BLOGBETTER: HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU CHARGE AS A BLOGGER?

Hello my fellow bloggers! Ah, I’m back to being a good girl and today I want us to share with each other. I don’t have all the answers, just sharing my opinion. I was asked a few days ago “How much should bloggers charge for ads”? and frankly that was not the first time I was being asked that question but before I give my own opinion on how much bloggers should charge I would like to answer other questions:

WHY SHOULD BLOGGERS CHARGE?
You see, over time I have received requests from brands, persons, businesses who would like me to share some of their products/services on my blog at for free. In the past I used to but not anymore…(lol this is NOT about the Range Rover). I’ll tell you why. 

I remember a few months ago I got an email from someone with a “growing business” and “no budget“ for advertising who wanted to showcase on my platform, I said Ok, and I did. Two days later after I did I found the ad of this brand on other bigger blogs since I had a relationship with those blogs I asked if the brand paid and they said “Of course”…ah! So I was the “mumu”? I did think it was really unfair.

Why should you charge as a blogger: 
  • Blogging takes up a lot of my time, at least 4 hours of my day every day. I blog an average of 5 days a week.
  • The brands will get value for being on my platform.
  • Personal blogging demands energy, creativity to make it work.
  • I have to eat and make a living. We all have to eat.
  • PHCN, Internet, Editing Tools, etc cost a lot. 
  • Time na money.
The ministry needs to move.

HOW MUCH SHOULD BLOGGERS CHARGE?
Even I am still learning and working on this; this is a grey area because blogging is still pretty new in Nigeria and prices are not set in stone as there’s no industry standard yet. However, it all boils down to the value you are giving and the level of engagement your blog creates. How many unique page views do you have per post/day? How many comments per post on average? How popular is your blog? The more you offer the higher you can command. 

I will not say xxx is exactly how much you should charge for your ads but I will give you pointers on how to define your rates:

- One tip I used was to get the blog rates for some blogs in my niche and compare to what I was charging. I also compared their popularity and metrics to mine and that helped to define my rates. 

- You can also choose to charge per hour, so maybe 5000 naira for every hour you spend writing a sponsored post. That would not work for a blog banner; social media mentions etc… but could help you attach value to time spent.

- A formula I used also to determine my blog post ad is this : “daily unique visitor count, multiplied by ten, as a base fee per ad” i.e 1000 views per day = 10k per blog post, 2000 views per day = 20k and I built the rest of my rates from there.

- You can also try the random pricing which I did, set a fee for yourself even if it’s 1 million naira and see how many people patronize you on the rates you charge. You might find that you’re charging way too high if you get no response. Adjust accordingly.

P.s You can also custom charge, provide different rates and packages so that no matter how small or big a brand/business is they can always find a rate that would be suitable. 

Lets move the ministry!

WHAT SHOULD BLOGGERS CHARGE FOR?

GIVEAWAYS: Depending on the value of what is being given away the charge might vary. Why do I charge a fee for giveaways? The reader gets it free, but my platform is not free because the brand gets a certain level of engagement on the giveaway posts. So I would typically charge a small standard fee as admin charges because I need to write the post, take photos, share on social media…that’s work isn’t it?

REVIEWS: I would charge nothing if I voluntarily picked a product to review but if I was contacted by a company to review a product (which ordinarily is not in my plan to review) there will be a charge because these brands would like their products to be showcased in a type of way, regardless my review will be objective. However, if the value of the item for review is considered as high, there would be no charges. I would review a G-Wagon for free :D

VIDEOS: Making a video is hard work: concept, filming, editing, and publishing takes a lot of time and effort. How many wedding videographers will film for free? Because I do believe I have a skill in this I request for payment if I have to showcase a product/tutorial.

SOCIAL MEDIA SHARES: The more engagement you have on these platforms the more you can charge. If you have 100,000k twitter followers (bought or real) and you hardly get mentions or RT’s, then that’s not engagement. You can charge as low as 1k per day for a certain number of tweets depending on how much engagement you have.

EVENTS: Yes ke. If your presence at an event is going to give more value to it then you should get paid. The only instance where payment will be forfeited is if the brand advertises on your platform…so you see, either ways you get paid. Also if you're invited to take photos of the event and share on your blog I believe you should get compensated as well.

Please share with me how you came up with your ad rates and what you think bloggers should charge for so we can all learn from one another. *now hold hands lets sing Kumbaya as we all move the ministry to the permanent site*


49 comments

  1. I think this is a good topic with great pointers. However, I wonder how objective one can be if they're paid to review a product or service. It's one thing if the product or service was given to the reviewer for free, but if you've been paid monetarily, wouldn't that skew the review? If, for instance, you've been paid for a review and you absolutely detest the product, would you be completely honest about how you felt about it?

    #JustAsking

    http://berrydakara.blogspot.com

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    1. I agree with your question Berry, I don't mind bloggers advertising on their pages but paid reviews make me not trust them.

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    2. I totally agree with Berry's question...if you're being paid to review a product, wont there be some sort of partiality?

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    3. I agree with you, Berry, paid reviews don't look good at all.
      I've put up posts on my blog for free and not even a thank you from the brands.
      I give up on Nigerian brands. Till they learn the importance of bloggers , I would stick to putting up things I love.
      I blog cos I love it. Remuneration is just an added bonus.

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  2. As in Sisi its really bad..I rem when Jumia was offering me 2k voucher for a post and I saw that they paid big to publish it on another blog..I did the post cos I was jut starting then I wrote the guy back to tell him he could have his voucher as I hadnt used it and I blasted him. He now said ohhh sorry ild add it up to 5k NO I just ignored his mail..

    I mean its just unfair..Another photog too contactacted ohhh am just tryna push an act help me with the photos I post them and then 2 days later I see it as sponsored content on BellaNaija IS THAT FAIR?!

    Another one is people disgusing sponsored content as press release..so far you have a commercial undertone in your release,links to your website,your phone numbers then its a commercial content and should be paid for!

    I aint doing nothing no more for free..once you tell them 10k they run like 10k is something.10k for a sponsored post is even small very small cos you post would be achived on the blog and would keep coming up in searches for as long as the blog exists..

    I can go on and on about my experiences with these brands what am angry about is if you can pay the "Big blogs" Millions for a banner AD no I am not asking for millions for mine I know my level but pay according to my level not wanting to pay me with "exposure" ohhh we will put it on our social media pages..ohh well then put your post on your social media page now..

    Wo sisi thanks for this I just needed to rant my frustrations..now looking to learn from other comments too..

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  3. This is really helpful because I'm trying to get to this stage right now. I was even planning on sending you an email although it is not related to pricing. I hope you'll be able to put me through a couple of things. Cheers

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  4. I love this topic, to be honest, it shouldn't be views per day because overtime people still go back to old posts so at the end of the day it's constant serious marketing. It hurts when someone pays next to nothing and another gets so much, but urs did a better Favour than others sigh! There should be a private meeting for this lol


    Xoxo
    FASHION REHAB

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  5. .....Interesting!!!...learning oooooo
    kakaoloori.blogspot.com

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  6. kumbayyaaaa!!! Enough learning curves here. But wait a sec! when exactly should a blogger start charging?

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    Replies
    1. When you have made sure that you have quality content, pictures, views and a brand that people know about!

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  7. This topic is interesting . So brands cheat bloggers in naija. Thanks for bring up this topic as I have a learnt a lot

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  8. I totally feel you. Even though my blog is more personal than commercial, I can relate to most of these and i mostly do random pricing. I should probably do a standard pricing. Thanks a lot for the tips :)

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  9. I'm totally with you on this one!

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  10. Thanks sisi for this article. Sometimes ago when I just started blogging a company contacted me to post pictures from an event they did, and they didn't have the courtesy of paying a dime because according to them they are just starting out, but they promised some stuffs which I wasn't interested in anyways but I still posted it. I was so pissed when I saw that post on bellanaija and other big blogs. Later the lady contacted me that I should do another post I just fashied the mail. I work hard to get my pageviews and if you can't pay then you might as well waka si waju. I still get mails from this brands and they want free. Sisi I think those in the PR dept are the one chopping the money that's meant to be for advert cos I don't know how a reasonable company will want to explore someone like na them dy buy MB for me.
    Afolabi Tosyne's blog

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  11. This is very helpful, my blog is still relatively new so would take note of this

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  12. You are a mind reader o! Someone just asked me about my rates today and i was like.............. Been thinking about it since. I did learn from this so thank you very much

    BeautyGeekng.com

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  13. Hello Dear loving the topic i totally agree with you am also a blogger people want you to post for free and they go about paying for adverts somewhere else been doing it for 3years now guess its really time to situp cuz brands cheat us which is unfair..thank you for this topic ..www.ebonyville.blogspot.com

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  14. I read the post and every comment, WOW!! I would say these media buying process agents take small or rather upcoming bloggers for granted. I have the audience you need that's why you sent me a mail. So pay for the audience. I haven't had their wahala to deal with sha.
    Sisi very enlightening post, we hail ooooo.

    Damiesdiary.blogspot.com

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  15. THANKS SO MUCH SISI YEMMIE.............HAVE GOTTEN MY SATIN SLEEP CAP, MAY GOD CONTINUE TO BLESS AND ENLARGE YOU IJN AMEN.

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  16. I have read all comments, l blog for my alumni and schools. still very new. This is an eye opener.

    fggckazaureoldgirls.blogspot,com

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  17. Thank you very much Yemmie for this post, my blog is getting to a year now but I don't know how I will do the ads price, sometimes I think if I put 5k on a particular banner size is too much but with this post, I can now sit down and write it our very well any individual or brand that can't pay the amount should go elsewhere.

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  18. First of all let me thank you for your time in writing this topic. This issue worthy paying for but nevertheless you can pay yourself, that's by the way

    Advert placement and pricing should be determine by your blog unique PV not necessary comment because some guys don't allow comments on their blog. Another criteria advertiser and bloggers use is your Alexa ranking and Google page ranking which will say how popular your blog is..

    As a new blogger, not that new, I have been contacted on many occasions and I have sent some proposals to company for advert placement, I make use of random pricing, once I find out they aren't replying or replying with interest I will quickly adjust with time it bcos that's how biz is being done..

    Once again thanks so much.

    .
    JaybeesBlog.Com

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  19. Thank God I'm Reading This Today! . Let me share my recent experience with you.

    Just last week saturday , 11th October 2014 , I was invited by a Infinix Nigeria to their office. I got there and they told me that they want me to help promote their products on my blog and social media accounts. I agreed , but I got the shock of my life when the Marketing Person told me his Brand is willing to pay me ""#10 (Ten Naira)" Per article I write for them and "#5 (Five Naira)" Per replies each post gets. It was VERY VERY EMBARRASING!! And SHAMEFUL!!

    The most painful part was that I entered rain just to make it to their office that saturday morning. I felt very bad that day and I've promised NEVER to have anything to do with them. The thing is , Most Brands Underestimate the power of blogging. They don't know that bloggers can destroy their brands. They spend millions on Musicians Endorsement But Pay Bloggers Chicken Change , "Money 4 Purewater".

    Back to the topic , How much you charge brands depends on a lot of factors. *Your Niche , Your Blog Traffic , Your Social Media Presence. The Bigger your blog the more you charge. A blog with and average number of 5,000 Unique Visitors and 8,000 Pageviews Everyday should charge Between $200 - $300 Everymonth For and Ad Banner

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  20. Thanks for this Sisi Yemmie! So insightful

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  21. This is my favourite post on your blog sisi. So many pointers here and yeah am learning.

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  22. You are an inspiration, Sisi. I visit your blog literally everyday. I started blogging about four months ago at http://annemmeje.wordpress.com/. Mine is more of a self improvement blog and since I live in the United States, I also offer suggestions on how we can do things better in Nigeria drawing from my observations here. It must have taken a lot of hard work to get where you are. I aspire to one day talk about advertising rates too. For now, I focus more on building my content. Thank you for being among those to blaze the trail for other Nigerian bloggers.

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  23. Thank you Sisi for this post.

    www.jeenager.com

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  24. I personally had a blog in 2008 and each article was N5000 at the time so I will never expect less than that.

    I will probably charge N10,000 for an article. I am not really into banner ads.

    I am a social media strategist and I charge N50,000 to handle your facebook, twitter and blogs. That's all.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Tessa,
      I am in the process of launching an online store. I would like to see if you can handle the marketing. Lets discuss.

      Delete
  25. My sis sent me this link and said I need to read this. Thanks Yemmie, I haven't startedbcharging but after this I'll gv it a thought , especially for reviews... its hard work mhen! jagabeautystudio.com

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  26. 3 GBOSA! for you my Sisi, you are totally on point!

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  27. Dear Sis Yemmie, thank you so much for this article. I am someone just looking to go into blogging. I am completely green to the world, still doing my research and collecting information/data. This is really helpful. May God cotinue to bless your ministry.

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  28. Great ideas Sisi! Most people do not know the price we bloggers pay to add content on our sites. As a health blogger trying to blog backed by science, I owe it ot my readers to present them with content that will add value to their lives, so I do a lot of research before I post. At the same time because I try to create new healthier African recipes or revolutionize existing recipes, I spend alot on food, alot of trial and error. This require funds. I sacrifice my monthly salary on blogging, neglect my kids and hubby for my reader and this can be nerve-wrecking I tell you. So yes it si really necessary to charge reasonably for ads. Thanks for the tips. Very helpful!

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  29. thanks sisi! i appreciate this post.i am a newbie in the blogsphere.i have learnt something today.hmmn and someone contacted me to help her advertise her product today.i dodnt want to charge her yet cos am yet to have traffic,i only have 55k+ views.still growing.
    thanks for sharing ma'am

    bolateethole.blogspot.com

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  30. Dear Sisi, I was wondering if you had encountered the Blogger problem with tracking your own pageviews. As far as I am aware, it is not possible to disable this if you use your own domain. If this is not possible, how do you persuade potential sponsors/advertisers that you really do as many pageviews as you say and its not just you refreshing your blog page? How do you measure your stats for advertsiting purposes, via blogger stats or Google Analytics?

    Thanks you

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  31. This is a serious topic, I agree on so many points with you, but we bloggers need to do some more work, does the page views really translate to future customers for a brand? We need consistency and you have said it ,a niche and the blog's brand is important , its viewers are potential customers because they believe in the integrity of the blog. The marketers should also know that bigger blogs doesnt necessarily mean largest clients, I know of some blogs whose sponsored posts generate low feedbacks. My take is this, for new blogs, start free for products and services you honestly believe in, rate the feedback and progressively include a fee . We can't give up, we will get there soon. www.typearls.org

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  32. I enjoyed reading this post from a Nigerian perspective. I am in the process of designing my "price list" as one major natural hair care brand calls it. so off I go.
    www.coilsandglory.com

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  33. Thanks for this steps, will consider it

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  34. I must say this is a sensitive and helpful post. I'm relatively new in the blogosphere but will take note of this points. I currently still putting things together for now. Thanks Sisi n my blog is ominiknowestblog.blogspot.com am not promoting yet though... till am done with a few more things

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  35. I am really enjoying my self here, Sisi i av learnt a lot via ur post and the comments thanks a lot and thanks to all the contributors via comments.
    www.giststory.com

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  36. Well done Yemmie for keeping it real! Very useful post!
    www.chiomah.net

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  37. Thanks for the info. Had started my blog last year and has started attracting visitors i think this article just came in time.

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  38. Thanks this was helpful as i am on the business plan writing stage for my blog/site
    although my attempt to blogging is just to draw traffic to the site which is a new concept.
    Thanks again

    eatnaija.com

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  39. Thanks a lot Sisi for this post. just last week someone asked me how much I charge for a sponsored post and ad placement,as a new blog that just kicked off this January I had no idea how much I should charge. I think it's high time bloggers come together to say NO to BIG BRAND exploitation all in the name of they're doing some of us good and make them give us the utmost respect that is due us.

    Cheers!

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    Replies
    1. Dennis could you reach out to me pls. I have project I would love to work with you. Cutie_ono@yahoo.com. Thanks.

      Delete
  40. Thank you Sisi for This wonderful post. I am new blogger and i started blogging fully this year. This is not fair base on how new bloggers are being treated. I was contacted by a two companies last month, i gave the my price and they never replied back. Today another company contacted me, thou still waiting for their reply. I think all bloggers should stick together and work on the price rates.

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  41. Nice post sisi. I started blogging this year feb 2018. My blog views is increasing daily. I am a full time blogger. I post about AR/VR technologies and i do reviews too. I can do Sponsored post too on my blog.
    http://www.codeviewafrica.com.ng/

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  42. Thanks a lot Sisi for this post. just last week someone asked me how much I charge for a sponsored post and ad placement,as a new blog that just kicked off this January I had no idea how much I should charge. Tips for blog tracking

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Your comments are like delicious grains of jollof rice to me: please feed me! Send me love mail sisi@sisiyemmie.com / Official business@sisiyemmie.com

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