The New York Times has an interesting write up with respects to blogs as a source of income. I’ll let you read it over here — suffice it to say that it is certainly possible, although it can be enormously challenging. Also big props to Jeremy Wright and the folks over at b5media for the mention in the article, as Jeremy’s quoted in how some of his most successful bloggers are doing. What is kind of interesting, however, is what the article *doesn’t* mention, which is a forgotten angle on this business of blogging for a living — and that, of course, is the perspective of “off shore” bloggers.
The topic of moving creative content off-shore is a topic that hasn’t yet reached any kind of critical mass amongst bloggers, but I predict it one day will. The NYT article, for example, mentions how its possible that some bloggers are making somewhere in the range of $250 per month as an average. Yep — certainly hard to live off of. Even if you’re working at, let’s say 10 of these such blogs a month, earning $2500 can be a meagre set of earnings for the amount of work that it requires.
But what if you live in a place where the cost of living is low — and, I mean *really* low, compared to the United States?
And what happens if you live in a place where English just happens to be an official language?
Well, you might do all right on $250 USD per month.
For those bloggers restricted to the North American blogosphere, I ask you to turn your gaze east — far, far to the east. In places like the Philippines, the blogosphere is alive and well, and, might I add, kicking ass. I have quite a bit of personal experience with Philipino bloggers as one of them as the Tech editor of b5media (where DJI resides), Jayvee Fernandez, the former editor of the BlogHerald was a Philipino blogger, Abe Olandres, and the current assistant editor of the BlogHerald is a Philipino blogger, J. Angelo Racoma.
I’ve had a chance to work with bloggers from around the world, and I’ve got to say that, pound for pound, bloggers *not* from North America, but who are from areas where English is an official language, can write just as well as their North American counter parts, and are just as hungry for blogging jobs where they can find them.
India is another good example, like the wildly successful Amit Agarwal of Digital Inspiration.
In addition to bringing a different perspective to their blogging, the most important difference is not that they’re willing to settle for less — but that the current standard of blogging pay is more acceptable to them. The return on their time and effort is simply more worthwhile.
And if blogging can be a solitary and lonely activity which requires a great deal of upfront personal capital to develop your own voice, your own brand, and more importantly, experience with blogging competencies — well, I could see how it would be easier to stick with it if what you were being paid was worth more.
Is the opposite true of bloggers living in places like Europe? Do they have to work harder for their blogging dollar? I suppose, if they’re being paid with rates on this side of the Atlantic.
But the New York Times asks the question — “Can Blogs Become a Source of Jobs?”
I think the answer is more nuanced if you look at blogging from a global point of view. And I think that for bloggers who are being paid in American dollars, the answer is a more convincing yes for those living in places where the standard of living is lower — and they get a higher return on their time and effort. Certainly with respect to quality — of writing, of work, of effort — my experience is that they’re *at least* on par with their North American counter parts.
I guess the bigger question is that as blogging evolves as a global phenomonon AND as a genuine business enterprise, will we see more and more content creation move “offshore?”
And if it does, what will happen when the North American blogosphere takes notice?
32 Comments
I’m from Croatia, but my case is a bit different than most because I’m studying (among other things) to become an English language and literature professor, so I don’t experience the language barrier.
As far as offshoring goes, well I could dig into a subject which is not often mentioned, and that’s the fact that blogging rates (this does not at all include any of my current endeavors, I’m talking about the industry standard) are very, very low – even if your cost of living is significantly lower than that in the US, you’re still gonna have to do a LOT of blogging to earn a decent living.
I totally agree, Stan.
On the other hand, I think a lot has to do with the areas that your blog is in. Health, celebrity and gadgets? There’s a lot more interest — and that will affect natural search and everything else — in those areas than, say, Web2.0.
But back again … if you’re living in a country where the standard of living is a fraction of that of North America, I think we can agree that it makes a difference.
t
“Health, celebrity and gadgets” – you guessed two of three my future projects ((:. Now if only I had time to actually write on them…
Yeah, you’re right, there are countries where a $100 is a fortune, and I guess there $10 per blog post is a very, very handsome salary. Croatia’s average pay is around $1000 bucks, and to get that you already need to write 4 articles per day (weekends excluded), and coming from IT journalism, I can tell you that this is nearing the upper limit of the amount of quality output one person can daily do.
For a company that specializes in hiring bloggers to work for companies, I hope this offshore idea comes later than sooner. I am not sure I could compete with people that will work for peanuts. I think we are just now seeing blogging salaries beginning. The good bloggers and those that are doing the best for their clients will rise to the top and get top dollar. Then when offshore bloggers undercut the local people, it will really hurt!
Thanks for the shout-out to us Filipino bloggers, Tony! Yes, our blogging incomes get us laid by tall tan tropical goddesses around here. :)
As always, it gets back to content.
Will the offshore bloggers be able to do an equally good job when the topic is not IT or gadgets, but career advice, childrearing, politics, etc?
Yup, blogging has helped me get through with school. :)
Aside from the 3 mentioned “big-time” Filipino probloggers, there are also other bloggers from the Philippines who are earning more than enough to sustain the cost of living in the Philippines. While there are also some who makes blogging as a part-time endeavor (that is they still maintain a day-job), like myself.
And yes, more often than not, these Filipino bloggers and other Asia-based bloggers are sometimes if not often “at par” with their North American counterparts.
Thanks for mentioning us, as an example of how blogging can be a source of job.
And yes, I’m one of those Filipino “offshore bloggers” though not as popular as Abe, J. Angelo and Jayvee.
I love Phillipino bloggers.
To be honest, as long as a writer is a fantastic writer and they’re truly passionate, I don’t care where they come from (as long as their English is decent).
Sure it’s a little ruffy that for the same work one person can quit their job and the next only pays for a cup of coffee a day…
But that’s more a statement on North American lavishness than anything. In more than 70% of the world, 1000$/month is more than enough to get by. Which means that for a whole whack of people, writing 3-6 blogs full-time is a sustainable way of making a living.
Not bad.
Still, while the current average hourly wage for our bloggers is hovering between 12-15$/hour, it’s our goal to get it up to around 20$/hour – so that folk who want to blog full-time can do so :)
You’re absolutely spot on.
Thanks Elaine ;)
So here’s a question, Jeremy — do you think that having bloggers from places where the standard of living *isn’t* as high could have a negative pressure on how you pay bloggers?
Arnold — glad you could drop by. I know there are a lot of other Filipino bloggers who are working real hard … on the other hand, I only know those three personally. Well, and *you* now. ;)
Jay — glad you’re making a go of it.
oh btw:
country: Philippines
the people: Filipinos
if you wanna be more slang,
“Pinoy” (or Pinay for the girls) ;)
Rslux — probably not. But then again, if local newspapers in the States are able to “outsource” different functions of their news department overseas, who really knows?
You might think that only Americans could talk about American politics, for example — or only Americans might know about the difficulties and challenges of childrearing in the States, but a) some of those themes are universal b) you’d be surprised at what you can pick up at a distance [politics, for example] and c) ex-pats who live abroad still have a feel for the cultural mores of what it was like “back home”.
No question those are legitimate issues … but hey — you never know.
Mike — always happy to lend a shout out when its clear its warranted.
Tall, tanned goddesses, huh? Man, J. Angelo never mentioned *that*! :)
Thanks Jayvee … I always get that mixed up ;)
Btw, where does the word “pinoy” come from?
Jim — if and when that happens, send me an email … I’d be interested to know about how / when it occurs.
After all, its one thing for an overseas blogger to ‘underbid’ in terms of a potential salary. Its another for the hiring company to take them up on it instead of the local blogger.
tony, good question. i didnt know the answer myself but checked wikipedia and lo and behold …
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinoy
Pinoy is a demonym used by Filipinos for their compatriots in the Philippines and around the world. Filipinos usually refer to themselves informally as Pinoy or some times feminine: Pinay, which is formed by taking the last four letters of the word ‘Pilipino’ and adding the diminutive suffix -y. The word was coined by expatriate Filipino Americans during the 1920s and was later adopted by Filipinos in the Philippines.
Pinoy is a term of endearment and is rarely used in formal settings. The term is akin to that of a nickname which is used by close family members and friends so that one who uses it somehow already developed some close ties with Filipinos.
here’s an observation as a channel editor. sometimes we get bloggers who are very interested in the writing position but get turned off when the talk about pay comes up. this reaction usually comes from bloggers who live in the west. those that come from the east are usually more overwhelmed with how far 200$ can go.
does this mean that in the long run, the “bulk” of full time probloggers will be from the east, in the same way that call centers are outsourced in these easter parts?
Let’s hope so, Jayvee. In call centers, personality is a liability. On blogs, personality is an asset. It’s time Easterners got to show more personality. :)
touche, coming from mike himself :)
Good point. It seems the pace of change due to the net combined with globalization means that blogger jobs could be “outsourced” even before it becomes a viable profession in the west. Before it seemed well paying jobs existed in the states and were then outsourced. By why even bother paying well to someone in the west to begin with anymore?
Second I do find this more ammo in the camp of the newspapers freaking out about bloggers destroying their livelihood. I don’t think there would be nearly as much consternation on the part of paid, professional journalists if they knew that by becoming a blogger they could more or less sustain their standard of living.
I don’t know how much full time journalists are paid these days but I’m sure it’s more than the $2500 a month figure you suggest.
Ask Andy Hagans about this. Two years ago he figured he’d get rich with a blog network powered by Indian writers. He found that the content couldn’t get any links because it wasn’t remarkable.
So, he started hiring well-paid US writers for “Digg bait” articles and has probably made the Digg home page 100 times with his various sites, with the resulting links being the real prize. He still uses the off shore writers, but more for “nuts and bolts” content.
The ability to connect with the English-speaking linkerati that US-based sites need is something that a lot of people have trouble doing with their writing. Add in the cultural barrier, and it’s damn near impossible.
Filipino writers can connect to the English-speaking literati. Steve Rubel calls Filipinos’ rapid mass adoption of YouTube “The Mike Abundo Effect”. I’ve been featured by Doc Searls and parodied by Hugh MacLeod.
After reading Mike’s comment where he
whores himselfpromotes the Filipino’s ability to connect, you can also check out The Bayanihan Blog Network to see Filipino content creation in action.Just how much to do Indian or Filipino bloggers get per post or per month? What the the metrics to measure their success? Page views?
Just how much to do Indian or Filipino bloggers get per post or per month? What are the metrics to measure their success? Page views?
Blog metrics know no race, John.
yah earning through blogs is advantageous in countries where the standard of living is low.
blogging is more advantageous in countries where the standard of living is low like in philippines
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