How To Get Paid To Blog

Submitted by Writing Life on Fri, 2006-05-05 07:01. Writing

I love writing and I love getting paid to write. When I found out about a new service that would allow me to do that, I went straight to the site and signed up. The service is called Blogitive and this is not a scam. I have actually earned money from this site.

Signup is simple. Fill out a form, add your blogs and then wait for them to place appropriate phrases in the 'open offers' section of your account. There are three ways you can earn money.

The first is to be paid for a post. The blogger is given a phrase, such as Mother's Day Flowers, and a link to a website. There is also a web release related to the phrase. The blogger has to create a post around that phrase and include information from the web release. This is actually fun as I have to write about subjects I wouldn't choose (today's is truck racks, whatever they are) and make them sound interesting. It's a good exercise for a writer. It also solves the problem I have on some days of deciding what to post about. Inspiration can come in some unexpected forms. So far, I've been paid $5 a time for these posts. Not bad for 10 minutes' work.

The second is ghost blogging. Like ghost writing, this involves posting fresh content to a company's blog. I haven't had any offers on this yet. The third is comment moderation. Again, I haven't tested this bit yet, either.

There are two important things to remember when posting. The first is to use the link only once. The second - and more important - is to use the phrase exactly as given, even if it contains typos. If you're a grammar or punctuation freak, this may be difficult, but your post will be rejected if you don't do it their way.

Which Blogs Qualify?
When I started on Blogitive, only two of my four blogs made the grade. I don't think this has anything to do with the quality or location of the ones that were rejected, as I've spotted a few other bloggers on the same site making posts that I'm sure come from Blogitive. For the writer, it's probably easier to post on a general blog, though that depends on what your niche is. The more focused your blog, the greater the challenge in incorporating a random phrase.

How Much Have I Made?
I'm sure that's what everyone's dying to know. I don't think there are any restrictions on discussing my earnings, but just in case, I'll put it this way. I've made enough so far to treat six to eight people to Starbucks and cake (provided they're not greedy).

What About Referrals?
Bloggers can also make money by referring people to Blogitive, though this is not easy as there is no automated system. Bloggers who sign up need to leave a comment giving the name and paypal email address of the person who referred them. I've signed up under my real name so if people want to let me have the referral money they can use that and give sharon [at] doublehdesign [dot] com as the email address. This does not take anything away from those bloggers' income and gives me a nice little bonus.

Final word
Blogitive pays weekly so bloggers don't have to hang around for ages waiting to get paid - and they're pretty prompt on crediting for referrals, too. After a recent slowdown in offers, they seem to be flowing in again. Give it a try - it's easy money for talented writers.

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