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Is Blogmutt a Dog?

July 27th, 2012 by Bob Bly

I was recently solicited by a company called Blogmutt; they offered to ghostwrite this blog for me.

Checking them out, I found they would charge a little under $20 per blog post and that they hired freelance writers to do the work.

If the writer splits the fee with Blogmutt 50/50, the writer is getting paid ten bucks per blog post — a pittance, to be sure.

I expressed my dismay at this to Blogmutt, saying that at this pay scale they are exploiting naive writers or wanna be writers — those who don’t have the resolve or smarts to get a fair fee for a fair day’s work. 

A Blognutt representative defended their pay scale, saying writers were happy to take it and it was better than working at Starbucks. Also that their clients were satisfied.

Am I right to think Blogmutt is the bottom of the barrel of the freelance writing game, paying subpar wages to amateur writers?

Or are they providing a valuable service to clients — and an opportunity to their freelancers to write and get paid for it?

What say you?

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This entry was posted on Friday, July 27th, 2012 at 8:51 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

87 responses about “Is Blogmutt a Dog?”

  1. Jim Logan said:

    From a cursory search, it appears a writer earns $8 per blog post. That’s not much 🙂

    It’s definitely not for me, but if people are willing to write for $8 a post and clients deem the work acceptable…best of luck to both parties. For those using the service, it’s probably a win/win relationship.

    That said…It’s the bottom of the barrel.

  2. Joel Heffner said:

    Unfortunately, I’ve seen many sites that offer even LESS for writers. Maybe we should call them scribblers instead of writers? 🙁

  3. Don Marti said:

    There are really two levels of “good enough” writing. The top level is what people will actually read. The lower level is what’s good enough not to be rejected from the Google index. If you’re filling a blog with low-cost entries, written by someone who doesn’t know the industry, you’re writing a blog to be “read” by Googlebot (for dubious Search Engine Optimization benefits) not for people.

  4. Kent said:

    Sorry, I don’t believe that.

  5. Jean Thompson said:

    I guess we all know the value of our work. Best of luck to those willing to work for $8/post. They won’t be around long.

  6. Michelle Alanis said:

    It is low, and I can’t imagine you would get quality work. That said, someone who would otherwise work outside of the home for minimum wage could make more money doing this, without expenses like gas and clothing for work.

  7. Robert Riley said:

    It’s a brutal life in the writing world. But the truth is, writers do not “deserve” more than what they’re paid if they don’t have the skills beyond commodity writing.

    Peter Bowerman talked about this subject here: http://www.wordsonpageblog.com/2012/05/writers-worth-two-what-you-dont-deserve.html

  8. Patricia Ogilvie said:

    As with all projects, “writer” beware… as long as there are writers who are desperate to get started, there will be opportunities for low wage or none – I know of other situations who only pay $10 or less! Writers – first gain inner confidence and see what magic happens!

  9. William Reynolds said:

    Beginning writers may assume that any work is good work if it builds their portfolio. The problem comes when they try to pull themselves up the ladder and discover that they’re glued to the bottom rung. Under-pricing yourself, even early in your career, can make it needlessly hard to earn a decent living. If you can differentiate yourself from the pack through specialized knowledge, related experience or a unique spin on the craft, you can set your own rates — and then raise them over time.

  10. TJ Martin said:

    I think the price discovery is a function of the times. Once Blogmutt becomes international, people desperate to survive will find $8/hr handsome. Believe me, $8/hr in some countries is a good wage. The real winner is Blogmutt.

  11. PJ Graham said:

    Wow, it’s like they didn’t even read your blog to notice you were a REAL writer. Bad sales research, if you ask me.

    That said, this would seem like the very bottom of the barrel to me. Can someone write enough blog posts a week to make a living? I divided my take-home pay by 10 and thought the number of posts required was ludicrous. And I agree with William above.

  12. Michelle Lopez said:

    Definitely bottom of the barrel. The sad part is that many new writers believe they HAVE to start at the bottom… which is just not true. As long as amateur writers maintain that mentality, places like Blogmutt will continue to exist. (It’s like which came first – the chicken or the egg? The writer’s poverty mentality or the cheap content mill?)

  13. Terri said:

    There’s a part that’s missing to this equation. Writers at Blogmutt write the blog posts and are only paid IF the “buyer” actually decides to buy the post. If not, the writer’s done the work for naught. The owner of the site is constantly defending that saying only 10% of the articles people writer are rejected and uses that stat to try to lure people in.

    Blogmutt, from their site, make it clear that at $20, you’re not paying for quality. So realistically, they’re admitting to paying writers $8 to write an “okay” article.

    For a while, I was hiring real estate description writers for a few big websites. I can tell the majority of the resumes I saw were from U.S. writers who say they’re happy to write for less than a penny per word. For ever 10 resumes I’d get, only two would say they needed at least 3 – 4 cents a word to make a reasonable wage. As long as the numbers of writers willing to accept that little remain this high, little will change.

    I think what was worse, of those who expect higher wages, 80% of them would flake at deadlines, and I’d never hear from them again. Those who expected the lower wage and were offered a position at four times what they’d stated for a pay scale did the job on time, every time.

  14. Bob Bly said:

    If the buyer is not happy with the post, he should give his comments to the writer, who should then revise accordingly. To simply reject the first draft and not pay means the writing is working on spec.

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  16. Jessica said:

    This is actually pretty high for freelance job. I checked it out and the posts are only 300 words. So think of it this way, you write three posts an hour that’s 24$. Not too shabby. At least not compared to other writing services like Textbroker where you can buy posts for less than 10$. How much do you think those writers are making?

  17. Brian said:

    Here’s an interesting article by a freelance person just on this subject.

    http://www.familyfreelancer.com/2012/web-wednesdays-6-experience-blogmutt/

  18. Martha said:

    We think it’s fine when a young kid starts out working at McDonald’s, so why not a young person who loves to write start out with Blogmutt? It gives them an opportunity to polish up their skills and be doing what they like. It’s also great for stay-at-home moms, shut-ins, invalids, or old-timers for making a little extra money. Writing comes out of the brain (and sometimes the heart), and unless you’ve got alzheimers, anyone with writing skills, can continue to write. Blogmutt fits the bill for them! I think they provide a necessary service.

  19. fred said:

    You realize that getting $8 for 300 words is almost 3 cents a word. That’s not really so very hideous, my friends.

  20. Nicole said:

    As a Blogmutt writer myself, many of these comments are uninformed. I can write anywhere from 2-4 posts an hour when I concentrate my writing on Blogmutt only. There are a few customers for whom the subject matter is easy enough (and fun enough) that I can write more than that. Blogmutt has provided me an incredible opportunity to get paid to learn the industry without having to go to school for SEO in order to do it. I now have my own content writing business with my own local clients. I am growing steadily. I continue to write for Blogmutt because it fills in the gaps and it’s fun. So, before you judge, you should try it out for yourselves. Oh, and Blogmutt doesn’t accept everyone. There is a writing test you must pass and if your writing isn’t up to par, you are let go. The standards are pretty high.

  21. Gary said:

    Well said Nicole! All these sniffy comments about pay. For goodness sake people, wake up…..it’s a slow economy out there. It’s not as though poor old Bloggmutt has concentration camps of writers shackled to desks. It’s a free market economy. I think Bloggmutt is doing a great job, they have identified a need and are filling that need. Over time they may be able to raise their rates and reward their best talent (they know if they don’t the talent will learn and leave – this is the same in any industry), they are a young company trying to grow and they don’t need to read such nonsense as I have read above. Have any of you ever worked in the hospitality industry?? Well go and have a look at that…do you think their crappy pay can be easily changed? Not as easily as you would think. Keep blogging Blogmutt and let them snivel away.

  22. Rachel said:

    Not quite sure I understand all the vitriol toward BlogMutt.

    First, is $8 a post really that low considering that each post is only 300 words? I agree with those above who say you can do 2 or 3 or 4 posts in an hour at that small size. That’s at or above $25 bucks an hour, which is way more than I’m making at my current job. Sure, you probably won’t spend 8 hours a day doing BlogMutt articles, but still, it’s a decent rate for something you’re doing on the side for extra cash.

    Secondly, if new writers keep that attitude of this being an “on the side” job, and hold realistic expectations (that this is just some extra cash, not necessarily a launch into a new career field) then what’s wrong with it? At the very least, if it feels unrewarding, there is absolutely no obligation to continue doing it.

    Heck, $25-ish bucks an hour any time I can squeeze in some extra writing time? I’ll take that.

  23. Barbara said:

    I can earn more per hour at BlogMutt than I do teaching, for which I have a degree!

  24. Tina said:

    BlogMutt are spammers and therefore on my “never hire” list.

    I got a “helpful” note from them today:

    “Here it is the first full week after Memorial Day… You want this to be a good summer for business and are wondering how to do it. Your web site looks great, but I noticed that your last blog post was May 2, 2013. You don’t want to spend all summer writing blog posts. I get it. Writing is hard! Luckily now you don’t have to! Blogmutt can get you your choice of original blog posts every week for only $89/month. Click to find out what Inc. Magazine and the Wall St. Journal already know: “We work like a dog to fill up your blog!” https://www.blogmutt.com. Thanks! –Scott”

    Um, actually we are overwhelming our blog with content at the moment. We posted 3 articles on Friday and have talent on staff to handle this.

    Nice try – thanks for playing, little doggie. *flush*

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  28. Alex said:

    The fact that many companies of the same ilk, crowd sourced, is no justification for slave wages. The fee is not like a pay rate of 10$ an hour because some articles need research on the product and company blog style. BlogMutt also buys outside work with low ball offers on other sites. When writers stop offering 500 words for 2-8 dollars then perhaps things will change. And Rachel, it’s 500-609 words.

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