Freelance Blogging: How to Get Paid $200-400+ Per Post

Today, I want to address a couple questions I’ve gotten a lot about freelance blogging:

• How in the HELL can I CONSISTENTLY command high rates for freelance blogging gigs?

• What’s the difference between a freelance blogger who gets paid $30 per post and one who gets paid $300+ per post? Luck? Years of experience?? Some super special secret I haven’t heard of yet??!

Well, the short answer is this:

Niche Marketing+ Blog Post Copywriting Skills = $200-$400+ per post freelance blogging!

…That’s it.

That’s what you need, friend.

But of course, I’m going to go a lot more in-depth than that in this blog post.

Keep reading, because we’re going to cover exactly what you need to do to make $200, $300, 400+ per post as a freelance blogger!

First, I’ll tell you a few things you DON’T need to get paid well to write blog posts:

1. A fancy degree
2. Years and years of experience
3. A resume with lots of big-name clients on it

I made $5,000 total in one month by month FOUR running my business full-time.

(See a video breakdown of EXACTLY how I got clients each month right here!)

Yes I was still a beginner, but I STILL made a GREAT living since I approached it the right way!

So, know that, even as a beginner, you can make an AWESOME living as a freelance blogger and $200-$400+ per post…

IF you follow the steps you’re about to learn. 🙂

Let’s get started, and we’ll break down how you can get your niche marketing and blogging skills on point.

Freelance Blogging: How to Get Paid $200-$400 per Post as a Beginner

STEP ONE: NICHE MARKETING AND POSITIONING

Let me start by saying this:

You wont become a highly paid freelance blogger quickly by fucking around with $30 gigs Upwork or selling your writing for $5 per piece on Fiverr.

That’s just basic math.

You need to start a REAL freelance blogging business.

…With a REAL business website and marketing plan!

And everything – from your site to your samples and social profiles – should work together to position your expertise in a SPECIFIC area to a SPECIFIC target clientele.

AKA:

You need to PICK A NICHE and MAKE IT YOUR BITCH.

For example, let’s say you niche down and become a Tech/IT Freelance Blogger.

Here’s how you’d approach marketing yourself (“making your niche your bitch”):

—-> 1) YOUR WEBSITE

The SECOND a client lands on your site, they need to know you’re the perfect fit for them.

Make sure your niche is clearly visible on your home page.

I recommend putting something like “I write IT/Tech blog posts for _____ businesses.” in a big ass headline.

You also need to tailor your website content to your target client.

I mean, a solopreneur who wants blog posts for their business is going to have some different pain points than a big, national business.

That’s why it’s so important to niche down further than just “blog post writer.”

When you know exactly who your target client is, you can tailor your marketing efforts to them.

And that, my friend, is key to getting paid the big bucks for your services.

Another part of your website you should tailor to your niche?

Your portfolio.

Hear me when I say: clients don’t give a buffalo’s butthole about how many blog posts you have in your portfolio.

What they DO care about is seeing RELEVANT work.

So, instead of listing off all of the 25+ pieces you’ve ever written, go through your portfolio and choose the BEST pieces that are also the most RELEVANT to your target clients.

Here’s a screenshot from my past freelance writer website, where you can see that I only had 6 pieces in my portfolio:

Why set it up this way?

A few reasons:

• I’ve shown variety – the RIGHT way. The Clearvoice piece is short and has a lot of personality. The Photoslurp piece is long and more in-depth/data-driven. BUT… all of the posts in my portfolio showcase my *MARKETING BLOG POST WRITING EXPERTISE*… perfect for my niche!
• Clients aren’t going to read all of the blog posts I’ve ever written, so I keep the number of samples small. Seriously – they’re way too busy for that shit. So I’ve narrowed down their options by only showcasing some of my best work. It’s strategic. They only see exactly what I want them to see.
• A focused portfolio establishes me as a niche expert. What if I had 2 blog posts about marketing, 2 about feral cats, and 2 about how much the Game of Thrones finale sucked (tbh it would take more than 2 blog posts to rant about that anyway lol)? Clients who wanted blog posts about marketing wouldn’t see me as a marketing expert anymore – they’d see me as more of a generalist. Again, you don’t need variety in the subject matter you write about. It’s all about positioning yourself as the niche expert your clients need.

Once you have your freelance writer website set up this way (even if the only work you have is self-published pieces), you can start pitching and cold emailing.

—-> 2) YOUR SOCIAL PROFILES

Whether you’re marketing yourself on LinkedIn, Twitter, or some other social media site, your niche expertise needs to be CLEAR.

Just like with your freelance writer website, your target clients should understand that you specialize in EXACTLY what they need help with when they land on your profile.

So for example, if you write B2B/technology blog posts, you want your social profiles to say something like this:

Freelance B2B & Technology Blog Post Writer

Not this:

Freelance Blogger

Why?

Because when high-paying clients search for writers on social media (clients do this a lot, by the way – especially on LinkedIn!), they aren’t using “freelance writer” as their search term.

They’re looking for someone who can help them with SPECIFICALLY what they need.

And you want to be the writer who pops up.

Don’t underestimate the power of using keywords in your profiles. Just doing this on LinkedIn has landed me SO many opportunities – and I’ve heard many other writers say the same!

—-> 3) ANYWHERE ELSE A CLIENT MIGHT SEE YOU ONLINE

For example, in your guest post bios.

You don’t just want to say that you’re a writer – you want to mention what you specialize in and what kinds of businesses you help.

That way, if the client comes across you online, they know right away that you’re the perfect fit to write for their business.

Bottom line:

To get paid well for freelance blogging, go “all in” on your niche, and market yourself as a writer in that specific niche.

I’m not just saying this from the perspective of someone who has worked as a freelance blogger for a while.

I’m also saying it from the perspective of someone who has hired writers and referred clients to other freelance writers/bloggers.

I can pretty confidently say this:

I will NEVER, EVER refer a client to a writer who doesn’t have a clear niche.

Because the clients who reach out to me aren’t looking for a generalist.

And I’m not looking to refer them to a generalist who “might” be able to help them – I’m looking to refer them to a specialist writer who can help them with exactly what they need.

My thought process is usually:

“Ooooh, Sally would be a perfect fit for this IT writing because I know she specializes in IT and Tech writing! I’m going to refer this client to her right away.”

Feel like you need to grow your niche knowledge before you can charge more?

You don’t need a degree, but you can definitely benefit from teaching yourself something SPECIFIC that will benefit your career.

For example, do you understand blog post writing but lack SEO knowledge?

Download my free checklist on how to optimize a blog post for SEO right here (so you can offer your clients SEO optimization and charge more!).

Do you lack confidence in the industry you’re specializing in?

Spend some time studying your niche industry.

In other words, don’t just learn “writing.”

(Lots of writers waste SO much time on this when they should really be learning something more specific like “blog post writing!”)

Learn to become a BUSINESS owner and focus on studying whatever you need to learn to grow your business.

“Content strategy” or “SEO optimization” or “marketing in the finance industry.”

Master every aspect of your niche – the content type AND the industry – and you’ll be well on your way to charging the big bucks for blog posts.

Now, we’ve talked about the MARKETING side of becoming a highly paid freelance blogger.

So, let’s shift and talk about the BLOGGING SKILLS you need.

>>>> PSST! If you have no experience (or your only experience is shitty “clients” who pay pennies per word) and you want to learn how to build a REAL freelance writing business from scratch, take my best-selling course, Killer Cold Emailing, to learn how to pitch your way to your first $1,000 and beyond! <<<<

 

STEP TWO: BLOGGING SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE

Let me be crystal fucking clear here:

Being a “good writer” is not enough to get paid $200-$400 per post freelance blogging. You need to understand how to create blog posts from a marketing perspective – AMAZING blog posts that get results for your clients.

Imagine this:

You just opened up your very own dental office.

You’re looking to make your office known in your local area so you can get more patients and make more money.

You decide to do this by hiring a writer to create blog posts for your dental office website.

Let’s say these are your three options:

• Writer #1: A generalist freelance blogger
• Writer #2: A freelance blogger who specializes in dental writing
• Writer #3: A freelance blogger who specializes in dental writing and has a proven track record of getting results for dental offices / loads of glowing testimonials from dentists on their site

Who are you going to choose?

…Well, duh.

Assuming your have your head screwed on correctly, you’re going to choose option three every damn time.

Even if the generalist is better at “writing,” you WON’T CARE.

They could have Neil fucking Gaiman level writing skills, and it wouldn’t matter.

Because as a dental business owner, you’re not paying for “writing.”

You’re paying for someone who can help you get more patients for your dental office so you can make more money.

And writer #3 is going to be the person you trust to do that.

What does that mean for you?

It goes right back to the beginning, when I told you what you need to become a highly paid freelance blogger.

I’ll say it again:

Business Marketing/Positioning + Blogging Skills/Knowledge = $200-$400 per blog post

Writer #3 clearly has business marketing/positioning AND blogging skills/knowledge.

They’re clearly marketing themselves as a niche dental writer AND they have PROOF of their skills via client testimonials and results on their site.

The main takeaway here:

Not only do you need to learn how to market yourself as a niche writer – you need to learn how to write blog posts that get RESULTS for your clients if you want to bring in the big bucks.

So, what exactly do results-driven blog posts entail?

Most of the blog posts I’ve been paid hundreds of dollars to write have been “ultimate guide” posts.

Posts like this one, that have LOADS of actionable advice and break down EVERY step of whatever the reader is trying to achieve.

They often include lots of step-by-step instructions, screenshots, details, data, and plenty of useful takeaways for the reader.

This isn’t always the case though.

I’ve been paid hundreds of dollars to write 500-700 words before. Because those words were tied to a specific RESULT for the client and because I TARGETED the right niche client.

The reason I got paid so well is because I know how to write blog posts that drive results like:

• Traffic
• Email subscribers
• Social shares
• Greater industry authority
• More business and sales

That means YOU need to know how to write blog posts that get results for clients AKA blog posts that are created from a marketing perspective (not just “good writing” or “words on a page”).

THESE are the blog posts that clients will pay $200-$400 for!

That means having a deep understanding of stuff like:

• Basic SEO optimization
• How to choose a headline that’s going to boost traffic to the post (this is KEY and can mean the difference between a viral post and one that gets ignored)
• How to format your post for readability
• How to structure a post to keep people reading (screw this up and readers will leave your site before they even make it through half your blog post!)
• How to become an endless supply of the BEST topics readers can’t resist

Because let’s face it – writing blog posts from a marketing perspective ain’t what you learned in English class.

You need to have a good grasp on spelling/grammar, sure.

But you can’t JUST be a good writer and expect to get results from your blog posts.

You need to understand the business and revenue IMPACT your blog posts are going to have on the client’s business.

Now, here’s one of the most important things to know about freelance blogging:

When a high-paying freelance blogging client ($200-$400+ per blog post) hires you, they’re *not* paying for words on a page.

They’re not even paying for “blog posts” really.

What they ARE paying $200-$400 for is the BUSINESS RESULTS of those blog posts.

If you want to be paid $200-$400 per blog post, you MUST know how to write results-driven content.

No exceptions.

—-

Not sure how to write blog posts from a marketing perspective?

Don’t feel comfortable selling yourself as a writer who can get RESULTS for clients?

Want to feel CONFIDENT AS FUCK when sending a client quote for $200-$400 per blog post?

I’ve got a little somethin’ for ya.

It’s my blog post copywriting course:

FUCK YEAH FREELANCE BLOGGING!

In this awesome new course, you’ll learn how to create blog posts that you can charge clients $200-$400 EACH for!

Blog posts that drive business results, like traffic, social shares, and leads.

You’ll also learn about working with clients as a freelance blogger – how to research and master new niches, how to deliver your deliverables, how to get RESULTS for your clients, and more.

Bottom line:

The FUCK YEAH FREELANCE BLOGGING course will help you get your freelance blogging skills to the point you can CONFIDENTLY charge $200-$400 per post!

(Instead of almost shitting yourself anytime you send a quote for even $50 because you feel unsure that your writing is worth that much.)

AND the course includes a private, students-only Facebook community where you can hang out with other writers and get your blog content strategy/marketing questions answered!

Click here NOW to learn more and enroll so you can put yourself on a path to making more money while working less!

See you inside Fuck Yeah Freelance Blogging. 🙂