercial blogging, what they call these days "pro-blogging" there is a very thin line that divides "writing" and "performance". Writing for blogs means simply generating content so that it can be published. Performing means, how much buzz individual blog posts can generate and how many page views or impressions can be generated for the blog as well as the advertisers advertising on that blog.

Gawker media, according to this post, pays its employees by their performance, not by virtue of being its employees; that means, you not only have to write content for Gawker media, you also have to write content that brings in more profit for the advertisers.

Is it right or wrong? Depends on the model your blog publishing is following. Your blog, in order to be profitable, surely has to generate traffic and traffic comes with high-quality content generation and non-stop promotion. Given that the writer produces high-quality content, whose work is it to promote the blog non-stop? Is it the employer’s job, that is Gawker media, or the writer’s job?

If the writer is supposed to generate traffic that isn’t Gawker media dumping the entire responsibility of the blog upon the writer who is just supposed to write quality content? I think for a writer who is hired to write blog content this can prove to be a great distraction. Promotion should be handled by another team and not by the writers.

Again, there is some content that can be easily promoted, for instance technology, gaming, programming, music, celebrity gossip, earning money, but other, less appealing subjects need strategic and targeted promotion. By solely holding the writer responsible for the page views the employer shrugs away from the responsibility. Would I take up such a job as a blog writer? Only if I’m paid lots of money (lots of money according to my standards). If I am both writing high quality content and promoting it I might as well run my own blog and earn greater rewards.

2 Responses to “Should blog writers be paid for the work they do or for their performance”

1. Shane: content writer
   March 7th, 2008 at 2:34 am
   Corporate media whores… Straight, plain and simple. The way I see it is writing is an art form more than many other aspects of promotion and marketing. By its very nature, writing is difficult to harness, and the results of writing are near-impossible to predict. This is just an example of people trying their damndest to leash something they’ve not got any real control over.
   Well, thats my opinion
   
2. Shane: content writer
   March 7th, 2008 at 2:36 am
   I guess the idea isn’t too bad in theory.. Except the part where they fire you if you don’t get your bonus!!
   

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