I build and execute content strategies for sales-led B2B SaaS startups that sell complex, enterprise-ready solutions.
What's fair pay for writing a 1,500-word article? I see some variation of this question asked again (and again and again). โก ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ผ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐พ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ถ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป. โก Are you handling the whole enchilada/executing a content strategy you built? ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฒ Are you doing the front end work of identifying the topic and angle and building your own content brief? ๐ฒ๐ฒ Are you executing a brief someone else built? ๐ฒ (๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ด ๐ช๐ณ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐จ๐ด, ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ตโ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ท๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ญ๐บ.) Are you speaking to C-level leaders? ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฒ Are you speaking to experienced knowledge workers? ๐ฒ๐ฒ Are you speaking to entry-level employees or a consumer audience? ๐ฒ (๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฃ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ถ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ถ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด.) Are you securing external subject matter experts? ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฒ Are you interviewing internal subject matter experts? ๐ฒ๐ฒ Are you writing based on what you find online? ๐ฒ (๐๐ฏ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐จ๐ถ๐ณ๐จ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ด ... ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ.) Are you writing about engineering or manufacturing? ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฒ Are you writing about management or MarTech? ๐ฒ๐ฒ Are you writing about makeup? ๐ฒ (๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ?) Are you a subject matter expert with a big audience? ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฒ Are you a subject matter expert? ๐ฒ๐ฒ Are you neither of the above? ๐ฒ I could go on ... but you get the point. "Fair" could be $75, or it could be $3,000+.
All of these reasons are why I hate per-word pricing (and hourly work for that matter). Value, value, value. Value is everything, and that's what should determine the price. There are topics that I've spent years on and have written tons of articles about. As such, I may be able to spend 4 hours writing 1,500 words about it, where someone else may need to spend 15 hours, as well as 2,000 words because they add fluff to mask a lack of experience. Should I be paid less in this case? Of course not! I don't price my services based on the "amount" of work I produce, or how long it takes me. I price it based on the value it brings to the customer.
Well said. Good content takes time, subject matter expertise or research to glean those expertise, strategy, and skilled writers All of these combined are often time-consuming and somewhat expensive. Content marketing and PR firms often charge $150-250/hour or equivalent And a 1,500-word blog post may well take 10 hours to research, write, and edit, not to mention distribution and repurposing But too many firms get on the phone with me and say, "Our content is junk" Understandable โ maybe they paid for it at a time when they couldn't pay someone serious to do the job But if you do have the money โ and you spend that money on serious professionals when it comes to sales, engineering, and finance โ don't skimp when it comes to content Your prospects and customers will thank you. And the content will pay for itself
In the world of thought leadership, one of the criteria that I see is whether the core ideas and supporting content (stories, data, examples) are already codified. Let's call that Option A: You have those pieces in place, and now you need a writer to stitch them together. It's still real work, but it's manageable. That's a totally different task than option B "we'd like a piece of thought leadership on 'topic x' can you research that, form an opinion, and write something super smart for us? Oh, and we really don't have SMEs on this topic you can interview." That's a headdesk scenario.
There's no such thing as "fair." The price for everything if whatever someone else is willing to pay.
$350/1000 words is the easiest way to price it.
Such an interesting and nuanced breakdown of how different deliverables are priced and how writers can get paid fairly. Iโve observed a wide range from $200-$1,000 with a lot of inconsistencies in deliverables. Hope this helps writers charge what their services are worth ๐ช
I can tell you what's not fair...paying by word. It makes no sense.
I have had people offer me $25-$45 for a 1500-word post. Is that โfair payโ by any standard?
I really like this a lot, Erin, although I'd say that $75 is rarely, if ever, going to be fair for 1,500 words.
I build and execute content strategies for sales-led B2B SaaS startups that sell complex, enterprise-ready solutions.
1yAnd then of course: how much VALUE is this article expected to bring in over its lifetime? Is this going to drive solution aware prospects to raise their hand and request a demo? Is this going to drive a high volume of problem aware prospects to sign up for a freemium offer?