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Weblogs, Inc.’s Blogger Contract

by Flexo on August 25, 2005

in Career and Work

Yesterday I mentioned that Weblogs, Inc. is rumored to be preparing a personal finance blog. Here’s a look at the contract that the corporation uses when hiring bloggers (as independent contractors). Here are some highlights:

* Bloggers are paid $4 per post, with a maximum of $500 per month.
* All published writing is property of Weblogs, Inc.
* Writers may not work for any “competing” publication, online or offline, during and for six months after the term of the contract.

Mrs. D commented on the contract:

They are essentially looking for work-for-hire (as in they own all the rights) and they pay far far less than any reputable publication pays for freelance work — ie, work that you’re able to take and then resell to other clients. And on top of that, they throw in a non-compete clause?

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About the Author

Flexo, the owner and creator of Consumerism Commentary, has been blogging and writing for the internet since 1995 and has been building online communities since 1991. Find out more about him and follow him on Twitter.

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  • Competing with the blog you are employed with, or competing with any of their blogs? In the case of the latter it sounds like you'd have to give up blogging entirely because their network covers so many topics.
  • John M
    Sounds like you should stick with the independant blogging. You'd have to pay self employment tax on the subcontractor work anyway. You may miss out on a few extra bucks now, but at least you own the content, get the credit, and the chance at reward to encourage you to do better.
  • Might as well freelance for about.com, they pay $500 starting, and you own your own work.
  • $4 a post? I have no idea if that's good or bad, but with their traffic I'm thinking bad. Do people even know your name, so that you can establish yourself as a good writer?

    p.s. When did you redesign the site? I like it vs. the previous one.
  • Most of the sites attribute the post to the name of the writer, but the six-month moratorium on writing about the same topic -- in print or online -- kills any momentum one might gain personally from writing for Weblogs, Inc., I would imagine.

    I redesigned last night, mostly. Still tweaking, but thanks for the comment!
  • Anonymous
    4 bucks?! Wow, that sounds terrible. The only reason I would take a deal like that is because a Weblogs, Inc. blog would get you great exposure. But wait! There's a non-compete thrown in there, so there goes that idea.

    BTW, where do you get the $4 figure? I don't see it on the page you linked to. Still seems pretty miserable though.
  • The contract has unfortunately been removed from the link. The $4 figure came from the area of the contract in which the company stated it would pay the blogger $500 for 125 posts a month. If the bloggers posts fewer, then they salary would be pro-rated. That comes to $4 a post.
  • mmb
    Were they trying to be funny? If you can write 125 articles in a month you might as well right a book and start collecting royalty. $4 per article or $500 for 125 doesn't seem like much particularly when it comes to finance bloggers. From what I have noticed most pf bloggers are pretty well educated and articulate. I would imagine they can find several ways to generate more than $500 for the time that would take to research, author, proofread and post 125 hard-hitting articles.

    Work smart, not hard.
  • mmb
    write, not right. God, why do I hate spelling mistakes so much.
  • MMB, I'm guessing that the $4 an article only serves as motivation to post shorter and less well thought-out posts to make sure you hit the 125 quota. Doesn't seem like it would be good for the network.
  • 125 posts/month will kill me.it really makes sense to fly solo.

    btw, i love the new design.need to find some time to work on mine.
  • Thanks, MM! Much appreciated.
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